Sidelines

By Jen Blanco
| 4:00 a.m. May 21, 2014

East County
Sports

KUDOS
+ Lakewood Ranch High Athletics
Lakewood Ranch High captured its fourth-consecutive overall academic team championship.
The Mustangs scored 133 points to finish first in Class 7A ahead of Tarpon Springs East Lake (122).
The Lakewood Ranch boys weightlifting team finished first in Class 2A with a cumulative team GPA of 3.516. The girls track team ranked first in Class 3A (3.665), while the boys track team placed second (3.423).

+ i9 Sports camp registration ongoing
Registration for i9 Sports multi-sport summer camp has opened.

This year’s camp is open to children ages 5 to 12 and features flag football, soccer, basketball and baseball.

The camp is divided into five sessions: June 10 to 13; June 16 to 20; June 23 to 27; June 30 to July 4; and July 7 to July 11, at St. Mary Magdalene Church, 11315 Palmbrush Trail, Lakewood Ranch. The Sarasota session will be held June 9 to June 13, at Bayside Community Church’s Sarasota campus, 8200 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota.

Lunch, water and Gatorade will be provided.

For more information and to register, visit i9sports.com or call 312-2400.

+ Mustangs set to swing into summer
Lakewood Ranch High will hold its annual summer baseball camp from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 23 to June 27; July 7 to July 11; and Aug. 4 to Aug. 8.

The camp, which is open to children ages 5 to 12, will teach players the fundamentals of baseball, including hitting, fielding, pitching, base running and catching.

Cost is $125 per week with no lunch or $150 with lunch, drink and a snack.

Players should bring baseball equipment, a baseball hat, money for concessions, sunscreen and cleats.
For more information, contact coach Ryan Kennedy at 779-5785 or email [email protected].

+ NBP unveils dragon boat
Nathan Benderson Park unveiled a 40-foot, 1,500-pound pink dragon boat May 10, during the USRowing Southeastern Junior District Championships.

The boat is one of two boats the Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates purchased with funds the Benderson family donated.

The 22-person boat, which will be manned by a local cancer survivors group, will race in the International Breast Cancer Paddlers’ Commission Participatory Dragon Boat Festival in October, at Nathan Benderson Park.

“We are ecstatic about the new boat at Nathan Benderson Park,” says Angela Long, founder of Survivors in Sync. “We have been traveling to Tampa to practice for the last several months, and it has been quite a time commitment.

“Having our team based in Sarasota-Bradenton will allow us to grow the team and attendance in the way we have hoped for,” she says.

+ GSJGA wraps up its winter series
The Greater Sarasota Junior Golf Association closed out its winter series May 18, at the Meadows Country Club.

Kyle Jarrett shot 72 to earn medalist honors.

Individual winners include:
Nine-hole divisions
Girs 10 and Under
Sienna Cassella (49)
Boys 10 and Under
Aaron Setiawan (43)
Finlay Murphy (47)
Thomas Tyler III (48)
Girls 11 and Over
Jackie Putrino (47)
Halie Keech (66)
Lydia Vaccaro (66)
Boys 11 and Over
Oliver Warren (39)
Nolan Laurvick (41)
Carson Enright (41)
18-Hole Divisions
Girls 12 and Under
Sofia Grant (119)
Boys 12 and Under
Matthew de Heus (76)
Jonah Winter (78)
Girls 13 to 15
Katie Kroos-Roberts (81)
Theresa Morrissey (85)
Boys 13 to 15
Kyle Jarrett (72)
Josh Silverman (77)
Girls 16 to 18
Nicole Polivchak (73)
Victoria Cangero (78)
Boys 16 to 18
Jack Cen (73)
Cole Johnson (78)