Youth: Mustangs finish with a bang

The Mustangs are teams comprised of Collier and Lee County boys and they combined for a 20-12 record in the short AAU fall season.

The 11-and-under team won the October Slugtobergfest tournament in Bradenton, defeating the South Florida Wildcats, 10-2, in the championship game to win the 11-team tournament.

The Mustangs have been ranked 9th in the 42-team AAU field as they get set to finish their season in the AAU State Fall Classic in Winter Haven this weekend. The 11-and-under Mustangs players are: Wade Harmon, Jake Kirkhoff, Daniel Moscato, Drew Jackson, Andrew Jones, Nick Rodriguez, Nick Rivera, David Del Giorno, Kyle Murray, Chris Bussing and Nick Dudley.

The 10-and-under team, playing in its inaugural AAU season, was competitive. The young Mustangs qualified for the Triple Crown National tournament with a third-place finish in a tournament in Clearwater.

The Mustangs achieved a No.

19 ranking among 39 teams in their division. The Mustangs players are: Nick Ott, Gage Ott, Tyler Seleski, Brendan Carroll, Dylan Woods, Jordan Jackson, Nathan Jones, Dominic Selemme, Hunter Smith and Travis Manheardt.

The two teams are coached by Darvin Jackson, Tony Rodriguez, Chad Ott and Bill Selseki.

Jennifer Bate, 13, of North Naples, competed in the Miami Fall Festival Horse Show, which was held at the Equestrian Center of Tropical Park in Miami on Nov. 15-16.

She and her purebred horse HBB Wind Dancer were named Champion in the Arabian Country English Pleasure ATR Championship. They also were named Reserve Champion in both the Arabian Native Costume Open Championship and the Arabian Country English Pleasure AOTR Championship.

Jennifer trains with Doree Lamm at Liz Langford Arabians in Miami. She is an eighth-grader at Pine Ridge Middle School in North Naples.