ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
This year’s honorees Carol Teel
The Florida Sports Foundation,
in association with its presenting
sponsor, Humana, announced
its 2017 Florida Senior Games
Athletes of the Year in early
November, naming Carol Teel and
Mike Welter as its distinguished
recipients of this year’s award.
The 2017 Florida Senior Games
Athletes of the Year are participants
of their sport who spend a lot of
time in the bowling alley and on the
pickleball courts.
Carol Teel, of The Villages, spent
the first weekend of the 2017
Florida Senior Games at Seminole
Lanes bowling in women’s doubles
and mixed doubles. Mike Welter,
of Cape Coral, spent the second
weekend of the games, playing
men’s singles, men’s doubles, and
mixed doubles pickleball. Both won
medals in all their events and each
have been winning medals not only
on the state level for the last few
years, but on a national level as
well.
“It is an honor to recognize these
two individuals as the Florida
Senior Games Athletes of the
Year,” said Marvin E. Green Jr.,
vice president of amateur sports
& events. “A culmination of each
athlete’s commitment, dedication,
and enthusiasm for their respective
sport has set them apart as
each receives this honor. We are
appreciative of Carol’s and Mike’s
continued support of the Florida
Senior Games and know that they
have set the bar high for this year’s
athletes in the ‘race’ for next year’s
prize.”
At the 2017 bowling competition,
Teel was part of a record-setting
women’s doubles team that rolled
an all-time best score with a 1392
for a new record in the 60-64 age
group, along with Cristy Morawski,
of Milton. She also teamed with her
husband, Gerald, to win a mixed
doubles gold medal in the 60-64
age group.
Teel won medals in all three events
at the 2017 National Senior Games
and was part of record-setting
teams in the 60-64 Women’s
Doubles and Mixed Doubles
competitions. She won a women’s
singles silver medal and took gold
in the women’s doubles, teaming
with Morawski, for a new age group
record combined score of 1336.
She teamed with Gerald again at
the national level to establish a new
age group mixed doubles record
with a combined score of 1318.
“In the 12 years I’ve been doing
what I’ve been doing at the Florida
Senior Games, she’s probably the
best women’s bowler I’ve seen,”
said Bob Peters, the FSG Bowling
Sport Director. “If she’s not, she’s
giving a big push to whoever may
be. She’s very talented and keeps
winning gold medals as she has
progressed into different age
groups. That’s not always easy.”
She holds four FSG records, two
in women’s singles (55-59 and
60-64 age group), one in women’s
doubles (60-64 age group), and
one in mixed doubles (55-59
age group). She is the only FSG
women’s bowler to roll a 300 game,
a feat she accomplished in 2012 in
women’s singles competition.
For the fifth consecutive year, in
2017, Mike Welter has played in
the championship matches of all
three FSG Pickleball events. Every
year, Welter has come up short in
one event to win two gold medals
and a silver. In 2017, he won the
60-64 mixed doubles gold (with
Bobbi Little of North Fort Myers
for the third consecutive year)
and the 65-69 men’s doubles
championship.
With the increase in Pickleball
participation over the last three
years, Welter has played in over 40
total matches for his six gold and
three silver medals. He also won a
men’s doubles silver medal at the
2017 National Senior Games.
38 · 2018 FLORIDA SENIOR GAMES PRESENTED BY HUMANA · SOUVENIR PROGRAM