Fall sports roundup: Manatee football teams make playoffs, golfers in FL championship
As the high school fall sports season winds down, several Manatee County teams and student athletes are headed to playoffs and championships.
Three public school football teams have a chance to win a state championship this year. Manatee is the No. 1 seed in Class 5A-Region 3. The Hurricanes host Largo Pinellas Park in a regional quarterfinal Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Palmetto is the No. 2 seed and Parrish Community is the No. 5 seed in 6A-Region 3. Palmetto plays Largo, while Parrish is on the road against New Port Richey Mitchell.
Individual sports such as golf and cross country have state tournaments over the next week, while swimming and diving has concluded its season.
So has volleyball, while football teams are gearing up for the playoffs after the Florida High School Athletic Association recently unveiled brackets.
Here’s a look at other fall sports for 2024:
Volleyball
It was a quick playoff run for girls volleyball teams this fall.
Parrish and Lakewood Ranch exited in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs. Braden River was eliminated in the first round of the 5A playoffs. And Bradenton Christian was bounced in the first round of the 2A playoffs.
Golf
Lakewood Ranch’s boys team won its regional tournament to qualify for the Class 3A state tourney. It was the Mustangs’ third-consecutive regional title. Team members include Parker Severs, Henry Burbee, Brett Traver, Owen Gellatly and Luke Wilson.
Lakewood Ranch took second place in the state last year. This year’s tournament is Nov. 19-20.
Parrish Community’s Alex Angelo advanced to the 3A state tournament as an individual qualifier.
On the girls side, Parrish Community made it as a team after winning the 3A-Region 3 tournament. Team members include Natalie Angelo, Avery Banfill, Olivia Agate, Stefani Cannon and Maya Krone. Lakewood Ranch also qualified after taking third in regionals. Team members include Phoenix Scanlan, Wilda Kuang, Emily Storm, Emma Albert and Jayci Vaniel.
Palmetto’s Skye Foos advanced as an individual. The tournament is Nov. 19-20.
Braden River’s Taryn Nguyen made the girls 2A state tournament, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, as an individual.
Saint Stephen’s Eddie Gu and Chase Nicks qualified for the 1A boys state tournament as individuals. The tournament began Tuesday and finishes Wednesday.
The state golf tournament is held at Mission Inn Resort and Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, a town about 40 miles northwest of Orlando.
Cross country
Lakewood Ranch’s boys cross country team took fifth in the Class 4A-Region 3 meet on Nov. 9 in North Port to advance to Saturday’s state meet. Derek Robinson, Vayle Johnson, Vincente Rivera, Dylan Johnson, Jonathan Leatt, Jacob Gomez and Colton Prater are team members.
In Class 1A, Saint Stephen’s junior Austin Carr placed ninth in the regional meet with a time of 17 minutes, 35 seconds to qualify as an individual in Saturday’s state meet. The top eight teams and top four finishers not on a qualifying team advance to the state meet, according to the Florida High School Athletic Association’s handbook.
The state meet for all classes is held at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.
Swimming and diving
Two of the state’s four classifications have completed state championship meets.
In Class 4A, Lakewood Ranch swimmers competed and had the following finishes:
- Payton Griffin, a junior, finished ninth in the girls 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5 minutes, 3.61 seconds and made the 200-yard freestyle preliminaries.
- Zharra Conner, a junior, made the prelims in the girls 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly.
- Daniel Snitkovsky, a sophomore, finished ninth in the boys 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 13th in the boys 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1 minute, 55.78 seconds.
- Reese Messal, a senior, took 16th place in the girls 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 8.87 seconds.
In Class 3A, swimmers from multiple schools finished as follows:
- Braden River senior Sydney Koshinski placed seventh in the girls 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.39 seconds, seventh in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.98 seconds.
Class 1A and 2A are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Florida Aquatics Swimming & Training (FAST) in Ocala.
