- September 9, 2024
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Palm Coast's Jesse Wellen Jr. and Ayub Umar will compete in the ADCC Youth Championships in Las Vegas. Courtesy photo
Jesse Wellen Jr. collected the hardware at a martial arts event. Courtesy photo
Mackenzie O'Keefe will compete with the U19 U.S. Lifesaving Association team at the World Championships in Australia later this month. Courtesy photo
Mackenzie O'Keefe dives in for a lifesaving competition. Courtesy photo
Dale Cook, FPC boys golf coach. Courtesy photo
Jesse Wellen Jr. and Ayub Umar have been taking classes in Brazilian jiu jitsu at Spartan Academy Palm Coast Martial Arts School Pasince they were 4 years old. The two Palm Coast boys, now both 9, have been selected to compete in the first Abu Dhabi Combat Club Youth Championships on Aug. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Youth Championships will feature 192 advanced competitors from 5 to 17 years old with just 16 boys and 16 girls competing in each age group. Jesse and Ayub will be competing in the 9-10 boys age group. The competitors were selected based on their results in U.S. and Brazil opens. Jesse and Ayub won competitions in different states over the past year, securing their invitations.
Each age group at the championships will be split into two brackets based on weight. Jesse and Ayub have been training six days a week with coach Igor Mancebo to prepare for the championships.
Mackenzie O'Keefe, 17, of Ormond Beach has been selected by the United States Lifesaving Association to represent the United States and Volusia County in the 2024 Lifesaving World Championships Aug. 20-Sept. 8 in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, south of Brisbane.
The Seabreeze senior qualified in this event for the U19 team by competing over the past year in local, regional (Delray Beach, Florida), national (Virginia Beach, Virginia) and International (South Padre Island) Lifesaving Championships in the United States.
Dale Cook is the new boys golf coach at Flagler Palm Coast High School. Cook coached golf at Belleview High the past two seasons. A standout golfer at Jacksonville Wolfson High, Cook went on to play golf for Flagler College. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Flagler and a master’s in theology from Louisville Presbyterian Seminary.
“Not only is he an accomplished player in his own right, he is a true teacher of the game and is building a great vision for the future of Bulldog Golf,” FPC athletic director Scott Drabczyk said.
Cook has been hired to be a full-time social studies teacher at FPC.
Email Brent Woronoff at [email protected]
