Thursday, May 26, 2011
Last week seemed to be a big one for championships in our area. Pinellas County teams brought home soccer, baseball and basketball state championships.
The West Florida Elite 11-under baseball team won the USSSA boys Florida State Championship May 21-22 in Kissimmee. The team was 6-0 in the tournament and defeated the Daytona Stingrays 8-3 in the championship game. The team is made up of boys ages 9-11 from East Lake and Trinity areas. It also won the USSSA 11-under national championship last fall in Leesburg. Team members are Jon Jon Kostantis, Zach Henderson, Brenden Gerlach, LJ Pratt, Justin Koehler, Colin Wray, Tyler Odak, Kam Volchko, Connor Marley, Logan Ganoe, Derick Stager and Reece Marley.
The 10th-grade Suncoast Basketball Club of Clearwater won the Grade DI state championship last week in Clearwater. The team was 4-0 in the tournament. Team members are Kayla Kivinski, Rachel Boyette, Kaylin Ingram, Neena Pacholke, Reggine Brown and Jamie Appelt. Coaches are Jim Appelt and Aaron Pacholke.
And then there's the Oldsmar Legends under-13 girls soccer team. It qualified for the Florida Youth Soccer Association State Cup final four May 21-22 in Auburndale despite having only 11 players and a losing record in the regular season. After defeating Jacksonville 2-1 in the semifinal, Oldsmar faced Ponte Vedra in the final. Oldsmar won 1-0 to claim the championship. Team members are Allyssa Woodring, Savannah Plentovich, Lauren Dodge, Carly Plentovich, Emily Cady, Elisha Holmes, Abby Harkins, KB Weimer, Kai Greenless, Katie Ernst, Molly Geier, Francesca Mascali and Kathryn Huapaya.
Tennis
In keeping with state championship theme, Pinellas County (Clearwater) won the women's 4.0 championship in Daytona Beach on May 25, defeating Orange/Seminole counties 2-1 in the final. The Pinellas squad was captained by Anne Pulley. Teammates are Debbie Dawson, Sally Marshall, Henriette Skoczen, Nancy Bahls, Leslie Godwin, Deborah McCleery, Marion Murch, Ann Worthington, Sharon Carlile and Sandy Martin. The team advances to the USTA League Senior 3.0 and 4.0 national championships in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Oct. 14-16.
• St. Petersburg's Danielle Collins continues to add to her junior tournament resume. She won the ITF Junior 18-and-under tournament in Fort Lauderdale by defeating Allie Kiick 6-0, 6-2 in the singles final. Collins lost only one set in the tournament. Last week, Collins won two golf balls at the Women's Supernational, also in Fort Lauderdale. She won her singles final 6-3, 6-1 over Sherry Li. In mixed doubles, she teamed with Tampa's Kent Wright to win the championship.
Golf
The County Golf Association held an individual tournament May 19 at Seminole Lake CC. The regular division gross winner was John Lisenbee, who shot 72. The regular division net winner was Mike Zehnder, who shot 60. The senior gross winner was Mark Wheaton, who shot 65. The senior net winner was George Leone, who shot 61.
The CGA's better ball tournament was held May 23 at Isla Del Sol. The regular division gross winners were John Ladd and George Leone, who shot 69. The senior division gross winners were Bobby Kilgore and Mark Wheaton, who shot 66. The overall net winners were Walter Durrett and Bob Lent, who shot 60. The ladies net winners were Karen Engle and Linda Bryan, who shot 66.
Gymnastics
The Gold Medal Gym in Pinellas Park competed in the AAU spring state championships in Tampa on May 7-8. Level 3 winners were Wynn Bryant (vault, bars, overall) and Kira Minor (beam). Level 4 winners were Hannah McAuliffe (beam, floor), Tiffany Bare (vault) and Meghan Hashem (floor). Level 7 winner was Teresa Petroski (beam).
• The Tampa Bay Turners of St. Petersburg competed in the Prep-Op Regional Championship meet April 29-May 1. Winners were Bonnie Barber (beam, all-around), Monica Coundouriotis (vault, all-around), Mina Kim (vault, bars, floor, all-around), Casey McLaughlin (bars, floor) and Melissa Morgan (beam, all-around).
Basketball
The Masters Basketball Association's National Senior Championship was held May 9-14 in Coral Springs. The winning team in the 45-over group was Gulfshore Sports, which defeated South Florida Elite in triple overtime. Two local players were on that team, Jeff Hadden and D.J. Jackson, both of Clearwater.
Bowling
The Gulf Coast USBC Open City Championship was May 14-15 Twedt's Lanes in Seminole. The winning team with a score of 2,905 was Chris Swenton, Timothy Gnauck, James Billera and Jason Krzyzanowski. Doubles winners were April Lewis and Joe Le and Casey Whitlock and Jacob Leach, who rolled 1,494. The singles winner was Jacob Leach, who rolled a 2,386.