Because we spent the last portion of 2011 looking back, let’s spend the first portion of 2012 looking forward.
Here are some burning prep sports questions that are sure to be answered during the next 11 months.
n Will Manatee repeat? The one thing the Hurricanes have never done in their rich history is win consecutive state championships, though they did make back-to-back trips to the state finals in 1992 and ’93.
The 2012 edition of the Hurricanes will have the parts in place to at least make a return trip to the Florida Citrus Bowl a realistic possibility. Aside from quarterback Cord Sandberg and running back Anthony Lauro, the Canes will have their entire defensive line back, as well as offensive linemen such as Kyle Mauk, Michael Galati and Jake Stickler and defensive back Willie Smith, who had a star-making run though the playoffs that included a key interception during the Class 7A state final.
But repeating is never easy, nor is getting chance to repeat: the aforementioned ’93 team is the only Manatee team to play for a state championship a year after the Hurricanes won a state championship. And Class 7A, with the likes of Lakeland, Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas and a Fort Pierce Central team that took Manatee to the limit during this year’s Region 3 final, should be as rugged as ever.
n Will Manatee County’s soccer teams make it four in a row? Hard to believe, but a Manatee County public school soccer team never made a state semifinal until Palmetto reached the Class 4A state final four in 2009.
Well, that was then.
The Tigers returned to the semifinals in 2010, along with Lakewood Ranch’s girls team, and the Saint Stephen’s boys, who won a state title in 2001, represented the private schools and has been there twice in the last three years.
Will someone make it four in a row? This is a question that will be answered rather quickly -- the postseason begins the week of Jan. 16 when the girls start playing their district tournaments.
n Will Manatee’s baseball team build on 2011? Perhaps the hardest thing to do in sports is win when everyone expects you to, which is what the Hurricanes will encounter this spring. A year after winning 22 games and the program’s first regional title since 1963, Manatee returns to G.T. Bray almost complete intact. The Canes will miss Mitchell Shreves, Erik Lindberg and Bryan Voelkl, seniors who were integral in last year’s run. But they return their two top pitchers (Correlle Prime and Scott Kelly), their top two offensive catalysts (Chase and Cord Sandberg) and a pair of sensational identical twins (Trevor and Tyler Beeman). But Manatee also has to wade through a district featuring Sarasota and Venice if they hope to get back to Digital Domain Park, so it should prove to be an interesting spring.
n Can Southeast’s girls keep their streak alive? The Seminoles have won 12 straight girls basketball district championships, an impressive run that faces a stiff challenge now that Southeast is in Class 5A-District 12 along with St. Petersburg Lakewood, which won the Class 4A state title last season, and a tough Gulfport Boca Ciega squad. But Southeast, with four sophomores in the starting lineup, may have turned a huge corner during the Willie Clemons Girls Holiday Basketball Classic, when the Noles rolled to the Seminole Division championship with a convincing win over Tampa Sickles in the finals.
And who can count out a team coached by John Harder?
n What’s next for Lakewood Ranch’s boys golf team? Or, what can you do for an encore after you barnstorm to a state title on the strength of a 103-0 record? It’s a little much to expect the Mustangs to go undefeated yet again, but it’s also wrong to expect a steep plummet. Returning next year should be Ramsey Touchberry, who fired a team-best 151 during the Class 2A state tournament, and Danny Walker, who won a state title as a freshman in 2010.
Not exactly the definition of a bare cupboard.
John Lembo, Herald sports writer, can be reached at 941-745-2097.
