By Gary Curreri
Lara Annunziata is all smiles following her strong performance at the 2015 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships recently in Greensboro, NC.
Annunziata, 11, of Pompano Beach, took fifth place in the Intermediate Ladies Division. She was in fourth place following her short program and took sixth in her long program to finish fifth place overall. She was hoping for a Top 5 finish entering the competition and that’s exactly what she got.
“I enjoyed the experience and the other skaters I competed against were very good,” she said. “I was happy to place in the Top 5 in the nation. I skated my best, but competition was tough,” said Annunziata, who also gets good grades in school.
Annunziata plans to move up a level to the Novice Division next year and said the experience at nationals would be beneficial to her in her future.
“This experience will only help me get better,” she said. “I was the youngest in this competition and I competed with girls that had been there longer than me and who were older. It was my first experience at Nationals, and it was an incredible experience!”
It capped another solid effort by the Florida Panthers Figure Skating Club member, who also placed third in the regional and fourth in the sectionals to earn her trip to nationals.
“I really don’t think of anything when I am out on the ice,” said Annunziata, a Shepherd of the Coast sixth grader. “I kind of go with the fl ow. I clear my mind. It is really important to go to sectionals in my first time at this level.”
She joined teammates Sophia Chouinard, who won the national title in Juvenile Girls, and T.J. Nyman, who won the national crown in the Intermediate Men’s Division.
Bucks win district soccer title
Deerfield Beach’s Romilaire Ambroise scored the goahead goal just three minutes into the second half and the Bucks held on for a 3-2 victory over Monarch for the District 12-5A championship at West Boca High School last week.
The Bucks (19-2-4) will host Palm Beach Central in the Class 5A regional quarterfinal on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The Bucks, which lost the district title game as well as the regional quarterfinal last season, won their third district championship under head coach Frantz Edouard.
“We are a more organized and disciplined team defensively this season,” said Edouard, who lost the district title game as well as the regional quarterfinal last season. It was Edouard’s third district title at the school. “We were able to put a lot of pressure on them.”
Theodore Stanley scored twice within the first 10 minutes of the game to take Deerfield Beach to a 2-0 advantage. Monarch battled back to tie the game before Ambroise gave the Bucks the lead for good — just one minute after Monarch’s Rodrigo DaSilva equalized.
