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Friday's Prep News And Notes

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 1, 2008

Blake's Ottanelli Commits To Colgate

Blake senior lineman Vittorio Ottanelli has committed to Colgate University, Blake coach Sean Washington said Thursday.

Ottanelli (6-foot-4, 290 pounds) visited Colgate Jan..18-20. Elon and Florida International were also interested.

"His parents are very happy about it," Washington said. "Academics were more important to him than football. He turned down a lot of Division I-AA schools for academics. I commend him for that. He's thinking about life after football."

Washington said Ottanelli, known by his teammates as "Rugby," will play offensive line in college. Ottanelli earned a 4.6 GPA his junior year and scored 1,130 on the SAT. He can also run a 5.2 in the 40-yard dash and bench presses 365 pounds.

Meanwhile, King senior kicker Daniel Zychlinski has committed to Stanford, Coach Earl Garcia III confirmed.

"He called me [Thursday] morning and told me," Garcia said. "He really, really worked his butt off [this season] because he broke his ankle his sophomore year. We're really proud of him."

In other football recruiting news, Riverview senior lineman Roman Rodriguez will visit Carson-Newman this weekend, Sharks coach Dan O'Regan said. O'Regan said the Division II program has not offered Rodriguez a scholarship yet, but the coach expects his lineman to pick up an offer during his visit.

PLANT UPDATE: Plant receiver Derek Winter wrapped up a busy day by getting a full scholarship offer from Auburn University.

The Tigers had offered Winter a deferred "gray shirt" scholarship, but came through with the full offer Thursday night.

"He spent the day at Florida for his official visit and then the evening with the Auburn coach," Plant coach Robert Weiner said. "Then he got on the phone with Virginia to set up his visit for this weekend."

Winter will visit Virginia beginning today. Weiner anticipates Winter will announce his decision before Wednesday's National Signing Day.

Also on Thursday, Plant junior quarterback Aaron Murray received his 24th and 25th scholarship offers. Iowa and Illinois coaches paid a visit to the Panthers' campus and extended offers to Murray.

BASEBALL: Gaither coach Frank Permuy confirmed Thursday that senior right-hander Eric Doty, the Cowboys' top returning pitcher, has been dismissed from the team for a violation of team rules.

Permuy would not divulge specifics, but said Doty was also suspended once last season for violating team rules.

"He was our No. 1 guy coming back, so we hate to lose him, but sometimes it's for the benefit of the team," Permuy said.

Doty went 2-3 with a 2.73 ERA in 2007. Doty signed a Division I scholarship with Florida Gulf Coast during the early signing period in November.

In other baseball news, former University of South Florida pitching coach Nelson North has joined Gaither's staff in the same capacity, while former Cambridge Christian coach Jack Cox has joined J.J. Pizzio's staff at Leto as an assistant.

Also, Tony Saladino said Thursday that Wesley Chapel has accepted an invitation to the 28th annual Saladino Tournament, the annual high school baseball tournament in Hillsborough County played during spring break.

Wesley Chapel will be the first non-Hillsborough County team to participate in the tournament since 1983, the tournament's third year. In 1983, Bradenton Manatee and St. Petersburg's Gibbs and Lakewood high schools filled out the 16-team field.

TRACK: Citing personal reasons, Brandon senior Drew Woodke, a Tampa Tribune All-Hillsborough County selection last fall in cross country, has decided not to run track for the Eagles this season.

"I'm pretty much burned out," Woodke said. "I'm looking to take some time off and, after that, see what happens."

Last season, Woodke was the Class 3A-District 4 cross country champion, 10th in his regional meet and earned all-state honors with a 14th-place finish at the Class 3A state championships. He says he will attend Hillsborough Community College this fall and hopes to help coach the 2008 Brandon boys cross country team.

Another standout runner not expected to compete in track this spring is Plant High's Brigithe Moreno. Panthers coach Roy Harrison said Thursday Moreno has not attended workouts since practice began Monday. Harrison's deadline to turn in paperwork to compete this season is today, and he says he and Moreno have not spoken in months. After winning the Class 3A girls cross country state title in 2006, Moreno's final competition was last year's regional track meet, where she purposely finished out of the top four of the 1,600-meter run in order not to advance to the state meet.

SOCCER: A prayer vigil will be held for RSL Florida coach and Tampa Prep assistant Cindy Schofield on Monday at 7:10 p.m. at the RSL fields behind Monroe Middle School in South Tampa. The local soccer community is invited to attend the vigil, said club administrator Ellen La Vielle.

The 26-year-old Schofield, who during her prep career at Lakeland Jenkins broke the state record for career goals (238), recently learned she has a brain tumor. Tuesday morning at the Moffitt Cancer Center, Schofield is scheduled to have a biopsy of the tumor to determine its nature.

Bill Ward, Adam Adkins, Katherine Smith, Nick Williams

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