Tri-County Championships: Casagrande Finds Her Groove, Sarasota Sweeps Team Titles

On-Site Coverage

Runners from Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota Counties met to crown tri-county champions for the first time this Thursday at  thebeautiful Bobby Jones Golf Club in Sarasota.Coach Jason Means of Sarasota-Riverview and his team took advantage of the gently rolling terrain to put together a course that was as challenging as it was scenic. 

In the girls race, Grace Casagrande of Cardinal Mooney continued her fantastic senior season. Casagrande took the lead from the get go and after 400 meters never looked back crossing the line first in 19:14.50. Angelina Grebe and Sage Lyons, both of Sarasota High School, and Maddie Krstec of North Port formed the chase pack. Coming into the mile and a half mark, Grebe distanced herself from the group, crossing the line over 37 seconds later than Casagrande in 19:42.40 to claim runner-up honors. Lyons and Krstec finished third and fourth in 20:26 and 20:34.90 respectively. Grebe and Lyons guided Sarasota to the Tri-County team title with 30 points. The Sailors placed all five runners in the top ten. North Port was second with 65 points and Lakewood Ranch rounded out the top three.

The dynamic duo of Zachery Summerall and Adam Bradtmueller was on display in the boys race. Summerall took out the first mile in 4:56, followed by Bradtmueller in 5:00 and Blake Riley of Riverview in 5:03. Riley felt a pain in his knee and drifted back, while Bayshore's Caanan Meester Kitterman and Tyler Fisher of Port Charlotte caught up with Bradtmueller. Summerall won easily in a time of 16:09.40. Bradtmueller was able to hold off his two competitors to cross the line in 16:22.80 with Meester-Kitterman coming in third at 16:25.90, and Fisher right behind him in 16:27.40. Sarasota High School edged out rival Riverview 55-68 to win the boys Tri-County team title. Venice narrowly escaped Charlotte to place third 113-115.

One of the unique things about this meet was that awards were also given by each of the three individual counties.  The winners and runners-up by county were:

  • Charlotte County Girls:  Individual- Abigayle Weinfeld (Lemon Bay) and Haley Blem (Lemon Bay)  Team- Lemon Bay and Charlotte
  • Charlotte County Boys: Individual- Tyler Fisher (Port Charlotte) and Marshall Dillon (Charlotte) Team- Charlotte and Lemon Bay
  • Manatee County Girls:  Individual- Julia Ortiz (Lakewood Ranch) and Lauren Csubak (St. Stephens) Tean- Lakewood Ranch and Palmetto
  • Manatee County Boys:  Individual- Canaan Meester-Kitterman (Bayshore) and Mitch Arnold (Lakewood Ranch) Team- Lakewood Ranch and Palmetto
  • Sarasota County Girls:   Individual- Grace Casagrande (Cardinal Mooney) and Agnelina Grebe (Sarasota) Team- Sarasota and North Port
  • Sarasota County Boys:   Individual- Zachery Summerall (Sarasota) and Adam Bradtmueller (Sarasota)  Team- Sarasota and Sarasota-Riverview

Elite Performances

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights