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Citrus, Lecanto strong again

'Canes and Panthers look to build on success vs. powerhouse Crystal River in boys and girls competition, respectively.

By RICHARD BURTON
Published September 1, 2005

INVERNESS - Citrus County swimming went through quite a change last season.

After watching Crystal River dominate for years, the Citrus boys and Lecanto girls teams put together impressive seasons to take over the area spotlight.

The Hurricanes were undefeated during the regular season and finished second in their district meet to Land O'Lakes. The Panthers took home the girls title in their district.

Citrus lost four of its top swimmers from last year to graduation, including Ian Gaffney and Charlie Osterhout, but returns an excellent nucleus in hopes of matching the success. "We've got some good kids who are very hard workers," 'Canes coach LeeAnn Pepe said.

"All of the ones we have returning (except Tyler Parrish) were novice swimmers (last year) and they performed very well, so I expect to see even more improvement," Pepe said.

The good fortune a season ago was a big plus for the Citrus program. "We've been kind of small in numbers in the past and struggled a little bit," Pepe said. "But having the success last year was huge for the kids."

Citrus also captured the Citrus County Activities Association title, which had been Crystal River's (under the now-defunct Gulf Coast Athletic Conference) for quite some time.

With coach Tim Holme, who resigned in May after leading the Pirates since 1992, the boys and girls combined for 15 conference titles and seven district crowns. But last year, Citrus and Lecanto finally reached the top. Lecanto ended an eight-year run for Crystal River's girls at the conference meet and produced its first win over the Pirates since 1995.

"The athletes have already shown me they are ready and willing to work as a team," said Lecanto coach Kelli Abrams, who served as a volunteer in diving for all three county schools last season. "Plus, they will do what it takes to motivate each other, have fun and be successful."

Pepe is looking for big things from Lecanto's girls.

"They should be pretty good," she said, "and I think Kelli will do a fine job."

Abrams, meanwhile, is looking for her team to improve throughout the season.

"Since this is my first year, I am in the learning mode almost as much as our first-year swimmers," Abrams said. "We will all be working together to help each other out.

"Our main focus this year is forming a team that feels like family," Abrams said. "We're going to work hard, be dedicated and have a great time doing it.

Lecanto has a solid group returning and should be competitive.

"I'm confident Lecanto's boys and girls team will do well," said Crystal River coach Tas Pepito, who worked at Lecanto last season.

"Citrus should be good too, but they graduated some big guns, so it will be interesting to see how they will do depth-wise."

Pepito won't find the cupboard bare at Crystal River. Last season, the Pirates' girls squad enjoyed a district title despite not having a single first-place finisher in the meet.

Crystal River has 20 girls out for its team, so depth should be a plus. "We've got a lot of promising swimmers," Pepito said. "Things should be very interesting."

[Last modified September 1, 2005, 00:57:17]