Tracy girl wins state title in Elks Hoop Shoot

Allie Schmidt, 13, recently returned from the Elks Foundation Hoop Shoot regional competition after representing California and Hawaii as the 2011 state champion. She made 23 of 25 free throws in the state competition in Sacramento earlier this year.

Dwayne Scott, coordinator of the Tracy Elks Lodge contest, said it’s the furthest any local contestant has advanced.

Allie, a student at Bella Vista Christian Academy, won the local contest back in December at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. The local Elks Lodge also hosted the district competition at St. Paul’s in January, bringing together the champions representing 11 nearby Elks lodges.

As the champ representing Northern California, Southern California and Hawaii, she and her family were the Elks Foundation’s guests in Las Vegas for the regional competition on Feb. 18.

The winner of the West Region event was Danielle Craft of El Dorado Hills, and she will move on to the national event April 30 in Springfield, Mass.

The Elks Foundation estimates that more than 3 million boys and girls, ages 8 through 13, participate in local contests. Tracy’s Elks Lodge hosts its contest every year during the second week of December.

Gymnast takes second at state championships

Shaylyn Garay, a gymnast at Classic Gymnastics in Tracy, placed second overall in the 2011 Northern California Women’s Gymnastics Association Level 8 state championships March 26 and 27 at McNair High School in Stockton.

Her all-around score of 35.950 includes a first-place score on the uneven bars, 9.325, and a first-place score of 9.325 on the balance beam. She also scored 8.875 on the vault for seventh place, and 8.425 on the floor exercises for 14th place. Her overall mark also beats the score of 34.000 needed to qualify for the USA Gymnastics Region 1 championships at the Anaheim Convention Center on April 15 through 17.

Shaylyn is also a member of the Kimball High gymnastics team and will become eligible to compete once her USA Gymnastics competition is over.

Youth wrestlers bring back medals

This past weekend, Tracy Wrestling Club had three youth wrestlers compete in the State of California Wrestling for Youth Folkstyle Kids state tournament in Clovis on Saturday, March 26, and Sunday, March 27. This tournament, for wrestlers in kindergarten through eighth grade, required participants to qualify through regional championships.

In the 6-and-under division, Vanden Caudillo and Angel Souza competed, with Angel Souza taking fourth place with a 3-2 record in his first year of competitive wrestling.

Eli Blackwell, in the 10-and-under division, placed fifth with a 4-2 record for the day. He took his first losses of the year in the opening round and in the consolation semifinal against Lazarus Maldanado, whom Blackwell defeated the year before.

At age 9, Blackwell will be able to return next year in this same age division with the hopes of winning a state title.

Tracy wrestlers take top awards in Antioch

Older members of the Tracy Wrestling Club attended the freestyle and Greco-style wrestling tournament in Antioch at Deer Valley High School. Of those who went, the following were medalists:

Middle School Division: Noah Blackwell, first place, freestyle; Tomas Landeros, third place, freestyle; Ronald Parungao, fourth place, freestyle.

Cadet Division, including high school freshmen and sophomores: Amrit Singh, first place in both freestyle and Greco; Trent Nicholson, first place in both freestyle and Greco; Mitchell Selna, second place in both freestyle and Greco; Albert Landeros, first place freestyle and third place in Greco; Gage Chavez, second place freestyle.

Junior Division, including high school juniors and seniors: Zach Blackwell, first place freestyle and second place Greco; Albert Landeros, third place, freestyle; Trent Nicholson, first place in both freestyle and Greco.

Fireballs win one, lose one at BLD

The Tracy Futbol Club under-13 girls Fireballs won one and lost one recent at Big League Dreams indoor soccer league in Manteca.

On March 13, the Fireballs played the under-14 Manteca Rangers, who took the lead away from the Fireballs at the end for a 5-4 win.

On Sunday, March 27, the Fireballs played under-15 Manteca Arsenol and won 2-1 on goals from Ashley Hallen and Katie Locke. Also helping with the offensive attack were Alexis Phillips and Bella Cardenas, while Meghan Robinson, Tiffani Edwards and Brittany Henneman played midfield and Christina Suarez and Alissa Henneman were the Fireballs’ defenders. Goalie Taylor Boren protected the Fireball’s goal, letting just one shot in the entire game.