The Lady Bulldogs are once again national champions. The Lady Bulldogs defended their championship from 2009 by winning the gold medal in the National Senior Olympics held in Houston, Texas last week.
The Lady Bulldogs, playing in the 75-year-old division, swept through pool play on the first two days, then took the championship by defeating the Silver Slammers from Louisiana and earning a forfeit victory over The Golden Girls from Oklahoma.
The Lady Bulldogs are made up of three local women, Carolyn Lance, Jo An Cantrell and Blanche Cook. Wanda Shanks from Cookeville also plays with the team based out of Warren County.
Going into the tournament, the Lady Bulldogs were confident they could repeat as national champions. The team earned a berth into nationals by winning the Tennessee championship.
Cantrell went into the tournament knowing the Lady Bulldogs had three advantages over their opponents.
“We take better shots, have great quickness and Carolyn was the best rebounder of any team we played against,” said Cantrell.
The 3-on-3 games were half court and divided into two 12-minute halves.
Cantrell was the driving force behind the team’s first victory in pool play. Cantrell scored 14 points in 40-11 win over She-Ca-Go, a team based out of Illinois. Cook scored 10, while Lance and Shanks added eight points apiece.
Lance would break out for 16 points the next day when the Lady Bulldogs defeated the Meteors from California 36-18. Shanks and Cantrell had 10 points each.
After going 2-0 in pool play, the Lady Bulldogs received a bye in the opening round of the tournament. In the quarterfinals, the Lady Bulldogs tamed the Big Dogs out of New Mexico by a score of 28-7. Lance was again the top scorer, putting in 14. Cantrell added eight, followed by Shanks with four and Cook with two.
The 25-12 win over the Silver Slammers, which featured Lance scoring a tournament-high 20 points, proved to be the final game for the Lady Bulldogs. Shanks added four points, while Cantrell connected on a free throw in the semifinals.
The finals were set up for the Lady Bulldogs to meet The Golden Girls, but the team from Oklahoma decided it would settle for second. As Cantrell found out, the Golden Girls were pretty certain where they would finish whether or not the game was played.
“They were already in the top two teams and said they would get second place whether they played or not,” said Cantrell. “One lady said, ‘Don’t tell anyone we are afraid to play the Bulldogs.’ We were very disappointed we didn’t get to play them.”
The Lady Bulldogs were supported in victory by a number of teams from Tennessee in other age groups. The teams from Cookeville, Shelbyville and Knoxville serenaded the Lady Bulldogs with their own rendition of “Rocky Top” as the team received their gold medals.
The Lady Bulldogs were proud to be a winner, especially in one of the biggest Senior Olympics ever. The event in Houston held at George R. Brown Convention Center featured over 10,000 athletes competing in various age groups and sports.
The oldest competitor in this year’s Senior Olympics was a 102-year-old man who played tennis and bowled. A 98-year-old woman also participated in bowling, tennis and track and field.