GAINESVILLE – The final day of the 2013 Sunshine State Games Alachua County Festival began with the presentation of the 2012 Sunshine State Games Male Athlete of the Year presentation to archer Bill Kelly, of Lakeland, at the Easton Newberry Sports Complex. Kelly had record-setting scores at the 2012 Games and was looking to add to his seven medals he has won in the last three years of Sunshine State Games Archery.
Gainesville’s Danger Zone Ultimate team completed its undefeated run through the Mixed Division winning eight games in two days at the Jonesville Park Soccer Complex. In pool play Saturday, Danger Zone defeated its five opponents by six points or more. In the semifinal game, Danger Zone had its closest game of the tournament, a 13-10 win over Infinite Dragons, and defeated Mooseknuckle 15-4 in the Championship Game.
In the Open Division, the FL United Cannons, of Orlando, team went undefeated in six games, winning four pool play games on Saturday and two championship bracket games on Sunday. The Cannons defeated the FL United Force team 15-14 in the championship game.
Veteran fencer Wayne Frey, of Monticello, won the gold medal in the Veteran’s Mixed Epee division at Santa Fe College. Frey has been fencing in Sunshine State Games events since 2001. Katherine K. Santamaria, of Tampa, won a pair of Epee fencing medals, taking the gold in the Y-14 Women’s Open and the silver in the Senior Women’s Open. Her medal-winning performances helped the Tampa Fencing Academy win the Sunshine State Games Fencing Team Points Trophy. The Tampa Fencing Academy won a tie-breaker over Miami’s Masters Fencing Academy.
In a battle of local Lacrosse teams, the Lacrosse Club of Gainesville defeated the Florida Generals Gray 6-4 in the championship game at the University of Florida Lacrosse Stadium for the gold medal. Both teams were undefeated in five games going into the final game. The Tampa Elite Lacrosse program was the lone double gold-medal winning program as the Elite won 11 and under and 13 and under divisions. The 11 and Under Tampa Elite defeated the FL Team Talon team of Fleming Island 4-3 in the championship game. The 13 and Under Elite team won three games on Sunday beating the Panther Gold team of St. Augustine 4-1 in the championship game.
In age group Synchronized Swimming, Hali Arrington, of the Lakeland YMCA Flamingos team, won a gold medal in solos competition and a silver in a duet performance. Her gold medal winning performance in the solo event was the highest score of the day. The Gainesville Gaviatas won the Mary Rose High Points Team Award with 138 total points.
Sunshine State Games action continues next weekend in Coral Springs with the Water Polo Championships. A total of 50 teams have registered to compete Friday through Sunday at the Coral Springs Aquatic Center. The Sunshine State Games Polk County Festival hosts eight sports the weekend of June 21-23. Online registration is still open for the Polk County Festival and is available through www.flasports.com.
Florida’s Sunshine State Games is an annual program of the Florida Sports Foundation (FSF), a division of Enterprise Florida, Inc., held in conjunction with the Gainesville Sports Commission. The Sunshine State Games are the longest continuously-running Olympic-style Sports Festival in the United States dating back to 1980. The Gainesville area/Alachua County has hosted a Sunshine State Games nine times in the 34 years of the Games.
