Northpinellas: 2002 was a success

2002: The Year in Review

2002 was a success

By NANCY MORGAN

The year was filled with honors and accomplishments. Here are some of the highlights:

BASEBALL: Molly McKesson, 16, was selected for Team USA a second straight year. The squad won a bronze medal in the Women's International Baseball Association World Series. In the game against Canada, McKesson pitched a no-hitter through six innings and recorded nine strikeouts in a 10-0 win. BASKETBALL: The Clearwater Green Wave girls placed second in the AAU state tournament in the under-11 and -14 divisions and were fourth in U-10. Each squad advanced to nationals. ... The Clearwater Lady Heatwave qualified for the Youth Basketball of America national competition after finishing fourth at state. The team tied for 13th in the nation.

BOYS GYMNASTICS: Apollo School of Gymnastics athletes Jackson Sterling, Jordan Loscalzo and Grant Brittain advanced to regional competition. Loscalzo and Sterling placed first all-around in Class 5. Brittain was fourth. ... Apollo's Class 7 squad -- led by Chris Wheeler, Clark Morrison, Travis Lombardi and Colton Janssen -- was seventh in the USAG State Championships.

CHEERLEADING: Varsity champions in the Suncoast Youth Football Conference Cheeroff were the Pinellas Park Thunderbirds (Flyweights), Clearwater Jr. Tornadoes (Mighty Mites), Northeast Bandits (Pee Wees) and Countryside Jr. Cougars (Midgets). In junior varsity competition, Northeast No. 1 took the Flyweights small team and Countryside No. 1 large team. Dunedin won the Mighty Mites small and Countryside No. 2 large. Countryside No. 1 topped the Pee Wees small and Dunedin No. 1 large. Countryside won the Midgets. The St. Pete L'il Devils took the Pinellas Youth Football Conference varsity Mighty Mites, Pee Wees and Midgets crowns and the Lakewood Jr. Spartans the Flyweights. JV champs included St. Pete No. 1 (Flyweights and Mighty Mites) and St. Pete (Midgets). Largo won the Flag division. In the Pasco Police Athletic League, the East Lake Eagles won the JV division, was second in Flyweights and Mighty Mites and third in varsity. ... The Indian Rocks Christian School captured a national title in the Fellowship of Christian Cheerleaders competition.

DIVING: Austin Hampton and Alex Tillbrook qualified for the Junior Olympics National Championships in the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform events. Regional performances advanced Hampton to the U.S. Winter Nationals, in which he finished fourth in the 1- and 3-meter. ... Kaila Johnston, Jessica Rettig, Josh Marston and Cody Dodds qualified for the Summer Region Championships 1-meter competition. Dodds also made it in the 3 meter.

FOOTBALL: Clearwater won the SYFC Flyweights and Pee Wees, Countryside took its third straight Mighty Mites title and Northeast collected the Midgets trophy. The Gibbs Jr. Gladiators capped an impressive season with PYFC championships in the Flyweights and Mighty Mites divisions. St. Pete captured the Pee Wees title and the Manatee Mustangs the Midgets crown. The East Lake Eagles finished second in Flyweights and Mighty Mites of the PPAL and topped the junior varsity competition. In other JV action, Gibbs No. 2 won the PYFC Flyweights and Gibbs No. 2 the Mighty Mites. Palmetto captured the Midgets. Countryside won the SYFC's Flyweights with its No. 1 squad, the Mighty Mites with No. 3 and Pee Wees with No. 2. Dunedin took the Midgets. In a Pinellas County playoff, Gibbs won the Flyweights and Mighty Mites, Clearwater the Pee Wees and Manatee the Midgets to advance to the Game Day of Champions at Raymond James Stadium. Gibbs then beat Hillsborough's counterpart in the Flyweights and Mighty Mites, as did Clearwater in the Pee Wees and Manatee in the Midgets.

GIRLS GYMNASTICS: LaFleur's of Largo won the state's Level 7 championship, led by top all-around performances from Jordyn Wright and Kaitlin Doulou. Impressive showings were turned in by Jaime Applefield, Nicole Abdo, Ashley Strong, Kailey Comparetto, Marissa Tomilonus, Lisa Leone and Alex Smith-Prance. Bayside's Caitlin Wright finished first.

Advancing to Level 8 regional competition were Bayside's Jenna Paul, Danielle Carey and Crysta Huszai; LaFleur's Briana Melander and Natalie Garcia; and the Tampa Bay Turners' Brittany Hunt, Natalie Mera, Casey Dillinger, Alyssa Adrian, Jordann Windschauer, Lindsay Weber, Lisa Taylor and Katie Bennett. Level 9 qualifiers included Apollo's Catherine Kelley, the Turners' Lauren McTaggert, Christine Girard, Jenny Citrin, Sarah Brownlee, Alyssa Harmon and Natalie Hussung; LaFleur's Alyssa Wright, Elizabeth Hermann, Whitney Eberhardt and Jennifer Voynovich; and Gemini's Toni Burney. Moving on from Level 10 were LaFleur's Jodie Heinicka; and the Turners' Lauren Bernloehr, Emily Earle, Terin Martinjak, Cameron Logan, Brett Taylor, Jessica Beckman, Danielle Holtz and Kaylene Sattano.

Receiving national berths were LaFleur's Eberhardt, Hermann and Heinicka; and Tampa Bay's Harmon, Brownlee, Citrin, Sattano, Beckman, Holtz, Logan and Martinjak.

LaFleur's captured its fourth straight Level 5 title with top performances from Kaley LaFleur, Taylor Sides, Megan VonStetina, Jessica Bunn and Rachel Crouch. LaFleur's claimed the Level 4 crown. It was led by Carly Tidwell, Amanda Condreay, Mikayla Mann, Amanda Oliveira, Christine Miles, Jessica Griswald and Michelle Watts. Gemini was fifth.

At the AAU State Championships, Medalist's Lynn Burton was first all-around in Level 5, as was Apollo's Sally Rae Fix. Apollo was the runner-up. JUDO: Kirk Hoffman earned a bronze medal in the national championships.

SOCCER: Florida Youth Soccer Association Region C champions included the girls Largo Wolves under-10, Countryside Lightning U-12 and Palm Harbor Nighthawks U-15 teams and the boys Belleair Blast U-11, Palm Harbor U-10 and Strictly Soccer U-10 squads. ... Largo's under-17 boys won their division in the President's Cup. The Countryside U-12 girls earned a second trophy in the tournament. ... Seven squads qualified for the FYSA State Cup, including the girls Countryside under-14, Clearwater Chargers U-15, -16 and -19 and St. Pete Raiders U-14 clubs. Boys teams included the under-19 Chargers. The Chargers' under-19 girls finished first, advancing to the Southern Regional. SWIMMING: The Westlake Village team captured its fourth straight Pinellas Aquatic League championship, and Countryside Country Club retained its Private Club League crown. ... Clearwater Aquatic Team member Jay Carpenter received USA High School All-American honorable-mention recognition. ... Florida Swimming selected Chelsea Nauta, Stephanie Margalis, Megan Romano, Clay Bullock and Carpenter as swimmers of the year.

SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING: Suncoast WaterWorks members Rachel Rooth, Nichole Lee, Andrea Patterson, Andrea Apple, Caitlin Carey, Darcee Kingsley, Jamie Freshour and Meredith Cooke qualified for the Senior Zone Championships. Rooth, Lee, Patterson, Cooke and Freshour also received a Junior Nationals berth.

TAEKWONDO: State gold medalists Lauren Clark, Nickalaus Clark and Matthew Merwin; silver winners Travis Chung, Sarah Collins, Lynsey Crandall, Alexis Haley and Jeremy Williams; and bronze medalists Ashley Dochinez, Jessica Rountree and Joey Vanderbleek qualified for the U.S. Junior Olympics. Nickalaus Clark and Vanderbleek earned silver medals in forms, and C.J. Bennet took silver in sparring. ... Christopher Ruland, 7, won the sparring and fighting title in the AAU National Championships.

TWIRLERS: Allie and Jennifer George were selected for the majorette team of the Florida State Marching Chiefs band. ... Deb's All-Stars Twirling Academy students won the Drum Majorettes of America National Championships.