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East County | Sports

The Sarasota Polo Club's Interscholastic Polo Team from left to right: Head Coach Stuart Campbell, 15-year-old Hazel Hill, 13-year-old Jayda Link, 15-year-old Ainsley Mulligan and 12-year-old Gregory Shepard.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • February 11, 2025
Youths have a shot at polo success in Lakewood Ranch

The Sarasota Polo Club team of four started in fall 2024.

  • East County
  • Sports
John Rivera Jr., now signed to the Brooks Beast Track Club, is ranked in the top 50 in the world in the 800-meter. Here he is at the 2021 NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships, where he placed fifth in the 800-meter (1:48.45).
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • February 9, 2025
Lakewood Ranch High alum John Rivera Jr. now runs as a professional

The 800-meter specialist signed with the Brooks Beasts Track Club in January.

  • East County
  • Sports
Lakewood Ranch High junior Gabriel Lara proved to be the difference maker in the Mustangs' 6A District 11 title win over Parrish Community High Jan. 29, scoring twice in the second half.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • February 5, 2025
East County Athlete of the Week: Gabriel Lara

The Lakewood Ranch High junior scored two goals in the Mustangs' district title win over Parrish Community High.

  • East County
  • Sports
TOPSoccer player Warren Cannon receives advice from LECOM volunteer Hunter Salisbury. Every player in the TOPSoccer program is assigned a personal buddy.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • February 4, 2025
Braden River's TOPSoccer program is a sanctuary for participants all to enjoy

The recreational soccer program has been serving children with disabilities since 2007.

  • East County
  • Sports
Grant McCray #58 of the San Francisco Giants returns to the dugout during the Giants game at Oracle Park on August 14, 2024 in San Francisco, California.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • February 2, 2025
Lakewood Ranch High alum enters his biggest season with Giants

After making his MLB debut last August, Grant McCray looks to solidify his role with the San Francisco Giants this spring.

  • East County
  • Sports
Payton Mangay-Ayam helped propel the Braden River High girls varsity weightlifting team to its third straight title with individual wins in the 154-pound weight class at the Class 2A District 12 meet on Jan. 23.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • January 29, 2025
East County Athlete of the Week: Payton Mangay-Ayam

Braden River junior helps weightlifting team win its third consecutive Class 3A District 12 title.

  • East County
  • Sports
Bogdan Godlevskyi, a sophomore forward at Lakewood Ranch, drives to the basket against Braden River's Charlie Wilson on Jan. 21. Godlevskyi scored a season high 11 points in the game, which Lakewood Ranch lost 65-45.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • January 29, 2025
Playoffs look like tough prospect for high school basketball teams

The Braden River High Pirates' win over the Lakewood Ranch High Mustangs on Jan. 21 shows they are on an upward trajectory.

  • East County
  • Sports
Breast cancer survivor Nadia McConville of Washington state (back), steers the Water Warriors boat. McConville made the switch from paddling to steering after undergoing shoulder and hip replacement surgeries as a result of her cancer.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • January 28, 2025
Nathan Benderson Park hosts unique dragon boat festival

Hundreds of cancer survivors gathered at Nathan Benderson Park for Unleash the Dragons.

  • East County
  • Sports
Braden River sophomore Anquan Polynice had 13 points in the Pirates' victory over Lakewood Ranch on Jan. 21.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • January 22, 2025
Braden River boys basketball downs Lakewood Ranch 65-45

The Pirates avenged an early season loss to Lakewood Ranch with the victory.

  • East County
  • Sports
Braden River senior Matthew Ireland is all smiles before his match against George Jenkins High's Everett Smith Jan. 18. Ireland won the match by pin and went on to win the 122-pound title of the Ricky Gullet Invitational at Bayshore High.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • January 22, 2025
Wrestler reaches elite level by being a gym rat at Braden River High

Senior wrestler Matthew Ireland looks to be a medal contender at the 2A state tournament in Kissimmee.

  • East County
  • Sports
Francesca Bisordi is a sophomore wrestler on the Lakewood Ranch High girls wrestling team. Last season, wrestling in the 170-pound weight class, she was named the Girls 1A District 11 Champion when she pinned Bayshore High's Alexandra Lopez in the tournament last February.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • January 21, 2025
East County Athlete of the Week: Francesca Bisordi

The Lakewood Ranch sophomore wrestler is thriving in her second year in the sport.

  • East County
  • Sports
The Lakewood Ranch High boys varsity golf team finished the season with a cumulative team GPA of 3.254. Seniors (from left to right) Luke Wilson, Henry Burbee and Parker Severs all took pride in their academics in a season that saw the Mustangs finish second in the FHSAA Class 3A state tournament in November.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • January 20, 2025
East County student-athletes prove that brains go hand in hand with brawn

Sports teams at Lakewood Ranch and Parrish Community high schools finish at the top of the state rankings for team academics.

  • East County
  • Sports
Olivia Hadad has elevated her game in her senior season with the Lakewood Ranch High girls varsity soccer team.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • January 15, 2025
East County Athlete of the Week: Olivia Hadad

The senior forward has been the offensive engine of the Lakewood Ranch High girls soccer team.

  • East County
  • Sports
Lakewood Ranch junior midfielders Paolo Morales (front) and Ryan Johnson have been essential in helping transform the Mustangs' offensive strategy this season.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • January 14, 2025
Lakewood Ranch boys soccer charges toward the postseason

The Mustangs look to rectify last season's loss to North Port High in the district tournament later this month.

  • East County
  • Sports
Marcus Walfridson, team owner of the Sarasota Paradise, hopes that 2025 will be the team's most successful year to date in its new home at Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch.
    By
  • Dylan Campbell
  • January 13, 2025
The Sarasota Paradise will call Lakewood Ranch home

The soccer team will begin playing home games at Premier Sports Campus in 2025.

  • East County
  • Sports
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Latest in East County

1
Santa (Steven Trudell of St. Petersburg) gets the runners fired up just before the start of the 2025 Jingle 5K Dec. 12 in Lakewood Ranch.
  • December 13, 2025
More than 500 runners go the distance in Lakewood Ranch's Jingle 5K
2
Nicholas Savarese, a teacher who has a background in chemical engineering, judges junior Lillian Pevzner-Downer's project on the comparison of conventionally grown crops with chemicals and pesticides versus organically grown crops at the Lakewood Ranch High School Science Fair.
  • December 12, 2025
Lakewood Ranch High revives its science fair
3
Greenbrook's David, Hannah and Jaime Marco all had a part in creating Jaime Marco's new book “Unfunkt: Quiet the Noise. Ignite the Light.”
  • December 12, 2025
Readers can shed the funk with Lakewood Ranch author's 'Unfunkt'
4
SMR's new coffee table book, "Lakewood Ranch — A Legacy of Living with the Land" is available locally and on Amazon.
  • December 10, 2025
'Lakewood Ranch — A Legacy of Living with the Land' is a fun history lesson
5
Carrie Walden, the Project Edge classroom instructor, is teaching 10 students including Mia Pardella and Justin Torres in the Project Edge program at MTC East.
  • December 10, 2025
MTC program teaches students with disabilities skills to enter workforce

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