GAINESVILLE – The Florida’s Sunshine State Games Alachua County Festival opens today at 5:00 p.m. with the Swimming competition. The first event of the three days of amateur sports action is the Girls 10 and under 200 Individual Medley. The Alachua County features a total of 2,913 of Florida’s Finest Amateur Athletes competing in seven sports.
Also taking place this weekend in Gainesville is Archery, Fencing, Lacrosse, Rowing, Synchronized Swimming and Ultimate. The swimming competition features 15 teams with 640 individual athletes. It is the highest number of a Sunshine State Games Swimming event since 2000. Ultimate, with 23 teams playing in a mixed and men’s division, is the most teams to register since the sport began in the Games in 2006.
The 2012 Sunshine State Games Athletes of the Year, Bill Kelly, an archer from Lakeland, and Jessicah O’Rourke, an artistic figure skater from Tampa, will be honored this weekend at events in front of their peers. O’Rourke will receive her award tonight at the 2013 Southern Regional Awards Banquet in New Port Richey and Kelly will be recognized before Sunday’s archery competition at the Easton Newberry Sports Complex.
