Tag: sports

It was a busy time the past week for athletes at Diocese of Venice Catholic high schools between competitions and signings.

First up, Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School Sophomore Nico Bencomo fired a -1 (71) to tie for 2nd in Florida High School 1A Golf State Championship, Nov. 12, 2022, at Mission Inn Resort and Country Club in Howey-in-the-Hills. Bencomo led Mooney to a team bronze medal.

Mooney’s Tommy Tyler fired an even par 72, one shot out of the medals to tie for 6th. Other Mooney golfers included Joe Pike, Lukas Wahlstrom, and Finley Murphy. This is the best team finish in school history for the Sarasota boys.

At the same competition, the Bishop Verot Catholic High School team finished 5th overall. The golfers were Christian Allen, Michael Bevins, Zachary Loninger, Kevin Kelly, and Dalton Payne. In addition, Connor Shea, of St. John Neumann Catholic High School in Naples was the only boy to qualify for States.

In the girls’ golf competition, the Verot team finished 12th overall. Golfers included Amelia Loninger, Samantha Loninger, Morgan Franklin, Caroline Kelly, and Ava Aloia. Due to the impacts of the Hurricane Nicole, the State Championship was delayed and then shortened a single 18-hole event.

Meanwhile, on National Signing Day, Nov. 9, 2022, 13 student-athletes from across the Diocese signed their letters of intent to play at the collegiate level.

At Mooney, five student-athletes made their announcements. They include: Jordyn Byrd, University of Texas (volleyball, the 6-foot-5 senior outside hitter is part of the 1,000 Kills Club and was the 2021-2022 Gatorade Florida Volleyball Player of the Year); Michaela Mattes, University of Florida (swimming, ranked as the No. 5 recruit in the country and No.1 out of Florida according to College Swimming.com for the Class of 2023); Jack McKinnon, University of South Florida, (baseball, also a standout varsity football player); Olivia Davis, University of Tampa (basketball, four year starter at Mooney); and Caity Patterson, Florida Gulf Coast University (softball).

At Bishop Verot, six students signed their letter of intent. They are: Victoria Ash, Stetson University (softball); Camryn Feast, Florida Gulf Coast University (softball), Andrew Hanlon, Brown University (baseball); Aidan Knaak, Clemson University (baseball); Sarah Yamrick, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania (softball); and Gigi Malik, University of Piedmont (lacrosse).

At St. John Neumann in Naples, Carter White and Tyler Kozera both signed to play baseball at the University of Central Florida.

Congratulations and good luck to each student-athlete!

With seemingly no effort, 13-year-old Jax Scott can work a baton like a seasoned veteran, performing moves and tosses only elite twirlers can master after many years of failure and practice.

Yet, in little more than two years of hard work and dedication, Jax, an eighth-grade student at Incarnation Catholic School in Sarasota, earned the right to represent the USA at an international competition after taking the top prize at the July 2022 U.S. National Baton Twirling Championships in Stockton, California.

“It felt great,” Jax said. “I was proud of myself working the past few years competing and when I went to nationals, the first goal was to qualify for team USA. And I did it.”

At nationals, Jax took first place in the two baton and artistic twirl competitions and second in the solo competition. His overall score earned him the right to go to the August 2023 International Baton Twirling Federation Nations in Liverpool, England as a representative of TEAM USA.

Jax credits his parents, family, coaches and friends for supporting him in what is primarily known as a female-dominated sport. This does not matter as he focuses on learning new tricks, having exciting experiences and makes friends from across the country.

“Not many think it’s cool or fun, but I do,” Jax said. “My friends are really supportive and are happy when I master new tricks… My advice is, do not give up on what you are practicing. Ask your coaches, and they will help you and guide you through them… And if you cannot catch it, improve by the loss… This is a sport originated by men and when I saw what was possible, I knew it was cool. The great thing is you can be innovative with your routine… there are fire batons, glow batons and even breakdancing.”

It was a family house cleaning that put Jax on the road to success in the early days of the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020. “I came across the baton and didn’t even know what it was, but then I would do tricks that most beginners wouldn’t be able to do… After my first lesson, I just fell in love with it. I would practice every day, right after school.”

The baton was his mother’s, Jennifer Neumann, who was a baton twirler as a young girl but had moved on to other passions, putting the tool in storage for her family to find many years later.

“We saw right away how skilled he was and how passionate he became,” Neumann said.

Realizing this was not just a passing fancy, Jax’s parents contacted twirling coaches Cody Carter and Jennifer Marcus, who have helped guide the young student to excel.

Jax sees Carter as his idol and mentor. Carter is an honors student at Arizona State University who has been twirling since he was seven years old and is a three-time world champion who also appeared at the age of 14 on season 11 of America’s Got Talent.

After watching many twirling videos, and a few online chats during several Zoom calls, Jax finally met his idol in person. Marcus is his Florida-based coach who lives on the east coast and meets with Jax once a month.

Both are readily available when Jax has questions regarding learning new routines and how to prepare for competitions.

The thing that most attracted Jax to the sport was the extreme difficulty of learning how to manipulate the baton to complete harder and harder tricks which drove him to push himself to try harder whenever something did not work immediately.

“You are going to mess up every so often during your routines, like dropping or forgetting tricks,” Jax said. “But you try again and again. Looking back at my early work and I wasn’t even doing it right and then to see how much I have improved, that is very satisfying and helps push me to work harder.”

Jax will spend the next year practicing one to two hours each day after school. So far, he has more than 35 tricks in his repertoire and his athleticism enables him to include cartwheels and high tosses while manipulating and spinning two batons.

Neumann said it is hard to express the amount of hard work and dedication Jax put into becoming the top baton twirler in his age group.

“We are extremely thankful for our Parish and school for their support,” she said. “It is important for others to see what Jax can do in a short time and perhaps be able to experience the love and passion he has for baton.”

Neumann added that their three youngest children are also taking up the baton and the family is working to raise money to help offset the costs of the trip to England next year. A Go Fund Me page has been set up, which can be found by searching for IBTF Nations Cup World Competition, or by using this link, https://www.gofundme.com/f/ibtf-nations-cup-world-competition?utm_medium=email&utm_source=product&utm_campaign=p_email%2B2300-co-team-welcome.

The ubiquitous car line, the trudging of feet in the hallways, the ringing of the first bell, morning prayers and then classroom instruction.

These scenes are repeated each day at the 15 Diocese of Venice Catholic schools which began instruction for the 2022-2023 Academic Year on Aug. 8, 2022, with the full complement of 5,837 students engaged in schoolwork by Aug. 10.

The first days were full of everyone figuring out where to go, reuniting with old friends or making new ones, participating in their first academic lessons and taking part in any of a myriad of extracurricular activities.

At Diocesan Catholic schools, each student attended an opening Mass, either the first day of school, or within the first week.

Jesuit Father John Belmonte, Diocesan Superintendent of Catholic Education, started the year by celebrating Mass for students at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School in Naples on Aug. 10, and then doing the same on Aug. 16, for the students at Bishop Verot Catholic High School in Fort Myers.

Diocesan schools are fully implementing the STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts and Math) learning model into all classrooms. At the same time, the incorporation of the Diocesan curriculum called, “The Gifts of Christ: Truth, Beauty, Goodness, Affability, Fortitude, Humility, and Prudence,” is growing out of a robotics program which broadens the opportunities for each student.

This approach, fully supported through the generosity of Bishop Frank J. Dewane, places students ahead of the curve in primary fields while continuing to promote core Catholic virtues by helping students to develop cognitive thought processes and gain skills such as leadership, communication, complex problem solving, teamwork and creativity.

The first Friday at St. John Neumann Catholic High School in Naples was a House Retreat Day, where new students are assigned to one of four Houses which serve as their center of social and school spirit activities throughout the coming year. Each of the four teams competes for points to earn different rewards or prizes throughout the year, with a trophy for the winners at the end.

The first week flew by at Bishop Verot Catholic High School in Fort Myers, where 854 students, the most in its long history, roamed the halls. The week concluded with the annual Freshman Retreat from Aug. 12-13. Students learned about Bishop Verot and the traditions and expectations being a Verot Viking. The retreat is led by seniors who will serve as mentors to the underclassmen as they go forward in high school. Highlights of the weekend included doing service work in the community at the Humane Society and Food Bank among other locations. They students also took part in a traditional candlelight prayer vigil in the courtyard.

Enrollment numbers are also way up at St. Catherine Catholic School in Sebring where  the students quickly dove into their studies in reading, writing, mathematics, science, technology, Spanish and much more, but all grounded in the Faith.

The largest Diocesan elementary school, St. Francis Xavier in Fort Myers, has 578 students, and the campus was buzzing as classrooms filled and everyone settled into the school year.

Just before school began, the three Catholic schools in Lee County were the beneficiary of the Catholic Schools Night on Aug. 5, at The Mighty Mussels minor league baseball game at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers. Part of the proceeds benefitted the St. Francis Xavier, Bishop Verot, as well as St. Andrew Catholic School in Cape Coral. St. Andrew Principal David Nelson threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

For the first time ever, St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School in Port Charlotte began its first bus run with 24 on board, including six from nearby Arcadia. This is an exciting opportunity for children from this part of the Diocese to experience a Diocesan Catholic education.

These are just a few of the examples of what took place during the first week of school in the Diocese of Venice and doesn’t even come close to covering the full scope of the exciting things that are taking place each day. Stay tuned as we follow our students throughout the school year

To learn more about Diocese of Venice Catholic schools, please visit www.dioceseofvenice.org/education.