Novice Scullers get early tuneup in Orlando

The Sarasota Scullers had rowers competing in nine events at the Novice Regatta in Orlando. Seven of those competitions yielded medals for the Scullers.

The first spring regatta of the season for the Sarasota Scullers Youth Rowing Team was a rousing success with two gold medals, four silvers and a bronze. The two other entries finished fourth.

Sarasota’s men’s freshman 2x and women’s novice 2x each won their heats and posted the fastest overall times in the field to take gold. The women’s freshman 8+, women’s novice 8+, men’s novice 2x B-boat and men’s freshman 4+ all won silver. The Scullers’ men’s novice 8+ took home Sarasota’s bronze.

“I’m extremely pleased with the results today,” Scullers coach Laura Brown said in a release. “It was a strong start for our sprint season and I am excited to see us continue to gain speed throughout the upcoming season.”

The Novice Regatta is limited to first-year and freshman rowers to give them an early chance against similar level competition before the competitive season truly kicks off in the spring. Sarasota will be back in action Saturday for the American Youth Cup I at Nathan Benderson Park.

Club lacrosse

While some of the private schools have picked up boys lacrosse as a varsity sports in recent years — and even Riverview High School in Sarasota is starting its second season — public school lacrosse in Manatee County is still limited to the club scene, and Manatee Express is fresh off its first win of the year.

The Express bounced back from a season-opening blowout loss to IMG Academy with a 14-8 win against the Palm Harbor Canes on Sunday in Palm Harbor. LaxPower.com’s computer rankings, which don’t factor in Manatee’s loss to IMG, rank the Express as the No. 2 club team in Florida behind only Ocala.

Manatee moves into a bye week, though, and won’t return to action until Feb. 25, when the Express travels up to New Port Richey to face Mitchell, which is ranked No. 7 by LaxPower.

USTA senior tourney

Four Manatee County tennis players shared the court for the men’s 55 doubles championship of the West Coast Super Senior Grand Prix in Sarasota, and the tandem from Bradenton and Anna Maria pulled out a straight-sets win Friday.

Bradenton’s Greg High and Anna Maria’s Robert Taylor topped Robert Congdon, also of Bradenton, and Cortez’s Jeff Davis, 6-3, 6-2, in the final match at Payne Park.

The only other winner from the area in the men’s senior tournament came in the 85 singles division, where Longboat Key’s David Seifer took down fellow Longboat resident Leonard Lawrence, 6-2, 6-2, on Friday at Payne.

Annual fishing tourney returns

The Palmetto High School football program will host a fundraising fishing tournament for the third straight year, April 7-8. The tournament, which raises money for the Palmetto High Athletic Booster Club, will have more details available in the coming months at PalmettoHighSports.com.

This story was originally published February 13, 2017 at 9:04 PM with the headline "Novice Scullers get early tuneup in Orlando."