- April 19, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
The 2021-2022 high school sports season has come to a close in Sarasota, but the memories made during it will remain forever.
Once again, Sarasota programs captured state titles and put on a show. A player even received one of the most prestigious awards in sports. In other words, it was a typical year for the area that again proved itself among the most talented in the state.
Here are the top 10 moments of the Sarasota high school sports season.
Cardinal Mooney junior volleyball player Jordyn Byrd was named the 2021-2022 Gatorade Florida Volleyball Player of the Year on Jan. 11.
Byrd, a 6-foot-5 outside hitter, recorded 551 kills, 258 digs, 56 blocks and 25 service aces during the indoor volleyball season, leading the Cougars (20-8) to the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A regional quarterfinals. Byrd also recorded a .463 hitting percentage. She is committed to Texas.
The Gatorade awards have been handed out to one player per sport in each state since 1985. The award recognizes not only athletic excellence but also academic achievement and character on and off the court. Byrd held a 3.72 GPA at the time the award was given.
The Riverview High girls team captured the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 4A team title on Nov. 12 in Stuart, beating Winter Park High 275-256.5. It is the program's first team title since 2013.
Sophomore Addison Sauickie won the 200 freestyle (1:47.78) and sophomore Gracie Weyant, the sister of Emma Weyant, won the 200 individual medley (2:01.15) and the 100 breaststroke (1:01.61). The Rams also finished second in the 200 medley relay (1:44.60), the 200 freestyle relay (1:35.89) and the 400 freestyle relay (3:24.81).
Gracie Weyant said watching her teammates accomplish those things and sending the seniors out with a victory — something that was a goal at the beginning of the season — felt incredible.
Not to be outdone, the Sailors were attempting to repeat after winning the title in Class 3A in 2020. They were bumped to Class 4A this year, now competing against the biggest and best schools in the state. That brought some doubt: the Sailors didn't have a single individual race winner in 2020, instead relying on the team's depth to carry the victory.
But the team believed and that gave them a chance. In the end, the Sailors did exactly what they did in 2020: They had no individual champions and won the whole thing anyway, topping Venice High 211-173.
Among other results, junior Evan Keogh finished third in the 200-yard individual medley (1:50.22) and sixth in the 100-yard backstroke (50.14); senior Cole Firlie finished sixth in the 200-yard freestyle (1:40.25) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:31.47); junior Liam Heary finished fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke (57.39) and sixth in the 50-yard freestyle (21.09); and sophomore Casey Aten finished eighth in the 200 IM (1:52.64).
The Sailors are the first team to win back-to-back state titles at different classification levels since the FHSAA went to a four-classification format in 2013.
Their teams might not have won state titles, but three individual swimmers from our area managed to earn medals on their own.
Cardinal Mooney junior girls swimmer Michaela Mattes won gold in the 500-yard freestyle (4:45.51) and silver in the 200-yard individual medley (2:00.71) at the FHSAA Class 1A state championship meet, held Nov. 6 in Stuart. It was Mattes' second-straight win in the 500 freestyle.
Riverview High senior boys swimmer Liam Custer won the took home two individual golds at the Class 4A meet: one in the 200 individual medley (1:46.82) and one in the 500 freestyle (4:21.11).
Sarasota High senior Sumner Chmielewski won silver in the 200 IM (2:03.90) and a bronze in the 500 freestyle (4:51.91) at the Class 4A meet.
The Cardinal Mooney beach volleyball team defeated Merritt Island High 4-1 in Tavares on April 30 to capture the Sunshine State Athletic Conference state championship.
Though the 4-1 score appears to indicate separation between Mooney and Merritt Island, Mooney coach Chad Davis said the match was much closer. Two of the individual matches Mooney eventually won went to three sets, and Mooney occasionally trailed in them, but the team's depth allowed the Cougars to pull it out.
"When the last two games went to a third set and we were on the verge of winning, we felt it," Carson said. "We were about to serve for the win when they (freshman Izzy Russell and junior Gracie Page) won their game. Everyone trampled on each other and we were all screaming."
It is the program's first-ever state title; the school's indoor volleyball program won an FHSAA state title in 2019.
The Cardinal Mooney girls basketball team defeated King's Academy 50-42 in the FHSAA Class 3A state semifinals on Feb. 23 at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland to reach the state title game two years in a two. Cardinal Mooney never trailed against King's Academy. The Cougars were led in scoring by freshman Kali Barrett who had 19 points. Junior Olivia Davis had 16 points.
The Cougars did it by playing their signature aggressive style. Mooney's will to win often gave the Cougars the edge in big games. Once they had the lead, it was difficult to get it away from them.
Mooney's shooting went cold in the state championship game against Westminster Academy, costing the Cougars a state title, but appearing in two-straight title games is a feat by itself.
Sarasota High junior Alec Miller did not win the Class 4A boys 1,600 meter run at this year's event — held May 11-14 at James G. Pressly Stadium in Gainesville — but he came close, and that was good enough to get Miller to smile wide on the podium.
Miller, who entered the event seeded first with a time of 4:19.86, ran in second place for the latter portion of the race and finished there as well (4:13.50). Miller tried to catch Hagerty High junior Brayden Seymour for first place, sprinting home on the final lap, but Seymour had built too big a lead over the course of the race and won by 1.74 seconds.
Still, Miller was happy with how he performed.
"I was curious if I was going to be able to catch him (Seymour)," Miller said. "It didn't happen, but I'm psyched I was able to drop six seconds (from his personal record) against a huge field like this. That was awesome."
The Booker High girls basketball team won 74-50 over Port Charlotte High in the FHSAA Class 4A regional finals on Feb. 19, securing a spot in the Class 4A Final Four. Junior Chariot Johnson led the Tornadoes with 20 points. Junior Kymani Freeman had 15 points. It was a win that made Coach Ty Bryant especially proud.
The Tornadoes were not carried on the back of a superstar. They played as a team, with different Tornadoes making winning plays each game. It was the little things, such as senior Jaydn Lattimore's ability to set screens, opening lanes for Johnson to get to the rim, that allowed Booker to thrive. The end result was a team stronger together than it was apart. Although the team's journey ended in the state semifinals, its postseason run was more than enough to engender hope in its future.
The Riverview High boys soccer team's defense and goaltending was impenetrable in 2021-2022.
Almost literally.
The Rams began their season with 12 shutout games. Manatee High did score one goal during the teams' season-opening tie on Nov. 8, but it came on a penalty kick, not during the flow of the game. That was all the Rams allowed opponents to get until Sarasota High snuck one into the net on Jan. 12, over two months later. Longtime Rams coach Ed Stroop called the team's defense the best he has ever coached.
Riverview would lose 1-0 to Lakewood Ranch High in the postseason, but the feat its defense pulled off is remarkable nonetheless.
IMG Academy junior Amelia Malkin, a girls soccer player, committed to the Gators in December. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work. Malkin, who started playing soccer at age 5, had been emailing colleges to gauge their interest since her freshman year, when she played for both Riverview and for travel team Braden River Soccer Club. She would send coaches video highlights and her team schedules and ask them to come watch her play. Nothing much came of the initiative.
Instead of accepting her circumstances, Malkin talked with her family and decided to transfer to IMG Academy. Not only did IMG have the connections and clout to reach elite programs, Malkin said, but the Ascenders players all take the sport as seriously as Malkin does. Malkin said Florida assistant coach Kyle Venter came to an Ascenders practice in the fall to watch two others players. Malkin impressed with her play; she and Venter stayed in contact. A few months later, she was a Gator.
Malkin said the chance to play in a high-level conference like the Southern Conference, plus the school's strong academics and the relatively close distance to home, made Florida an easy choice.
The Riverview High football team used three touchdowns from senior running back Jay'den Birch to beat Steinbrenner High 31-7 on Nov. 12 in the FHSAA Class 8A playoffs' first round.
Birch ran for 88 yards to go with his three touchdowns. Rams junior quarterback Will Carter Jr. also found sophomore Charles Lester III for a 56-yard touchdown pass. Rams senior safety Charlie Cooper intercepted a Steinbrenner pass in the fourth quarter, fulfilling Coach Josh Smithers' wish for more turnovers on defense.
The win meant that Riverview has now won a playoff game in six consecutive seasons.
