After regional Envirothon events, teams plan for state competition

BRADENTON -- About 80 students representing seven Manatee and Sarasota county high schools competed at Oscar Scherer State Park in Osprey at the annual Manasota Regional Envirothon.

The Envirothon is an outdoor environmental team competition for high school students, testing their knowledge of aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife, and this year's topic 'Invasive Species'.

Placing first for Manatee County was the team named 'Those Who Shall Not Be Named' from Manatee High School. In second place was team 'Golfwang' from Manatee High School. Palmetto High School's team 'Enviro Tigers' placed third.

Team 'Sandhill Cranes' from Riverview High School placed first for Sarasota County. 'Corn Stars' from Sarasota High School finished 2nd, and Riverview High School's 'The Spoonbills' placed 3rd.

First place teams from each county are eligible to compete in the State Envirothon to be held in April at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Top teams from each state will compete in the North American Envirothon during the summer at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

Manatee River Soil and Water Conservation District along with Sarasota Soil and Water Conservation District sponsor the competition. Lunch was donated by the Manatee Fish and Game Association and prepared by the Florida Forest Service. The Mosaic Company and Sarasota County Farm Bureau sponsored the event t-shirts and Keep Manatee Beautiful sponsored the awards for Manatee County students.

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 11:37 PM with the headline "After regional Envirothon events, teams plan for state competition ."