’CANES SERVE DOLPHINS PAIR OF LOSSES

Prep Tennis Less Than One Week From Districts

The Coral Shores Hurricanes picked up a pair of wins in their most recent battles for Keys court supremacy, defeating Marathon in back-to-back matches before falling to Pace on March 9. Coral Shores swept the Fins in true Hurricane fashion, beating them 7-0 on March 7 and again the following day. The Lady ’Canes winners were Olivia Hughes, Kai Guth, Macy Cakans and Lupita Guerrero, while the boys winners were Makani Burga, Aiden Althouse and Johan Smith. Both teams will finish out their seasons in the next few weeks before districts begin on April 11 in Miami.

Key West traveled to LaSalle on March 8, losing 7-0 to the Royal Lions. They play three more matches before districts begin in mid-April, with LaSalle on the schedule again as well as two matches against Marathon.

It’s been more than a week since the Key West Conchs saw action on the track due to a cancellation last week, giving the teams some much needed rest after an extremely successful outing at the Big Blue Invitational at Archbishop McCarthy on March 4. The Lady Conchs outscored the home team and the rest of the field of 13, taking top honors in the meet.

In the field events, Abigail Cowan won the long jump with a 14’8” leap. Rodamaelle Cineus took fourth in the triple jump, Anabel Portuonodo was fourth in pole vault and Angeline Foster won third in the shot put.

Notable performers on the track were Savannah Chadic, who won the 400m in an incredible 57.76 seconds. Chadic was also part of the team’s second-place 4x100m relay with teammates Dazmine Jenkins, Nikole Tomita and Caylaa Makimaa as well as the third-place 4x400m team with Tomita, Makimaa and Kathryn Smith.

The Lady Conchs’ distance specialists racked up plenty of points. Makimaa came in second in the open 800m race and third in the mile. Laira Anaya was right behind Makimaa in the mile and ran a leg of the Conchs’

The Marathon Dolphins sent a handful of athletes to the Miami Elite Invitational on March 11. Vance Bursa blazed to a second-place finish in the mile, running the four laps in 4:36.68. Teammate Justice Lee owned the throwing events, winning the javelin with a toss of 86’7”. Lee also took third in discus and was a last-minute addition to shot put, where she secured another third-place finish.

The Conchs will travel to Calvary Christian for an invitational on Friday, March 17, then are off again for spring break. The Conchs, Coral Shores Hurricanes and Dolphins will race one another in an all-Keys showdown in Key West on Friday, March 31.

By: Tracy and Sean McDonald

Key West Back on Top

On March 7, Coral Shores traveled to Marathon to play the only matchup between two Keys teams scheduled this season. The result was a win for the Hurricanes and the first blemish on Marathon’s season record.

Coral Shores racked up 12 hits in the game. Leadoff hitter Andrew Putetti went 4-5, including two doubles. Campbell Lavoie and Zeke Myers each had a pair of hits and Riley O’Berry, Dylan Bloom, Donovan Thiery and Steel Mientkiewicz each had a hit in their offensive onslaught. Three ’Canes combined on the mound for the win, including Grayden Ross, who went five innings, and MacIntyre and Tate Brumbalow, who covered one inning each. Marathon managed six hits in the game, led by Ryan Yablon with two, Dylan Ziels with a double and base hits from Dylan Globe, Mason Thornton and Gabe Leal.

Coral Shores evened up their record on March 10 following a 6-1 loss to True North Classical Academy. The ’Canes managed three base hits in the game off the bats of Mientkiewicz, Myers and O’Berry, scoring one run in the non-district matchup. The 3-3 Hurricanes are winning when it counts the most, though, remaining undefeated in district play.

Following their tough loss to district and Keys rival Coral Shores, Marathon hoped to salvage their week with a win against conference rival Palmer Trinity. It wasn’t in the cards for the Fins, though, as Palmer bested Marathon 8-0 on March 10. The Dolphins tallied three base hits, one each from Ryan Yablon, Tommy Norris and Dylan Ziels.

Pitching duties for the Fins were split between Ziels, who went for 5-1/3 innings against the Falcons, and Bryan Broche. The pair faced a team that averages nearly 10 hits per game, with its first six batters all carrying batting averages over .400. Marathon will face the Falcons again in April for a chance to balance the series.