Manatee County teams shine at Pop Warner cheer championships

The Manatee Wildcats have earned a reputation for Pop Warner Little Scholars cheerleading excellence in Manatee County. The Wildcats are perennial contenders to win the FYD Tampa Bay division and place well enough in the region to qualify for nationals. Last Friday, though, was unprecedented even for Manatee’s recent history.

After finishing second in the region, Bradenton’s Wildcats locked up second in the nation with their final score of 80.20 out of 100 at the Division 2 junior varsity large national championship in Orlando. Manatee finished only behind Deltona’s West Volusia Wolves, who also edged the Wildcats to win the region last month. The Wolves posted a score of 82.02.

“It doesn’t often happen like that,” Manatee assistant coach Dawn Lewicki said of the repeat 1-2 finishes, “but actually it was, and it was another team in Florida here, so that’s good, too.”

The Wildcats were the top finishers from the county during a week of competition at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The Palmetto Trojans posted a pair of top-five finishes in poms Thursday, finishing third in the varsity division with 74.30 and fifth in junior pee wee with 70.94. San Antonio’s Holy Cross Knights won the varsity division with 77.20 points and the East Orange Junior Jaguars of New Jersey won junior pee wee with 76.02.

For Manatee, though, this may only be a piece of a successful run, rather than the peak of it. The Wildcats only have five players aging out of its age window. When Manatee returns to the field in the fall they will once again be a national title contender.

“We’ve been contenders since I’ve been coaching and the head coach, Tangie (Charlton) has been coaching. We haven’t ever placed second place, but every year things change,” Lewicki said. “These girls—they get a lot of credit because they learn to do these things—our season’s only four months long—fairly quickly.”

Ross Knowles, Patricia Bond lead local medalists at Senior Games

The Florida Senior Games’ archery and swimming competitions were contested during the weekend, and Ross Knowles was Manatee County’s big winner. The 60-year-old from Parrish took home five swimming medals, including four gold, in Clearwater.

Knowles, who competed in the 60-64 division, won the 50-yard freestyle, backstroke and butterfly races, plus the 100-yard individual medley. Knowles also finished second in the 100 freestyle. He was one of four swimmers from the county to win four gold medals. Bradenton’s Patricia Bond did the same in the 75-79 division.

The 78-year-old won her medals in slightly longer swims, winning the 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, 200-yard freestyle and 200 backstroke. Bradenton’s Renee McFadden and Jan Miller rounded out the area’s medalists. McFadden, who swam in the 50-54 division, finished second in 100 butterfly and third in 50 fly. Miller, who competed in 70-74, finished second in 200 free.

Manatee County archers also accounted for a trio of medals. Bradenton’s Larry Pettit finished second in the 60 division recurve event, Ron Fulmer finished second in the 70 compound release and Alex Donatelli finished third in the 80 compound.

Lakewood Ranch women win USTA state title

Lakewood Ranch Athletic Center has a state champion. The women’s 7.5 division team claimed the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Florida Combo 50 and Over League Sectional Championships on Saturday in Daytona Beach.

The Lakewood Ranch doubles team won two of the three championship matches against the Fort King Municipal Tennis Center team from Ocala. Lorraine Varone and Karen Nicholson won the top doubles match, and Mary Hennessy and Marcia Caplan won as the No. 3 team.

Renegades finish second in Clearwater

Renegades Baseball Club will enter the United States Specialty Sports Association Winter World Series at the end of the month coming off a runner-up performance. The Bradenton Suncoast Travel Ball (STB) club finished second in the 13 and under open division at the first Bay Area Toys for Tots STB tournament this weekend.

Renegades Baseball cruised into Sunday’s championship with a bye and a semifinal blowout, but fell to Tampa’s Chain Florida, 12-3, during the final round at the Sid Lickton Complex in Clearwater.

The STB winter season concludes with the United States Specialty Sports Association Winter World Series from Dec. 28-31 in Kissimmee.

This story was originally published December 12, 2016 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Manatee County teams shine at Pop Warner cheer championships."