Strong swims by individuals and relay teams produced the first Strawberry Invitational championship for the Dunedin Aquatic Club.
DAC's Morgan Perrotti (6-and-under girls) and Aubrey Haas (8-and-under) received high-point honors. They were joined by Jenny Riley (senior girls), Tony Lombardo (11-12 boys) and his brother, Michael, (6-and-under) with second-place awards. Jordan Schaefer was fifth in the 11-12 girls competition, C.J. Philippe took third in 8-and-under boys, as did Zachary Perrotti in 10-and-under.
"We have always gone to the Strawberry Invitational, and we did well last year," coach Linda Haley said, "but we've never won. I knew we were good this year but never dreamed of winning. We were absolutely thrilled.
"After Saturday's swims, we were first but then fell to fourth after Sunday's morning session," said Haley, in her fourth season with the organization. "The young kids especially did a terrific job in the afternoon, and we returned to first place."
DAC scored 691.5 points, 6.5 more than the Swim Team at Countryside. Tampa Bay Aquatics finished third, East Lake Woodlands fourth, Bardmoor Aquatic Team sixth, Westlake Village Swim Team ninth and Lansbrook Aquatic Club 10th. There were 36 squads with 830 athletes in the meet in Lakeland.
Haley and assistant Kim Thinel stress the basics to their swimmers. "We work on developing good technique from the very start," Haley said. "Without the correct technique at the beginning of a swimmer's learning, the improvement will be limited."
Riley, set to begin her sophomore year at Dunedin High, hadn't planned to compete in Lakeland but was glad she did.
"After I finished first in the 200 backstroke and second in the 400 (individual medley), I thought I had a chance at finishing in the top of the high-pointers," Riley said.
"I got a little lucky, although I had been working hard this summer. When school starts, I'll be practicing for the school team and DAC," she said. "That helped me last year to get to state."
Tony Lombardo, 12, received his first high-point trophy after turning in a second-place performance in the 400 IM and a third in the 200 IM.
"IM has always been my favorite event," Lombardo said. "I especially like the breaststroke and have made a JO cut in it. Now, I'm gearing up for our Sweet September Meet."
The top three high-pointers in each age division of the Strawberry Invitational won trophies. Joining the DAC high-pointers were the following winners: BAT's Amanda Miller (13-14), TBAY's Croy Spencer (6-and-under), ELW's Trevor Ackerman (8-and-under). Finishing second were Carlouel's Abigail Bravo (6-and-under), STAC's Ann O'Connor (10-and-under), ELW's Troy Strominger (8-and-under), TBAY's William Hofrichter (10-and-under) and BAT's Josh Gordon (13-14).
BASKETBALL: The Florida Lady Shockers 15-and-under team won six consecutive games to capture the Youth Basketball of America national championship. In the title matchup with the Tigers from Georgia, Seminole's Allison Fogle connected for a three-pointer at the buzzer to secure a 52-49 victory. She won the YBOA skills contest, and Clearwater's Rachel Hammond received the hustle award. Other local players on the Florida squad are Danielle Kostacky and Nicole Ryan. In this week's Amateur Athletic Union national championship in Virginia, the Shockers advanced to the round of 16 after producing five straight wins. Their streak was snapped in a 59-57 loss to the Texas Lady Jammers.
The Tampa Bay Lady Spirit 12-and-under team won the U.S. Specialty Sports Association state championship with a 78-66 victory over the Palm Beach Extreme in the final. The Spirit qualified for this month's AAU nationals in Louisiana, where it lost its first two games to squads ranked among the nation's top 12. Area players include Seminole's Haylee Hehl, St.Petersburg's Laura Grace Hodupp and Belleair's Chelsea Wozniak. Tampa Bay's coach is Alan Wozniak.
The Tampa Bay Spirit 9-and-under boys played to the AAU and USSSA state championships. Team members are Tommy Bianchi, Elias Chaconas, Sean Culkin, T.J. Doganiero, Austin Kinnear, Kevin McKnight, Dallas Moore, Brian Pegg, Chris Skuklek and Jordan Strawberry. Dexter Moore is the coach.
DIVING: National qualifiers for the U.S. Diving Junior Olympic Summer Nationals, Thursday-Aug.8 in Coral Springs, include Austin Hampton, Alex Tilbrook and Katie and Amanda Smolen. To secure a berth, Hampton placed third on the 16-18 platform and sixth on the 1 meter in the U.S. JO Diving Zone B Meet, Tilbrook was fifth on 16-18 3 meter, Katie Smolen eighth on 14-15 platform and Amanda Smolen fifth on 16-18 platform. Hampton trains with the JetStream in Brandon. Tilbrook and the Smolen sisters work out with West Florida Lightning Aquatic.
Others finishing in the top 10 at the zone meet were WFLA divers Cody Dodds (eighth on 14-15 platform, ninth 3 meter), Katie Zuccolo (seventh on 16-18 platform) and Kaci Ressler (eighth on 16-18 platform).
Earlier this month, athletes competed in the U.S. Diving JO Region 7 Meet in Moultrie, Ga. Top-10 placements were produced by D.J. Jones (11-and-under 1 and 3 meter), David Peckman (11-and-under 1 and 3 meter), Jessica Rettig (14-15 1 meter), Katie Smolen (14-15 1 and 3 meter), Dodds (14-15 1 and 3 meter), Kaila Johnston (16-18 3 meter), Ryan Troup (1 meter) and Tilbrook (16-18 1 and 3 meter).
SWIMMING: Two local swimmers set Junior Olympic records in the JO Championships in Orlando. A mark was surpassed by Tampa Bay Aquatics' Chelsea Nauta in the girls 13-14 200-meter freestyle with a time of 2:06.22. West Florida Lightning Aquatics' Matthew Thompson established two records, in the boys 10-and-under 200-meter free, 2:17.15; and 400 free, 4:44.32. Tampa Bay was runner-up to champion Y Team Orlando. St.Petersburg Aquaticsfinished seventh, West Florida 10th and Clearwater Aquatic Team 14th. Thompson and Nauta were high-point winners in their respective age divisions. Other local top high-point performers were TBAY's Megan Rossi, tied for fifth, and Halee Spencer, seventh, in 10-and-under; SPA's Megan Romano, fourth in 11-12; WFLA's Christine Thompson, third, and SPA's Stase Michota, sixth, in 13-14. WFLA's Claire Thompson placed seventh in 13-14. SPA's Cameron Chambers tied for eighth in boys 11-12, and TBAY's Tommy Wyher captured a share of fifth in 13-14.
CHEERLEADING: The Clearwater Central Catholic varsity cheerleaders won the cheer trophy and were runners-up in extreme dance in a camp at Central Florida. The CCC team was Camp Champs and will perform in the pregame show of the Capitol One Bowl in Orlando on New Year's Day. Brianna Mattox and Rachel Replogle were selected for the camp's all-star squad. The other CCC members are Andrea Raffinan, Jessica Ogle, Jackie Avril, Allison Goss, Melissa Hodge, Kristie Horton, Karrah Nobel, Carlin Huenke and Rachel Gayton. The team is coached by Marreen Majer.
MARTIAL ARTS: Justin Searcy won sparring, forms and weapons divisions in the Universal Martial Arts Hall of Fame in Houston. Joining Searcy from Kick, Inc. in Tarpon Springs with first-place awards were Chris Zervos (forms and weapons), Emmanuel Psomas (forms/sparring), Raymond Spackman (forms/sparring), Raymond Fernandez (sparring/forms), Montana Searcy (forms/weapons), Ramon Fernandez (forms) and Jeremy Spackman (forms). Second-place performances were turned in by Montana Searcy (sparring), Raymond Fernandez (weapons), Evan Sigmund (weapons/forms), Raymond Spackman (weapons), Jeremy Spackman (forms), Kayla Spackman (forms) and Psomas (weapons). Sigmund was third in sparring, as was Jeremy Spackman in weapons and Kayla Spackman in sparring. Zervos took fourth in sparring. The students are trained by Grand Master Jack Searcy, a 10th-degree black belt.
