USF Notebook: Students excel in athletics beyond campus

Dwayne Scheuneman, a student in the College of Education, doesn’t slow down for anyone or anything.

Be it rugby, swimming, dancing or racing, Scheuneman has found ways to stay active, despite becoming paralyzed after a swimming pool accident 15 years ago.

On Monday, the U.S. Navy veteran won four gold medals in the 33rd Veterans Wheelchair Games in Tampa.

In the games, he competed in four events: the 100-, 200-, 400- and 800-meter races, taking first in each event.

But this wasn’t his first time around the track.

After racing in Jacksonville for a year, where he began immersing himself into track and field and competed for years, Scheuneman also competed in the Wheelchair Games in Los Angeles in 2003.

After hanging up his racing gear, Scheuneman moved onto dancing where he also shined. The former track star at the time started his own dancing company called REVolutions and he has been working with USF’s dancing department for more than 10 years.

It wasn’t until learning the Veterans Wheelchair Games would be hosted in Tampa that Scheuneman decided to come out of retirement in the world of track and field and compete once again.

The gold medalist, after the games, still hasn’t stopped.

This week he will take part in some swimming and rugby events at the Veteran Wheelchair Games.

 

Former USF goalkeeper returns to net

Three years after the being named Big East’s Goalkeeper of the Year as a senior, Jeff Attinella made his debut in Major League Soccer with Real Salt Lake (RSL).

Attinella graduated from USF in 2010 after a successful season with the Bulls with a regular season record of 12-3-2. During that 2009-10 season, the Bulls made it as far as the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

However, Salt Lake’s franchise hasn’t won a match in Texas since RSL was founded in 2004.

Saturday night, the curse was broken with help from Attinella.

Toward the end of the first half, Salt Lake up 1-0 over Dallas, Josh Saunders, starting goalkeeper, appeared to injure his left knee when he ran to clear a ball, but didn’t leave the game.

It wasn’t until about six minutes into the second half, when Saunders went down as he attempted a goal kick, that Attinella’s name would be called to the field. He was back in the net once again.

RSL would go on to score two more goals, one in the 79th minute and one in the 90th, as Attinella sealed a shutout on his end with two big saves, ending the night with a total of three.

Whether Saunders will return for the next match is uncertain, which could put Attinella starting this Saturday against Sporting Kansas City at 8 p.m., where RSL will look to improve on its 11-5-4 record.

Stokes earns gold overseas

USF junior Demi Stokes, a forward for the women’s soccer team, helped Great Britain top Mexico, 6-2, at the World University Games in Kazan, Russia on Monday during a game in which Stokes played every minute.

As the team captain for Great Britain throughout the tournament, Stokes’ 90 minutes Monday wasn’t too far off from her average of 88 minutes with the team in six games.

The gold medal adds on to an already decorated resume for Stokes. In 2009, she helped England to win the Under-19 European Championship, a year later making it to the title match with that same team. In 2010 she played for England in the Under-20 World Cup.

 

The national recognition also adds to her career at USF. Last season she started in all 19 games for the Bulls, scoring three goals a year after leading the team with four goals in 2011.