Athletes representing Diocese of Venice Catholic schools have been making a great showing in the respective sports at the regional and state levels.
Donahue Academy of Ave Maria Catholic School Shamrocks are the 2021 Sunshine State Athletic Conference 8-Man AAA Football State Champions. The team defeated Canterbury of St. Petersburg 28-18 at home on Nov. 12, 2021. Congratulations to everybody on the team and those who worked tirelessly in the background to make this happen.
Cross country athletes competed on Nov. 12, at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. There, the Donahue boys took part in the Class 1A championship meet finishing 18th overall. The top runner for the Shamrocks was Leonardo Borjon taking 20th. His teammates included Winston Fairchild, Andrew Graham, Benjamin Freeze, Cameron Millwood and Stephen Hart.
On the girls side of the 1A State Championship, Addison Dempsey finished 12th overall representing Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School in Sarasota.
In Class 2A, the Bishop Verot Catholic High School girls cross country team finished 5th overall in the team competition while the boys finished 19th. The top runner for the Viking girls was Mackenzie De Lisle, finishing 13th overall. The other members of the team were Julia Reitz, Kylie Thomas, Erika Romero, Madison Thomas, Maren Pleger and Bianca Zaccagna. On the boys side, the top runner was Grayson Tubbs, who finished finished 56th. Other members of the team included Zachary Zielke, Andrew Marino, Dennis Olsen, Zachary Engel and Danial Adams.
The state championships in golf took place Nov. 9-10 at the Mission Inn Resort & Club in Howey-in-the-Hills. Competing in Class 1A, the Cardinal Mooney boys finished 6th overall, while the Verot boys finished 8th.
Mooney golfer Wyatt Platter finished in a tie for fifth, one shot out of 3rd place. His teammates included Tommy Tyler, Nicolas Bencomo, Lukas Wahlstrom and Joseph Pike. The team finished 3rd in the Nov. 1 Class 1A Region 2 competition.
The top Verot boy was Dalton Payne, who finished in a tie for 29th. His teammates included Zachary Loninger, Kevin Kelly, Christian Allen and Michael Bevins. The team won the Class 1A Region 2 title. Meanwhile the Verot girls team finished 14th in the state competition, with Morgan Franklin the top team member finishing 54th. Other golfers included Caroline Kelly, Brooklyn Butler, Talia Rodino, Amelia Loninger. The Viking girls won the Class 1A Region 2 title on Nov. 2.
On the gridiron, Bishop Verot beat Cardinal Mooney 39-0 at home in the football Class 3A regional quarterfinals on Nov. 12. Verot faces a tough road game on Nov. 19 in the regional semifinal against undefeated Berkeley Prep in Tampa.
Several athletes who have already accomplished much took part in National Signing Day on Nov. 11.
Four Bishop Verot senior athletes signed their National Letter of Intent to continue their athletic careers at the collegiate level. The signers were: Kolton Curtis (baseball) Barry University; Kendal Garguila (soccer) Florida Gulf Coast University; Kevin Riscassi (baseball) Flagler College; and Josiah Velasquez (baseball) Florida Gulf Coast University.
In addition, four Cardinal Mooney athletes also singed their National Letter of Intent. These athletes included: Avery Beach (track and field) University of Tampa; Patrik McGrath (lacrosse) Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts; Luke Labriola (baseball) Hillsboro Community College; and Jenna Santiago (soccer) Duquesne University, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
Congratulations to each of the athletes for representing your school at the highest level.
