August was a special month for former Leopards athletes.
By FRANK PASTOR
Published September 10, 2003
BROOKSVILLE - Hernando football coach Bill Browning was in particularly good spirits as he arrived at practice early last week.
He had watched John Capel get his second gold medal at the World Track and Field Championships the previous weekend, then changed the channel to see Dee Brown starting at fullback for Central Florida against nationally ranked Virginia Tech.
Browning coached both at Hernando.
"This was a great weekend," Browning said.
Factor in Bronson Arroyo's perfect game in the Triple-A International League and his subsequent call-up to the Boston Red Sox, and Kelly Lagedrost's first-place showing at the LPGA's first sectional qualifying tournament, and August was a great month for Hernando.
"To have three in close proximity timewise, I would think people would say, "That's a pretty good program at Hernando High School,' " boys track and cross country coach Ernie Chatman said.
Chatman was coaching baseball when Arroyo arrived at Hernando in 1991. Arroyo was a hard worker from the start, Chatman said, conscientious and open to suggestions.
He also had high expectations for himself.
"He always wanted to be the best player he could be," Chatman said. "Focus was never a problem."
Arroyo didn't lose a game his first two seasons and was named to the Class 4A all-state first team in 1995. He was drafted by Pittsburgh in the third round of the 1995 amateur draft. The Pirates placed him on irrevocable waivers in January, and he was picked up by the Red Sox, who assigned him to their Triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket, R.I.
Arroyo rewarded the team's faith by pitching the fourth nine-inning perfect game in the 120-year history of the International League in Pawtucket's 7-0 victory over Buffalo on Aug. 10.
The Red Sox purchased Arroyo's contract on Aug. 23, and in his first appearance he pitched three scoreless innings in an 8-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners to earn his first major-league save.
Hernando coach Tim Sims was not surprised.
"He is the same type player whether in Bushnell or in Yankee Stadium," Sims said. "The fires of competition definitely are instilled in him."
Though he often is on the road, Arroyo remains part of the Brooksville community. He plays in Hernando's annual baseball fundraising golf tournament, appears at youth clinics and recently had a home built in Brooksville.
"He's definitely one of the good aspects you'll carry as a coach from coaching," Sims said, "because you do not coach that type of athlete every year."
Capel also possessed natural ability. But unlike Arroyo, it was his legs that drew raves.
Known to teammates and coaches as "John John," Capel played football and ran track at Hernando. He had tremendous talent, but it was a commitment to weight training after his junior season that turned him into a star.
"He was getting a lot stronger, and then his senior year I think it helped his takeoff squatting in the summertime," Hernando athletic director and football assistant Matt Smith said.
Browning has pictures of Capel in his office, alongside those of former players such as Brown and Chris Daley. Occasionally, he shows film of Capel to his players.
"Just for outright, straight-ahead speed, I haven't seen a faster player," Browning said.
Capel rose to prominence with a victory over Maurice Greene and Michael Johnson at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials but faltered in the final at the Sydney Games and finished eighth.
After arrests for marijuana possession and troubled stints with the Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs, Capel returned his focus to track. He won the 200 meters and was part of the first-place 400 relay team Aug. 29-31 at the World Championships in Paris.
"I'm happy to see he's back on the right path," Browning said.
Though he lives and trains in Gainesville, Capel still has a following in his hometown.
"The other day at practice I overheard a couple of kids talking about Capel," Smith said, "so they're in tune with what's going on."
Around the time Capel and Arroyo starred at Hernando, Lagedrost was lifting the Leopards golf team to new heights.
"They were all within a couple of years of each other at that school, so there's something special about that time," said Lagedrost's father, Randy, who has taught at Hernando for 30 years.
Lagedrost won the state 4A title in 1996 and led the team to the title the next season.
After an All-America career at South Florida, she narrowly missed getting her LPGA card last season. She earned a second trip to the final sectional qualifier by tying for first at a tournament Aug. 29 at Plantation Golf Club.
Lagedrost's father, a former Hernando boys golf coach, said his daughter has improved considerably since leaving Hernando.
"Back then, it was all instinct," Randy Lagedrost said. "Go out there and swing and see what happens. Now, she has much more of an idea what's going on."
Lagedrost recently accepted an invitation to share her knowledge with Hernando's players.
"Any time that someone from the school graduates and does well after graduation, it's got to be a positive effect on these kids," Smith said. "It proves a point that hard work does pay off, and if you have the ability to push yourself in order to get to the next level, the opportunities are there."
