AUGUST 15, 2019
— Lakewood Ranch High runner Aurora Melzer SEE PAGE 18
HIGH
SPORTS
“I can’t make a teammate go harder in practice, but I can make myself go harder. ”
5 FAMILY FOOTSTEPS Ryan Kohn
The father and daughter team of Bill Zarrella and Kristin Zarrella-Wikstrom will coach cross-country at Lakewood Ranch High.
1
Lakewood Ranch sophomore swimmer Dimiter Zafirov finished seventh in the boys 400-meter freestyle (4:05.41) at the USA Swimming Futures Championships, held Aug. 3-4 in Greensboro, N.C.
2
2019 Lakewood Ranch High graduate Josh Hays, who was a defender on the boys soccer team, was named the Florida Youth Soccer Association’s Young Referee of the Year on Aug. 12. Hays will attend the University of Florida in the fall.
3
Marie Diamond (four under par) won the Nine Hole Women’s Golf Association Four Clubs Only event Aug. 8 on Palm Aire Country Club’s Lakes course.
A fatherdaughter duo is coaching the crosscountry program at Lakewood Ranch High.
RYAN KOHN
IF YOU GO
SPORTS REPORTER
I
t was a common occurrence in 2005, a fifth grade girl dashing across the East Manatee Bulldogs’ football practice field at Lakewood Ranch Park. It was obvious the girl loved to run and that she was fast. So fast Bulldogs coach Bill Zarrella would challenge his 8- to 10-year-old boys to race her. The boys figured they would beat her, but only about 15% of them could. Zarrella was happy because it made his athletes want to work harder. On the inside, he also was proud of the girl, his daughter, Kristin, for showing the boys how it was done. Kristin Zarrella-Wikstrom,
4
Mario Summa, Jim Leslie, Ben Schneider and Dan Carter (90) won the Men’s Golf Association Best Ball event Aug. 7 at University Park Country Club.
5
Todd Hallinger and Gary Older (10 under par) won the Men’s Golf Association Best Ball event Aug. 7 at Palm Aire Country Club’s Lakes course.
BACK TO THE PASS PAGE 19
Courtesy photo
Kristin Zarrella, now Zarrella-Wikstrom, holds the 800-meters record of 2:14.06 at Lakewood Ranch High.
What: Lakewood Ranch cross-country opens the season at the 11th annual Jim Ryun Invitational When: 8 a.m. Aug. 24 Where: Holloway Park, Lakeland Runners to watch: Mustangs senior girls runner Ava Klein and senior boys runner Calvin Drake
now 24, never stopped running. She ran cross-country and track at Lakewood Ranch High, where she still holds the school record in the 800-meter dash (2:14.06). She ran at Southern Mississippi University and set the mile indoor record there (4:49.98), which was eventually broken. Through it all, no matter where her career went, she said she knew she wanted to end up in coaching, just like her dad. In 2018, when Zarrella-Wikstrom was offered the cross-country coaching position at Lakewood Ranch High, she jumped at it. Fast-forward a year, and Zarrella-Wikstrom has learned a lot. She said paperwork is 90% of the job. It was a tall task for someone in her first year of teaching, and she said she was a bit overwhelmed coaching the boys and the girls. She thought her second year would go better if she had some help with a new coach taking over the boys team. She knew who to ask. “I’m so excited,” Bill Zarrella said of his new position as the boys cross-country coach. He now has the chance to coach alongside his daughter, and it isn’t exactly foreign territory. In addition to coaching youth football, Zarrella served as the cross-country coach at Norwell and Bridgewater-Raynham Regional high schools in Massachusetts for eight years before the family moved to Lakewood Ranch in 1997. He also coached his daughter when she first began taking run-
ning seriously and helped her reach the 2007 AAU Junior Olympics in Knoxville, Tenn. They would turn national meets into family vacations, and those competitions remain some of ZarrellaWikstrom’s favorite memories. In July, Bill Zarrella retired from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office after 22 years. Zarrella said he knew he wanted something to do after retirement, and getting back into coaching seemed like the perfect fit. To do it alongside his daughter is a bonus. “I always tell my kids, just try your best,” Zarrella said. “That’s the main thing. If you do, you’ll advance far.” Zarrella-Wikstrom said her father gave her some wonderful advice when she was young: When the starting gun goes off, go; don’t hesitate. It’s simple, she said, but she reminds her runners of it often. Bill Zarrella has been with the team for summer workouts, and Zarrella-Wikstrom said the boys already think of him as “the best coach ever.” He’s a great role model for them, she said, just like he was for her. Bill Zarrella doesn’t drink, smoke or even curse, she said. He’s all about encouragement and making sure the athletes don’t forget they are students first and foremost. “You need to have empathy,” Zarrella-Wikstrom said. “These kids have so much going on, with clubs and personal things. Mental health is as important as physical health.” Zarrella said he plans to coach alongside his daughter as long as she’s there (and as long as the school will have him), and Zarrella-Wikstrom said she could envision staying at the school for the rest of her career. That would mean a lot of instruction from a school legend along with the man who helped her become one.