FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2001


Orange Park's Ward, Clearwater's Grasso elected to FHSAA Board of Directors

GAINESVILLE – William S. "Sam" Ward Jr., principal of Orange Park High School, and Nickolas R. "Nick" Grasso, principal of Clearwater High School, have won run-off elections for seats on the Florida High School Activities Association Board of Directors, Commissioner Robert W. Hughes announced today.

Ward defeated James W. "Bill" Lee, principal of Vernon High School, to win the Administrative Section 1 public school director seat. Grasso defeated Thomas McIntyre, principal of Melbourne High School, to win the Administrative Section 3 public school director seat.

Ballots for the run-off election were mailed to member school representatives on Thursday, April 12. Ballots were due in the FHSAA Office on Friday, April 27, and were counted over the weekend. A majority of the votes cast was required for election.

Several run-off elections also were held for seats on Sectional Appeals Committees and the Representative Assembly. Complete results of all races in the run-off election are as follows (**-indicates candidate won election with majority of votes cast):

Board of Directors
Section 1 Public School Seat
James W. "Bill" Lee, Vernon, 45
William S. "Sam Ward Jr., Orange Park, 53**
Section 3 Public School Seat
Nickolas R. "Nick" Grasso, Clearwater, 52**
Thomas McIntyre, Melbourne, 42

Sectional Appeals Committees
Section 2 Private School Seat
Gary Belger, Trinity Catholic (Ocala), 49**
Jay Dougherty, Center Academy (Ormond Beach), 29
Section 3 Private School Seat
Bill Donivan, Cardinal Mooney (Sarasota), 40
Peter Shepley, Tampa Preparatory, 46**
Section 4 Public School Seat
Michael Colby, Hialeah-Miami Lakes, 55**
Ernie Modugno, Naples, 43

Representative Assembly
Section 2 Middle School Delegate Seat
Dennis A. Duffy, Stewart Middle (Zephyrhills), 35
Bill Murray, Crystal River Middle, 38**
Division 10 Public School Delegate Seat
Des. F. Hamilton, Dunnellon, 7**
David M. Horner, Forest (Ocala), 6
Division 26 Public School Delegate Seat
Jay Rader, Palm Beach Gardens, 6
Jay C. Seider, Glades Central (Belle Glade), 8**

The Florida High School Activities Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of more than 640 middle, junior and senior high schools. It is organized into three branches of government – the Board of Directors, Sectional Appeals Committees and Representative Assembly.

The Board of Directors is the executive authority of the Association, establishing guidelines, regulations, policies and procedures within the framework of the Association's bylaws. It also acts as the final authority on all appeals arising from the directing of interscholastic athletics in member school. The Board of Directors approves the budget for the Association and employs the Commissioner, which serves as the FHSAA's chief executive officer.

The Sectional Appeals Committees are the initial appellate authority in their respective sections. They consider requests for exceptions to bylaws and regulations, hear undue hardship eligibility cases, and hear appeals of decisions rendered by the Commissioner.

The Representative Assembly is the legislative authority of the Association. It meets annual to consider, adopt or reject proposed amendments to the Association's bylaws.

Contact:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org