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Area gymnasts shine at region meet

By EMERY SKOLFIELD
Published April 29, 2007

Members of the Tampa Bay Turners St. Petersburg and LaFleur's (Largo) gymnastics squads were well-decorated at the USA Gymnastics Region VIII Level 8 meet on April 13-15 in Raleigh, N.C.

The Turners' Destiny Ezell won two disciplines - the floor and bars - on her way to posting an aggregate score of 38.700, the highest all-around total in the meet. Ezell joined club teammates Christina Pheil and Kylie Moran on the eight-member Team Florida. Pheil's all-around score of 38.525 was second to Ezell in the seniors division, while Moran was second all-around among juniors.

Taylor King and Kaitlin Green of LaFleur's joined the Turners trio on Team Florida, which beat out squads from Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi. King was third in the seniors all-around, while Green won the beam and was third all-around in the juniors division.

The Turners' Jeanna Cube and McKenzie Lin both won regional bars titles in their respective age divisions.

For LaFleur's, Amanda Condreay won her age group all-around, while Cayla Collins captured the title on the bars.

At the Region VIII Level 9 meet on April 20-22 in Tupelo, Miss., Sarah Zoldos of Oldsmar's Victory Gymnastic Training Center tied for first in her age group all-around with a score of 36.750, winning the floor and placing second on the vault.

Jacob Thurbur (vault) and Nikita Potapov (pommel horse) of the Oldsmar Boys Gymnastics Club each earned regional titles at the Region VIII Men's Championships on April 6-8 in Knoxville, Tenn.

SOCCER: The Countryside Lightning under-12 boys secured their second straight state championship on April 1 with a 3-1 victory over the East Broward United in the title game of the President's Cup in Pensacola.

After winning the Region C championship in late March, the Lightning beat the Ponte Vedra Beach Sharks 3-0 in the semifinals of the President's Cup, which pits the champions from the state's four regions. The Lightning finished the season 39-6-4.

Lightning team members were Jesse Caron, Tanner Harwood, Aaron Banks, David Kuckkahn, Joseph Metzger, Tyler Rorrer, Steven Isenhour, Austin Sweat, Cody Sitton, Wesley Gussman, Jeff George, Cameron Thomas and Brandon Kim. The team was coached by Tom Kuckkahn and Byron Triplett.

SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING: The Largo-based Suncoast Water Works earned several first-place ribbons at the Florida Association meet on April 14-15 in Tallahassee.

In the intermediate category, Athonia Boulieris won the solo and figures competitions in the 11- to 12-year-old division, while Ashley Henry, Amanda Orsagos and Molly Siegel teamed up to win the trio category in the 13-15 division.

Suncoast's advanced of Katy Alexander, Sarah Cookie, Anna Dunwoody, Marissa Foreit, Kimberly Goyack, Emmy Minteer and Shea Souliere also notched victories. Goyack, Cooke and Alexander swept the top three spots in solo competition and joined to win the trio competition.

In the 16-17 age division, the group of Elise Foreit, Laurie Goyack, Katie Nesbit, Jeanine O'Connell and Erin Ritz was victorious in team competition. Foreit, Goyack and Nesbit won the trios.

If you have news for this column, contact Times correspondent Emery Skolfield at (727) 481-2027 or e-mail sptimesyouth@yahoo.com.

[Last modified April 28, 2007, 19:45:55]