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Pasco High's Krusty Krab team takes top spot, naturally

Students from Pasco, Citrus, Hernando and Sumter counties find out who has learned the most at the Nature Coast Regional Envirothon.

By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE
Published February 16, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - More than 300 students from four counties braved chilly, breezy weather Thursday to compete in the annual Nature Coast Regional Envirothon, held this year at the Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park in New Port Richey.

Pasco, Citrus, Hernando and Sumter county high school students, who had been preparing for the event for weeks, bundled up in jackets and sweatshirts and answered questions in five categories: soils, forestry, renewable/alternative energy, aquatics and wildlife.

The highest-scoring teams from each county left with trophies. The highest-scoring team overall left with a bigger trophy, medallions and a $2,500 scholarship, provided by the St. Petersburg Times, to divide among the five team members.

This year's top team was Pasco High School's Krusty Krab. Team member Rick Mayotte said he was elated.

"We studied really hard. Just tons of hard work," he said. He has been competing in the Envirothon for four years and was on a team another year that was the county's highest scorer. As a senior this was his last chance to get the top prize.

"I'm just glad to bring this back to Pasco. We couldn't have done it without Ms. (Donna) Clark," he said, giving tribute to his teacher. Mayotte will share the scholarship with teammates Ian Hartshorn, Jordon Kassabaum, Aaron Gibson and Josh Griffin.

Citrus' top team, Bait Masters, was from the Academy of Environmental Science. Members were Lauren Giallourakis, Javanth Charles, Katelyn Cunningham, Ian Sylvester and Tyler Van Voorthuijsen. The team's adviser was Kristen Milford.

The Hernando County high-scoring team was Springstead High School's Angry Pirates: Zack Ferriero, Michael Marquez, DeAnna Hefferan, Jacqueline Mason and Ashley Rogers. Their advisers were Lisa Rae Dickinson, Chris Avricchio and Marie Freyre.

Pasco's high scorer, obviously, was Krusty Krab, whose adviser is Clark.

Tops from Sumter County was Almond Crush from the Villages High School: Kyle Jones, Trisha DeTorres, Nicholas Arbeter, Zachory Bush and Patrick Kelly. The adviser was Karon Baumann.

The top team from each county is eligible to compete in the state competition April 14 at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Palm Beach County.

Of the five categories, soils seemed to befuddle the students most. It included questions about soil pH, the use of a soil survey, soil horizons (layers) and color.

Aquatics also seemed to throw some teams. It required identification of plants and included questions about the Clean Water Act, hydrology of central Florida lakes and dead zones.

Pasco High School's A-Train member Patrick Henry Smith said the worst part about aquatics was "probably IDing the invasive species of the aquatic plants, 'cause you don't see them everyday."

"Unless you live on a lake," added teammate Patrick Weightman.

Zephyrhills High School's Teens 4 Earth also struggled with aquatics. "It was kind of confusing," said member Alyssa Ricardo. "We educatedly guessed some."

Not everyone found it difficult, though. Hudson High School's Team Willow seemed to prefer the watery category. "We did pretty well on aquatics," said team member Zak Sommise.

Besides the awards for top scorer overall and top county scorers, recognition and certificates were given to the teams that scored highest in the individual categories. They were:

- Aquatics: Hernando County, Nature Coast Technical High School's Threshers: Tonya Waugh, Alan Veneble, Jada Padilla, Ashleigh Harris and Rebecca Daley. The adviser was Aimee Moon.

- Renewable/alternative energy: Pasco County, Pasco High School's Krusty Krab (see names above).

- Forestry: Pasco County, J. W. Mitchell High School's AP Crew: Mike Jenkins, Kevin McDermott, John Jayes, Emily Helmrich and Suraj Patel, with adviser Ed Braddy.

-Soils: Sumter County, the Villages High School's Almond Crush (see names above).

-Wildlife: Pasco County, J. W. Mitchell High School's Tree Huggers: Logan LePage, Paul King, Nick Bevery, Matt Lukasik and Sean McLean, with adviser Melanie Milletics.

The 2007 Nature Coast Envirothon was sponsored by the Times, Coastal Trophy & Sign of Crystal River, the Hernando County Chapter of the Florida Audubon Society, the Citrus County Chapter of the Native Plant Society, Pasco County Board of Commissioners, Covanta Energy of Pasco Inc., Post Buckley, Hernando County, Virginia Edwards, SECO and Zephyrhills Natural Spring Water.

The following groups prepared and organized the various testing stations:

- Forestry: Florida Division of Forestry.

- Aquatics: Hernando County planning and utilities departments.

- Renewable/alternative energy: Southwest Florida Water Management District (Swiftmud).

- Soils: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Services.

- Wildlife: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

[Last modified February 16, 2007, 00:21:11]