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She’s back in the saddle again By Kevin Weiss kweiss@lakerlutznews.com
Christina Glenn is back to training and riding thoroughbreds on a daily basis. The 18-year-old was sidelined for a few years because of surgery required by a congenital heart condition. She was born with Wolff-ParkinsonWhite syndrome, meaning she had an extra electrical pathway between her heart’s upper chambers (atria) and lower chambers (ventricles), resulting in episodes of rapid heartbeats (tachycardia). The rare condition affects about four out of every 100,000 people. Now a freshman at Pasco-Hernando State College, Glenn began riding horses at about age 7, but had to stop to have a heart procedure. “When I was little, I always liked horse
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRISTINA GLENN
Christina Glenn and her former horse, Longo, leap through a jumping obstacle. Longo has jumped as high as 5 feet and has won several equestrian circuits.
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Coach Tammy Guitierrez, left, will be accompanying a local Odyssey of the Mind team who is making the trek to the World Finals in Ames, Iowa, at the end of May. From left are three members of the team, Kayla Guitierrez, Kaden Robinson and Donovan Snider. Alec Guillen, the other member of the team and Devin Robinson, the other coach, are not pictured.
Trekking to Iowa to compete at World Finals By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
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After competing together for years, a local Odyssey of the Mind team has finally accomplished its goal of qualifying to compete at the World Finals in Ames, Iowa. Now, the team is busy raising the $5,000 they need need to make the trip. They’re doing car washes, a garage sale and restaurant fundraisers, and are hoping for the community’s support to help make their dream come true. The four-member team is made up of students attending three different high schools. Two of them — Kaden Robinson and Donovan Snider — attend Wesley Chapel High School.Another — Kayla Gutierrez —
attends Wiregrass Ranch High School. And, Alec Guillen attends Eastlake High School. The coaches for the team are Kayla’s mom,Tammy and Kaden’s brother, Devin. The students from Wiregrass Ranch and Wesley Chapel have been competing together since they have been in middle school. Other team members have come and gone, even as late as this year. Odyssey of the Mind is an international program that encourages youths to work together as teams to use their creative and analytical skills to solve problems. Last year, the team was on the brink of qualifying for the World Finals.They placed third at state, but only the top two teams advance to the world stage. The year before, they came in fifth.
Fundraisers for Odyssey of the Mind Team CARWASH: 5811 Ehren Cutoff, Land O Lakes, May 14 and May 21, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. MOE’S FUNDRAISER: 28211 Paseo Drive Suite 100, Wesley Chapel. May 7 and May 14, 3 p.m. to closing TEXAS ROADHOUSE FUNDRAISER: 26409 Silver Maple Parkway, Wesley Chapel, May 16, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. BUFFALO WILD WINGS FUNDRAISER: 26725 State Road 56, Wesley Chapel, May 9 and May 18, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. GARAGE SALE: 30546 Eastcourt Drive, Wesley Chapel, May 7 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The core group has been together for five years, and that’s an advantage, Gutierrez said. See FINALS, page 11A
Local students shine at nationals By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
Five students from Land O’ Lakes Christian School claimed national awards at the 39th annual American Association of Christian Schools National Competition held at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. The contest, held from April 12 to April 14, drew approximately 1,800 competitors from 29 states. Participants earned the right to compete by capturing the top awards in their state contests. The students represented nearly 200 Christian high schools.They competed in 76 categories in the areas of Bible, music, speech, art and academics. Three students from Land O’ Lakes Christian School won first place awards in the competition and two others finished among the top five. Tommy Campbell took first place in
Topical Preaching and first place in Original Persuasive Oratory. Ruth Zhang took first place in Calligraphy, third place in Algebra/Geometry and third place in Advanced Math. Emily Mengel took first place in Printmaking. Paul Wei took second place in Extemporaneous Speaking and Logan Juday took third place in Accounting. The Bible competition included Bible quiz teams, preaching and teaching.The academic competition included academic testing and a science fair.The music students challenged each other in solo and group competitions, in both vocal and instrumental music. Speech contestants competed in such categories as debate, dramatic interpretation, original oratory, acting and other categories. Art students displayed their works for See NATIONALS, page 11A
B.C. MANION/STAFF PHOTO
Emily Mengel impressed the judges with her printmaking skills, capturing top honors at the 39th annual American Association of Christian Schools National Competition.