DPHS Cheerleaders Win Again … and more sports news

compiled by Lauren Salinero


Girls on the Run Orlando volunteer coach Layla West (front), track head coach for Bridgewater Middle School, snaps a selfie with her team.

Southwest Middle School track head coach Keith West (front), volunteer coach for Girls on the Run Orlando, embraces Pink Day during the school’s Spirit Week.

Girls on the Run Orlando ended its 2016 fall season with a run in the annual Track Shack Lake Eola 5K. The season included 70 area schools and 225 volunteer coaches, many of whom teach at the schools that offer the program. More than 1,000 girls in third through eighth grades throughout Central Florida participate in GOTR annually.

Though all of the volunteer coaches are appreciated and loved, Bridgewater and Southwest middle schools would like to recognize its track head coaches, Layla West and Keith West, respectively. The two not only donate their time to the program, but also plan to run as SoleMates in the Disney Princess Half Marathon to raise funds to help bring Girls on the Run to more schools in 2017.


Tranquilo Golf Club at Four Seasons Resort Orlando hosted the second annual Diamond Resorts Invitational, benefiting Florida Hospital for Children. Thirty professionals, including Windermere residents John Cook and Lee Janzen, competed alongside 48 sports and entertainment celebrities for separate purses totaling $1.25 million. All three rounds were nationally televised live on the Golf Channel. Competitors played in threesomes, consisting of one Champions Tour professional and two celebrities.


Dr. Phillips High School cheerleaders (front, l. to r.) Leah Humphreys, Morgan McKnight, Laura Wallace, Ayanis Young, Maddi Forte, Tatyana Washington, DKayla Cooper, (back, l. to r.) Bianca Tverberg, Jena Fite, Janeesa Clue, Natajah Williams and Ella Morrow win the small varsity division at the Universal Cheerleaders Association Central Florida Regional Competition.

Dr. Phillips High School cheerleaders traveled to the State Fairgrounds in Tampa for the Universal Cheerleaders Association Central Florida Regional Competition. The squad won the small varsity division, in which teams competed with 12 girls or fewer. There were seven teams in this division. The girls received a bid to the National High School Cheerleading Championship that will be held at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports next month. The team is led by head coach Samantha Hoffman and assistant coaches Lauren Bocken, Vigiland DHaiti and Savannah Wright.


(L. to r.) Riley Welch, McKayla Parrott, Cecile Comtois and Allie Schnacky of the West Orange High School Warriorettes dance team perform at an Orlando Magic game.


Sole Fratila (left) and Cody Hrynyk (right), with Hrynyk’s father, Corey, compete in the USA Water Polo’s Rock-tober event.

Dr. Phillips 12-under water polo athletes Sole Fratila of Southwest Middle School and Cody Hrynyk of Windy Ridge School represented the Southeast zone of the United States and competed in USA Water Polo’s Rock-tober event. It is a Positive Coaching Alliance-based tournament that emphasizes sportsmanship and positive play. Both boys have high hopes of competing with the Olympic Development Program in water polo. Fratila scored 31 goals in four games, and Hrynyk scored six goals in four games.

Fratila is a third-generation water polo player. His grandfather is a bronze Olympic medalist for Romania, and his father, Adrian, played on the Romanian National Team professionally in Nice, France, and Germany, winning several championship titles.

Hrynyk comes from a line of swimmers. His father swam at Florida State University. Both boys contribute their success to a collaboration of several Florida water polo coaches’ input and training.

“The biggest challenge we faced [was] to find a water polo game every week for 12-under,” Fratila said. “The only way we could overcome this was to get on the phone and call every coach in the state of Florida. I feel so blessed that the Florida coaches allowed us to play and were willing to coach us whenever we asked for a pickup game.”


West Orange High School dance team captain Elizabeth Victor performs in the second annual Varsity Spirit Spectacular at Walt Disney World Resort.

Elizabeth Victor, a senior from West Orange High School, was one of more than 750 high school cheerleaders and dancers from across the country to perform in the second annual Varsity Spirit Spectacular at Walt Disney World Resort. Victor is the captain of the WOHS dance team. She performed in an exclusive pre-parade through Disney’s Magic Kingdom park before hundreds of fans.

Victor was invited to perform in the parade as part of a select group of captains and co-captains who attended a Varsity Spirit summer camp hosted by Universal Dance Association. Performers had the opportunity to meet other cheerleaders and dancers from across the nation and enjoy a magical holiday season at Walt Disney World Resort parks.

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