SIDELINES

+ Lady Cougars silence Lady Thunder
The Cardinal Mooney volleyball team defeated The Out-of-Door Academy 25-18, 19-25, 25-19, 26-24 in district action Sept. 20.

Natalie Buffett finished with 18 kills, and Monica Costa added 19 assists, 17 digs and seven kills to lead the way for ODA. Gabriella Costa finished with 11 kills and nine blocks, and Haley Preininger had 22 assists.

+ Sarasota boys finish fourth at North Port Invitational
The Sarasota High boys cross-country team scored 88 points to finish fourth at the North Port Invitational Sept. 22.

Courtland Bernard finished third in 15:58.40 to lead the way for the Sailors. Zackery Summerall finished 12th in 16:26.60, followed by Adam Bradtmueller (16th, 16:37.80), Ian Hull (19th, 16:43.20) and Warran Grajalez (29th, 17:05.10).

Cardinal Mooney’s Cal Davidson Turner finished ninth (17:30.80) in the small-school boys varsity division, and ODA’s Peter Runge was 11th in 17:45.60.

Sarasota’s Angelina Grebe finished 11th (19:37.20) in the large-school girls varsity division, and Cardinal Mooney’s Grace Casagrande finished eighth (20:43.10) in the small-school girls varsity division.

+ Sarasota Sailors fall to Southeast Seminoles
The Sarasota High football team fell to Southeast 34-31 in overtime Sept. 21.

The Sailors (2-2) took a 31-28 lead on Ian Grubb’s 25-yard field goal in overtime before Southeast found the end zone on its ensuing possession.

Hunter DeWitt connected with Shawn Bane Jr. for a 16-yard touchdown to tie the game at 28-28 and send it into overtime.

Sarasota returns to action Oct. 5 in its district opener at Venice.

+ Cougars suffer first loss
The Cardinal Mooney High football team fell to Lemon Bay 27-18 Sept. 21 for its first loss of the season.
Playing without their top two running backs, Anthony Caiazzo and Demardre Patterson, the Cougars turned to the arm of sophomore quarterback Reese Vita.

Vita connected with Eric Kreger for a 4-yard score and Elijah Toussaint for the two-point conversion. Alex Sobczak added a touchdown, and Blake Young kicked his fifth field goal of the season.

Cardinal Mooney returns to action Sept. 28 verses Clearwater Central Catholic.

+ Lady Pirates hold off Lady Sailors
The Sarasota High volleyball team fell to Braden River 26-24, 27-29, 25-23, 25-18 Sept. 24.
Lauren Hochstetler finished with 18 kills, and Genevieve Rowe added 11 kills and a block to lead the way for the Lady Sailors. Kendall Wild had four aces and two kills, and Emily Harding had 28 assists.

+ Area swimmers compete in Tarpon Invitational
The Riverview High boys swim team scored 229.5 points to finish fourth at the Tarpon Invitational Sept. 22.
Sarasota finished seventh (151), followed by Booker in 14th (32) and Sarasota Christian in 16th (6).
On the girls’ side, Riverview finished 11th with 43 points, followed by Booker in 13th (7) and Sarasota Christian in 15th (4.5).

The Rams were without several of their top performers who were on various recruiting trips.
Riverview’s Natalie Hegwein finished first in the 100 freestyle, and her brother, Karl, was first in the 100 breaststroke.

Other top performers included: Riverview’s Vanessa Knoch, Rachel O’Grady and Molly Riesenber; Booker’s Grace DiMeo; and Sarasota’s Samantha Cahoone and Tess Davis.