Islander earns USA Triathlon honors
Holmes Beach resident Sandy Meneley recently was named as USA Triathlon All-American for 2015 in the triathlon and the duathlon.
Meneley was ranked first nationally in the duathlon — run, bike, run — and eighth nationally in the triathlon — swim, bike, run — in her 65-69 age group.
She’s competed in many local events and in numerous events in other states and earned these first-place finishes in her age group:
• St. Jude Marathon: 4:10.
• Anna Maria Island Dolphin Dash 5K: 23:47.
• Gasparilla 15K: 1:15.
• First Watch Sarasota Half Marathon: 1:54.
• Robinson Preserve 10K: 49:06.
• Run for Turtles 5K: 25:36.
• Irongirl Half Marathon: 1:49.
Meneley is coached by daughter Lesley Brainard, who lives in Memphis, Tennessee.
Some competitions bring mother and daughter together and they often share successes, with mom winning the grandmasters (over age 50) and daughter taking the top spot in the masters (over age 40).
They ran the St. Jude Marathon in Nashville, Tennessee, and both qualified for the Boston Marathon for 2017.
Meneley plans to compete in the Fort Desoto Duathlon, Memphis in May Triathlon, Half Ironman, TopGun Triathlon and the National Long Course Championship Triathlon in Miami in the coming months.
She’s been running since she was about 30, added swimming when she moved to Florida in 2002 and added biking when she started training for triathlons.
She currently trains as many as seven hours a day, depending on the race ahead.
She travels with husband Fuzz, her race photographer.
The former school teacher and track coach said she enjoys the triathlon and duathlon because each competition presents unknown obstacles.
Youth soccer continues
The youth soccer league at The Center of Anna Maria Island completed its second week of action. The 8-10 division has a pair of unbeaten teams sitting atop the standings, with Wash Family Construction in first place with a 3-0 record, closely followed by The Feast at 2-0. John Damato R.E. follows with an 0-2-1 with Blue Lagoon Landscaping at 0-1-1 and Lux Carts at 0-2 completing the division standings.
In action May 2, The Feast doubled up on Lux Carts by a 6-3 score during 8-10 division action on May 2. Elec Brisson, Anthony Nguyen and Jackson Kruse scored 2 goals apiece to lead The Feast’s offensive output. Jackson Pakbaz scored 2 goals and Lawson Francis added 1 goal to lead Lux Carts in the loss.
The Feast got another win May 3 when they shutout Blue Lagoon Landscaping by a 3-0 score. Anthony Nguyen, Jackson Kruse and Kendall Rice each tallied single goals for the victors.
Wash Construction outlasted John Damato R.E. in the second match of the evening behind 5 goals from Riley Lawson. Phillipe Baumgartner scored 2 goals to lead Damato, which received a goal each from Jack Mattick and Frankie Coleman in the loss.
In the three-team 11-13, Coldwell Banker and Sugar Beach Digital tied with matching 1-0-1 records followed by 0-2 Beach Bums after last week’s action.
Coldwell Banker earned a 4-1 victory over Beach Bums during 11-13 division action May 3. Jackson Hayes led the way with 3 goals, while Tyler Brewer added 1 goal. Daniel Sentman scored the goal for Beach Bums in the loss.
May 4 action was rained out.
Adult spring soccer kicks off
The spring adult soccer kicked off last week with four games played May 5. They had a great turnout of adult players, with nine teams in the league.
The action got started with Slim’s Place earning a 5-2 victory over Jiffy Lube behind 2 goals from James Lynch and single goals from Matt Kretzman, Sean Sanders and Zach Schield. Danny Anderson led Jiffy Lube with 2 goals in the loss.
The second game saw Eason Builders edge Blake Hospital No. 2 by a 2-1 score behind a goal each from Austin Wash and Kim Dean. Jermais Gramajo notched the lone goal for Blake Hospital in the loss.
Ross Built destroyed Blake Hospital No. 1 10-3 behind a pair of hat tricks from Mike Vitori and Connor Bystrom. Chase Bennion led Blake Hospital No. 1 with 3 goals in the loss.
Moss Builders shutout Island Pest Control 3-0 to round out week one action behind a goal apiece from Kate Serdy, Olaf Krause and Aaron Parkin.
The regular season continues until June 30 with the playoffs and the chase for the Island Cup concluding July 21. Stay tuned!
Horseshoe news
Three teams emerged from pool play during May 7 horsehoe action at the Anna Maria City Hall horseshoe pits. The team of Jerry Disbrow and Hank Huyghe drew the bye into the finals and watched as Steve Doyle and Tim Sofran edged Dom Livedoti and Karl Thomas by a 21-19 score. The finals weren’t so close as Disbrow and Huyghe rolled to a 23-8 victory to earn the day’s bragging rights.
Play gets under way at 9 a.m. Wednesday and Saturday at the Anna Maria City Hall pits. Warmups begin at 8:45 a.m. followed by random team selection. There is no charge to play and everyone is welcome.
Key Royale golf news
The Key Royale Club men hit the links twice on May 2. The morning saw them play a two best balls of foursome match. The team of Wade Ladue, Al Kaiser, Art Hibbs and Paul Proxy combined on a 15-under-par 49 to earn clubhouse bragging rights for the day. Second place went to the team of Matt Behan, Bruce Allan, Charlie Porter and Jim Dunne with a score of 12-under-par 52.
Later in the day, the men took to the course for a nine-hole modified-Stableford System or quota-points match. Jon Holcomb carded a plus-4 to take individual honors, one point ahead of Fred Miller who was alone in second place.
The team of Bill Lowman, Ken Newbold, Larry Pippel and Earl Ritchie won the team event with a -1.
Key Royale Club is offering summer memberships through Oct. 30.