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From the Spring 2026 Issue
1970s
K.B. Scull ’79 retired from the Hillsborough County Public Schools system after more than 46 years. Scull taught at Turkey Creek Junior High, Armwood High School and Bloomingdale High School and spent over 30 years as a driver education teacher and won 330 games as a high school baseball coach.
From the Spring 2026 Issue
1980s
Joe Potuzak ’87 retired from Truist after 38 years in commercial banking. His most recent position was chief risk officer for the enterprise payments division and enterprise corporate functions. Potuzak and his wife, Michelle, also recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. They live in North Carolina.
Martina Trapani ’88 received her doctorate in higher education leadership from Wilmington University (DE) and recently got married to her husband, Andre.
Marc Asturias ’89 is the senior vice president of marketing and the field chief information security officer at Fortinet, a cybersecurity company. Asturias is based in the Washington, D.C., area and manages the company’s operations in Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.
From the Spring 2026 Issue
1990s
Ozzie Timmons ’91 is an assistant hitting coach for the Tampa Bay Rays this season. The news was reported in November.
Earl Poitier ’98 is a film and television actor who has appeared in Remember the Titans, Burn Notice, Army Wives and the Baywatch movie.
From the Spring 2026 Issue
2000s
Joel Belinc ’02 retired as a federal criminal investigator for the U.S. government and lives in North Carolina.
In November, Troy Del Valle ’02, MBA ’11 was named senior vice president of data and analytics at Michigan’s Wildfire Credit Union. The news was announced in the Midland (MI) Daily News.
Travis Kaiser ’07, owner of Santoro’s Pizza, recently opened Giancarlo’s Café & Spirits and a bagel shop called Homesick Bagels in North Hyde Park.
Victor O’Brien ’07 is the director of public relations at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, which uses AI, cloud and networking to support organizations.
Harrison Haas ’08 relocated to Japan in March to teach English through Interac Japan.
Rafael de la Fuente ’09 starred in the Hallmark Channel original movie Love on the Amazon, which released in January. De la Fuente played Danny, a riverboat captain in Brazil who helps an American woman deliver an important message to her sister.
Robert Mainelli ’09, M.S. ’11 was promoted to partner at RSM US LLP, a provider of audit, tax and consulting services. The news was announced in January in the Los Angeles Business Journal.
From the Spring 2026 Issue
2010s
Francesca C. Doran ’10, a third-grade teacher at Westchase Elementary in Tampa, was a finalist for Hillsborough County Schools teacher of the year.
In January, Kevin McNally ’10 joined CohnReznick in Orlando as a tax partner in the firm’s commercial real estate practice.
D’Asante (Beneby) Small ’10 is a newly appointed Bahamian senator. According to a Bahamian news story from her appointment ceremony in December, she outlined five priorities for her time in service: public safety, mental health, youth intervention, women’s leadership, and addressing gender-based violence.
Camara (Bensinger) Gaither ’12 is the new poet laureate of the city of Orlando. In February, the Orlando Sentinel ran a story about her ahead of her appearance at her first major city-sponsored event, Orlando’s Black History Month Community Celebration. The story mentioned that when Gaither performed a poem for the mayor, who would choose the poet laureate from three finalists, “people in the room were teary-eyed.”
Vincent Lanci ’13, MBA ’15 published a new book, TBI Recovery, in January. Part memoir, part manual, the book aims to help survivors and caretakers affected by traumatic brain injuries.
Elizabeth Vanneste M.S. ’14 was named in January to the 2026 Top 50 Women Leaders of Tampa by Women We Admire. Vanneste is the chief revenue officer and business advisor for Crescive Services consulting practice and is an investment partner of Mother Kombucha, based in St. Petersburg.
Travis Damato ’15 is the director of bands at Seffner Christian Academy and recently welcomed twins, Luca and Lillia, with his wife, Elizabeth.
Logan Grubb ’15 is a family medicine physician specializing in women’s health care at Memorial Care hospital in Springfield, IL. In an introductory video posted on the hospital’s YouTube channel, Grubb said one of her favorite things about her job is providing care to everyone in a family and watching them grow over a long period of time.
Madeleine (Gagne) Wadleigh ’15 is the program operations manager of conservation for Pūlama Lāna‘I, a land and resource management company, and lives in Lanai City, HI.
Tyler Cooler ’16 is senior project manager of construction services at Tampa General Hospital. Previously, Cooler managed major developments at Universal Creative for five years, including Epic Universe and the Endless Summer Resort.
Paul Linzey MFA ’16 released his debut novel in February, titled Bekker’s Burial. The mystery novel is the first in Linzey’s Village of Hockessin series and is about a lawyer named Madison who inherits papers from her father that lead her into a high-stakes search for family heritage, involving murder and danger.
Hannah Farrow ’17 started a new position as the newsletter editor at the Tampa Bay Times in December. According to an announcement on LinkedIn, Farrow helped conceptualize the Times’ Florida in Focus and The Rundown newsletters. She has been with the Times since 2023.
Jamie (Citera) Courtney ’18 married her husband, Kevin, last year at Varlow Farms outside of Tampa.
Omar Pulido MBA ’18 received his American citizenship. Pulido came from Venezuela to attend grad school at UTampa and met his wife, Sarah, during the MBA program.
Andrea Tanzi ’18 runs a hyperlocal Instagram account, FoodFreaksGuide, focused on Tampa restaurants and food establishments. She was the focus of a story in Tampa Bay Business & Wealth magazine about how hyperlocal social media influencers make a difference to small businesses. Tanzi is also the social media manager for the International Photography Hall of Fame.
In March, Casey Bauer ’19 started a new job conservation finance director at the Trust for Public Land. TPL works with communities to create parks and protect public land.
Kaitlyn Gengler ’19 is an educator and animal caretaker at the Florida Aquarium. In December, she was the subject of a Tampa Bay 28 news story about how she sometimes can be found before a Lightning game in Thunder Alley with animals from the aquarium for the public to enjoy.
From the Spring 2026 Issue
2020s
Joshua Nascimento ’20, who played soccer for the Spartans and is the son of soccer legend Pelé, is head of performance at FC Dallas Academy, the youth training arm of the MLS team. In early February, Fox 4 Dallas ran a segment highlighting Nascimento. Asked how his upbringing and experience as Pelé’s son influences players, he said that his stories are often “a big win because they’re like, ‘Wow, if Pelé actually went through that too, I can get through this.”
Savannah Haran ’20 and Will Dalrymple ’20 got married last August on Long Beach Island in New Jersey. The couple now lives in Palmetto.
Jaryn McCann ’21 will play the title character in My Name is Asher Lev, at Stageworks Theatre in Tampa. The casting was announced on StPeteCatalyst.com in March.
Amanda Gallone ’22 is the athletic trainer for the Omaha Storm Chasers for the second season and her fourth in minor league baseball. Previously, she was with the New York Mets and Houston Astros organizations, and before that was an athletic trainer at Walt Disney World.
Mya Murdock ’22 is operations manager at Two Cumberland, a clothing boutique in Charleston, SC. An interview with her recently ran on IdeaMensch.com, where she discussed lessons she’s learned so far in her career.
Sean Nizolek ’22 and Maycie Macdonald ’21 got married in Portugal in October. The couple met in Morsani Hall in the beginning of their years at UTampa.
TJ Scanlon ’22 joined Collidge Wall, a law firm in Ohio, as an associate in the workers compensation department. According to an announcement of his hiring, he previously was a clerk for the firm while in law school at University of Dayton School of Law, from which he graduated magna cum laude in May.
Gabrielle Pelechaty ’23 joined Friends of the Tampa Riverwalk in January as the organization’s marketing coordinator.
Chuck Merlis ’24 started a role as managing editor at Tampa Bay Business & Wealth Magazine in September. The news was announced on his LinkedIn page. Merlis previously wrote for various other local news organizations, covering entrepreneurs, emerging brands and community stories.
Priscilla Wedemeier ’24 was featured on That Entrepreneur podcast, hosted by Vincent Lanci ’13, MBA ’15. In the episode, they speak about how Wedemeier’s involvement in the Future Business Leaders of America helped her become a successful entrepreneur in video production.
Faith Dodge ’25 was the principal female lead in last year’s Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration, which takes place at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Cinderella’s Castle in Disney World. According to a story from her hometown news site in South Plainfield, NJ, this was the second year in a row she played the part.
Michael Generoso ’25 recently completed training at the Tampa Police Academy and was sworn in to the Tampa Police Department.
Right-handed pitcher Anthony Nunez ’25 became the 10th former Spartan baseball player to make the major leagues when he was called up from the Norfolk Tides for the Baltimore Orioles’ opening day roster.
Shane Petagna ’25 started in March as a baseball communications assistant with the Amarillo Sod Poodles, an AA affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, helping with media-related tasks, including writing, editing and more.
Shreyasi Rana ’25 is a research assistant at the Asian Institution of Diplomacy and International Affairs. She recently published opinion articles about public policy issues in Nepal on the myRepublica website.
Sophi Wrisk ’25 was interviewed by ETWN about her athletic career at UTampa and how her faith is a driving force in her life. Wrisk is now an assistant coach for women’s lacrosse at University of North Carolina.