Villager Peggy Peck has been named the 2019 Florida Senior Games Female Athlete of the Year.
The track and field star joins Bradenton’s Ed Scheid, who was honored as the Male Athlete of the Year. He has focused his efforts on golf with great success since the 1999 Florida Senior Games, winning 10 medals – two gold, three silver and five bronze.
Peck competed in 10 events of the 2019 Florida Senior Games Track and Field meet in Miramar – all six field events and the 50-, 100-, 200- and 400-meter dash, winning eight gold and two silver medals. When not on the track, she has played on the Villages Seabreeze Basketball team.
Peck holds the women’s high jump record in three different age groups. With a leap of four feet in 2019, she set the 65-69 age group record and set the 60-64 record in 2014 and the 55-59 record in 2011. She also holds the 55-59 age group triple jump record, which she set in 2013.
At the 2019 National Senior Games in Albuquerque, N.M., Peck won four track and field silver medals (discus, high jump, long jump and javelin) and a silver medal as a member of the Rockers 65+ basketball team.
“Peggy has been growing with the Senior Games and is doing a fantastic job in all the events she’s in,” said Avis Vaught, another multi-sport athlete from The Villages. “She’s an asset to the teams she plays for and in track and field events.”
Peck is the third women’s track and field athlete who also plays team sports from The Villages to win the award. She joins Madelaine “Tiny” Cazel (2003) and Vaught (2010) as fellow winners roughly 10 years apart from one another.
“We joke about how I have broken Tiny’s records and how Peggy will come along and break mine,” said Vaught, about records in the field events all three women have set over the years.”
A complete list of previous of Florida Senior Games Athlete of the Year includes:
- 2018: Deb Harrison, The Villages; Brian Hankerson, Hollywood
- 2017: Carol Teel, The Villages; Mike Welter, Cape Coral
- 2016: Kathy Petrillo, Jupiter; John Horwath, The Villages
- 2015: Janet Brown, Lakeland; Rudy Vazmina, Sarasota
- 2014: Danuta Kubelik, Crystal River; Walt Deal, Clearwater
- 2013: Nina Hammer, Bonita Springs; Tom Bliss, Melbourne
- 2012: Linda Frisch, The Villages; James Richling, Port St. Lucie
- 2011: Essie Faria, North Miami; Segismundo Pares, Ocala
- 2010: Avis Vaught, The Villages; Richard Merrill, Lady Lake
- 2009: Patrice Hirr, The Villages; John Shultz, Inverness
- 2008: Suzy Nothhouse, Estero; Dean Davis, Fort Myers
- 2007: Claudette Braswell, Lake Wales; Larry Wallen, Jacksonville
- 2006: Sari Kisbany, Redington Shores; Roger Gentilhomme, Dunedin
- 2005: Patricia Sargeant, Melbourne; Andy McGuffin, Umatilla
- 2004: Lillian Webb, Sebring; Harry Carothers, Pinellas Park
- 2003: Madelaine “Tiny” Cazel, The Villages; James Anderson, New Port Richey
- 2002: Janice Lathouwers, The Villages; Allen Bjork, Sebring
- 2001: Sperry Rademaker, Floral City; Howard Hall, Port Charlotte
- 2000: Erika Messner, Clermont; Al Treichel, Spring Hill
- 1999: Patricia Bond, Bradenton; Gordon Johnson, Dundee
- 1998: Lucia Schatteleyn, Englewood; Donald Ritenour, Belleview
- 1997: Ethel Lehmann, Largo; Seymour Duckman, Daytona Beach
- 1996: Hope Fage, Largo; F.L. McFadden, Lakeland
- 1995: Mary Melehan, Englewood; Leonard Stone, Barefoot Bay
- 1994: Doris Prokopi, Land O’Lakes; Wayne Wakefield, Bradenton
