How did Manatee County’s runners fare in the Boston Marathon?

Five athletes from Manatee County ran the Boston Marathon on Monday, and Palmetto’s Noelle Cartier led the pack of locals. The 42-year-old from Palmetto, who is a senior client specialist at Robert W. Baird & Co. in Sarasota, finished the marathon in 3:45:14 to finish 11,274th overall, 3,494th among women and 562nd in her division.

Not far behind her was Bradenton’s Rae Ann Darling Reed. The 43-year-old is the head cross country coach at Manatee High School and crossed the finish line in 3:49:17 to finish 12,517th overall, 4,171st among women and 703rd in her division.

Jennifer Tullio, a 45-year-old from the county, finished 815th in the division with a time of 4:00:42. She also finished 15,783rd overall and 5,974th in her gender.

Rebecca Cosgrove, a 51-year-old dietician from Bradenton, was the last woman to run. She finished in 4:13:40 to take 642nd in her division, 18,164th overall and 7,392nd among women.

The lone male from the area to run in Boston was Parrish’s Greg Schultz. The 56-year-old just cracked the four-hour mark with a time of 3:59:24 to finish 15,365th overall, 9,673rd among men and 870th in his division.

The overall winner at the marathon was Kenya’s Geoffrey Kirui, who finished in 2:09:37. Oregon’s Galen Rupp took second with a time of 2:09:58. The top woman was Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat, who finished in 2:21:52. Oregon’s Jordan Hasay was the top American woman, finishing third in her gender at 2:23:00.

Local teams take runner-up spots

Seventeen United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) state championships across five age divisions were handed out last weekend at the Florida USSSA State Championship and, although Manatee County left without any state titles, four local teams reached the final games in their division.

The local tournament, with games staged across Bradenton, Palmetto and Sarasota, ran from April 7-9, leading into a two-week break for Suncoast Travel Ball (STB) as the spring season rolls into its final two months.

Both the Florida Burn and Rebels Baseball made their pushes to the final in the open division’s top bracket. The Rebels, who draw players from both Sarasota and Bradenton, took down Orlando Scorpions West 2021 in the opening round, then Tampa Arsenal 14U in the semifinals to meet Hit Factory Pros in the final before Hit Factory, from Tampa, pulled out a 9-7 win.

In 13U open, the Burn rallied all the way from a spot in a play-in game to reach the final. Florida Burn 13U opened with a win against Rebels Baseball, then a blowout of Parrish’s Scrappers Baseball and another win against Ostingers Baseball Academy 13U from Lithia to reach the final before falling to the Tampa Bay area’s Kangaroo Court Roos, 8-6, in the championship game.

The Florida Surge and Cortez Stone Crabs were both runners-up in AA divisions. The Stone Crabs fell 16-9 to Fort Myers’ Gulf Coast Waves in the 12U AA final and the Surge also fell to the Waves, 11-3 in the 11U AA championship game.

STB returns to Bradenton and Sarasota on Friday for the third annual Spring Classic Select 30 Super NIT. Games will be played through Sunday in Bradenton, Palmetto and Sarasota with age groups range from 8U-14U.

This story was originally published April 17, 2017 at 5:27 PM with the headline "How did Manatee County’s runners fare in the Boston Marathon?."