As I look back at 2024, the sports scene here in the western communities was filled with competitive games, dramatic victories and memorable individual achievements. In this article, I will reflect on four newsworthy and noteworthy moments in the last 12 months on the athletic fields, in the pools and inside the gymnasiums where young local athletes competed.
Soccer — In late January and early February, the varsity soccer teams from Berean Christian School (boys and girls), Royal Palm Beach High School (boys), Wellington High School (girls) and the King’s Academy (girls) won local district tournament titles, which gave each team an automatic bid into their respective Florida High School Athletic Association statewide tournaments. The girls varsity team from Seminole Ridge High School also received an at-large bid into its respective FHSAA statewide soccer tournament, based on its strong regular-season record. Of all those teams, the girls soccer team from WHS advanced the furthest, eventually losing in its Class 7A, Region 3 final to Boca Raton High School, 1-0, on Feb. 21.
Basketball — During the first weekend in March, the Wellington Wolves hosted the 22nd edition of their March Madness Basketball Tournament in Wellington.
Throughout the two-day tournament, more than 230 games were played by 120 youth basketball teams from throughout the state. According to Wellington Wolves President Chris Fratalia, the tournament director, there was one out-of-state team in the tournament, which came from Quebec, Canada.
Fratalia was pleased with how the tournament was conducted from beginning to end.
“It was a great weekend of competitive basketball,” he said. “It was our largest tournament ever, and the smoothest. We had more than 200 volunteers step forward to help.”
The main venue was Wellington’s Village Park on Pierson Road. However, a total of 18 different venues across Palm Beach County were used to stage this basketball bonanza.
The boys basketball teams ranged from third-graders to 11th-graders, while the girls basketball teams ranged from sixth-graders to 11th-graders.
Seventeen teams that competed in the tournament represented the Wellington Wolves: 12 boys teams and five girls squads. Of those, three won their respective age-group brackets: the 11th-grade girls, the 10th-grade boys and the eighth-grade girls, which moved up and won the ninth-grade girls division.
Flag Football — On May 10-11, this year’s FHSAA Class 1A and 2A flag football state championships were held in Tampa at the expansive AdventHealth Training Center, which is the indoor practice facility for the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As it turned out, one of the teams in the Class 2A bracket was Wellington High School, which defeated Fort Pierce Central High School in the quarterfinals, 12-7, on Friday, May 3 to earn a spot in Tampa.
The AdventHealth Training Center is a colossal structure. It’s a well-lit, indoor, air-conditioned environment with an artificial turf playing surface, where the Buccaneers’ logo appears at midfield.
In the second of two Class 2A semifinals, Wellington’s game against Ruskin’s Lennard High School was expected to be very close and competitive, and it didn’t disappoint.
As expected, both quarterbacks — Wellington’s Keelin Coleman and Lennard’s Abby Elwell — rose to the occasion and led by example. Coleman completed 19 of 28 passes for 259 yards, while Elwell completed 19 of 26 passes for 192 yards.
Also, the receivers from both teams made a series of incredible and, at times, acrobatic receptions, the defenses were defiant, and the pass rushers never stopped pursuing Coleman and Elwell.
For Wellington, Coleman led her team inside the red zone on two occasions in the first half, and into Lennard’s half of the field on three occasions in the second half. For the entire game, Lennard’s defense kept the Wolverines out of the end zone.
As for Wellington’s defense, it was strong and determined, with the exception of one play. At the 9:28 mark of the second quarter, Elwell connected with teammate Kate Keith on a 17-yard touchdown pass. The one-point PAT attempt was successful, which gave the Longhorns a 7-0 lead, which they would never relinquish. It was the only touchdown of the game, with Lennard eventually winning, 7-0.
“It was an incredible experience in Tampa,” said Robert Callovi, WHS head flag football coach and athletic director. “The Tampa Bay Bucs really support girls flag football better than anybody else. In the game, our girls gave their best effort, and they kept fighting to the very end. We didn’t give up and kept playing. We really loved the overall experience.”
Looking back, the Wolverines had a memorable and historic season last spring. Under Callovi, Wellington recorded a series of significant first-time accomplishments: winning its first-ever regional championship (12-6 against Seminole Ridge on April 30), winning its first-ever state quarterfinal (12-7 against Fort Pierce Central on May 3), and advancing to the flag football state finals for the first time. Wellington finished with a 15-4 record.
Swimming — Joshua Zuchowski, a 2022 TKA graduate and a rising junior at Stanford University, had to sit for a final exam in economics before pursuing a chance to earn a spot on this year’s U.S. Olympic Swimming Team.
From June 11-20, Zuchowski was in Indianapolis, where he made final training preparations and competed in this year’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials. It was his second U.S. Olympic Team Trials experience. He also competed in June 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Zuchowski’s ultimate goal was to earn a spot on the U.S. team competing in Paris. He was one of nearly 1,000 male and female swimmers in Indianapolis with the same goal. There were 52 spots up for grabs.
“I arrived in Indianapolis on Tuesday, June 11, and I had to sit down and do an economics final exam that Wednesday morning, which my coach had to scan and submit to my professor,” Zuchowski said. “The exam lasted three and a half hours. I then headed to the pool for my taper workouts.”
The venue for this year’s trials was a 10-lane, Olympic-size, 50-meter-long competition pool and a massive L-shaped warm-up/practice pool. Both pools were constructed inside the Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts. Nearly two million gallons of water were needed for the pools.
“It was an amazing place to swim and watch a swim meet,” recalled Zuchowski, 20.
Zuchowski’s best chance to make the team was in the men’s 200-meter backstroke. The 200-meter backstroke preliminaries took place on Wednesday morning, June 19. In that event, there were nine heats and 74 swimmers. Zuchowski swam in the ninth heat.
Of the 74 swimmers who competed for one of 16 semifinal spots, Zuchowski had the 14th fastest time, which propelled him into the semifinals that evening. In the pre-race introductions, Zuchowski’s name and image were on display on the massive 60-foot video screen.
“I stood out there for two or three minutes while the other swimmers were introduced. I was enjoying the roar of 20,000 fans. One of my goals was to make it to an evening semifinal, and I did,” Zuchowski said. “It was so cool.”
If he could have generated one of the eight fastest times, he would have advanced to the 200-meter backstroke final the following night. Zuchowski swam a 1:59.59, which was the 12th fastest semifinal time. In the end, Ryan Murphy and Keaton Jones finished one-two in the final of the 200-meter backstroke. Their times were 1:54.33 and 1:54.61, respectively. They represented the U.S. in Paris in that event.
Dan Schemmel, Stanford University’s head men’s swimming coach, was proud of Zuchowski’s performance.
“Josh was great,” Schemmel said. “He got sick earlier this spring, which hindered his training and preparation, so we’re really happy he was able to put together the performance he had in Indy. Making a semifinal is a huge accomplishment.”
Zuchowski’s Olympic dreams will have to wait until 2028, when the Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles.
As for the economics exam, he fared well. “I did all right,” said Zuchowski, an economics major at Stanford. “I got an A in the class.”
