There was little doubt which of Wesley Chapel’s three high school athletic programs had the best spring this year — Wiregrass Ranch High.
The Bulls dominated the Sunshine Athletic Conference (SAC) East selections, capturing three team titles, three Coaches of the Year and four Players of the Year, as well as putting 25 athletes on all-SAC first teams and another 28 on second teams.
WRH was the only area school to have at least one All-SAC first-team performer in all 10 sports offered — baseball, softball, boys weightlifting and wrestling, and boys and girls tennis, track and field and lacrosse — during the Spring 2022 season.
Softball Player of the Year Kylee Johnson, a junior shortstop, had arguably the best season ever for an area player, batting .506 with 34 RBI, 8 home runs, 10 triples and 12 doubles for a whopping slugging percentage of 1.149.
Other Bulls Players of the Year included:
• Girls lacrosse standout Luna Khatib, who scored 83 goals and had 33 assists in 17 games this season in earning POY honors for a second straight year
• No. 1 singles boys tennis standout Ninad Raut, who led the Bulls to the Class 4A State semifinals
• Hurdler Catherine Fleming, who advanced to the State championships in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles as well as the 4×100 relay and, like Khatib, was a repeat POY winner.
Coaches Craig Havermann (girls lacrosse), Dave Wilson (boys tennis) and Mark Kantor (weightlifting) were all named Coaches of the Year after leading their respective sports at WRH to SAC championships.
Other highlights for the Bulls included:
• Brothers Maddox (sophomore infielder) and Mason McDougal (senior outfielder), who made the All-SAC first team for baseball.
• Seniors Mackenzie Smith (offense) and Alessia Lloyd (defense) and junior defender Aly Allen joined Khalib on the All-SAC lacrosse team.
• Boys tennis players Raut, Vld Shumakov, Zak Herrmann, Belal Mansour and Leonardo Rodriguez all made the All-SAC first-team, and all are juniors, so they will return next season.
• Track & Field’s Ava Schmitt, a freshman, made the first team in two events – the 1600m and 3200m.
Meanwhile, Cypress Creek High produced two SAC Players of the Year — senior infielder Ethan Petry, who led the Coyotes with a .479 batting average, 33 runs and six homers at the plate and a 5-2 record and 60 strikeouts in 42 innings as a pitcher, and freshman weightlifter Jayden Cruzado, who finished third at the Class 2A State championships in the 129-pound weight class. Cruzado also made first team All-SAC in wrestling at 129 pounds
Other highlights for Cypress Creek included senior Kione Roberson making the track & field first team in the long jump and second in the high jump, and junior Tiffany Colin making first team in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter sprints.
Wesley Chapel High’s baseball team won the SAC title this season after going 6-2 in the conference, and the Wildcats also were represented on the All-SAC teams by girls track & field Athlete of the Year Latia Dove — a senior who advanced to the Class 2A State championships in the long jump and 4×100 relay — and 199-pound senior Jorden McCaslin, the SAC Wrestler of the Year and a competitor at the Class 2A State championships.
Other highlights for the Wildcats included McCaslin also making first team for weightlifting and second team for track (in the 4×100 relay); senior pitcher Zach Showalter (team-high .333 average, four homers, 21 RBI, 0.78 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 45 innings) making first team for baseball; and Kandace Means capping a great career (.390 batting average, 19 doubles, 15 home runs and 91 RBI in 73 games) with first-team softball honors.
Here’s all the Wesley Chapel-area choices by school:
WIREGRASS RANCH
TEAM CHAMPIONS
Weightlifting
Boys Tennis
Girls Lacrosse
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
LUNA KHALIB, GIRLS LACROSSE
NINAD RAUT, BOYS TENNIS
KYLEE JOHNSON, SOFTBALL
CATHERINE FLEMING, GIRLS TRACK & FIELD
COACHES OF THE YEAR
CRAIG HAVERMANN, GIRLS LACROSSE
DAVE WILSON, BOYS TENNIS
MARK KANTOR, BOYS WEIGHTLIFTING
FIRST TEAM PICKS
BASEBALL: Maddox McDougall, 10, INF; Mason McDougal, 12, OF.
SOFTBALL: Kylee Johnson, 11, INF; Brianna Baer, 12, OF.
BOYS LACROSSE: Jeremiah Loo, 12, Off.
GIRLS LACROSSE: Luna Khalib, 12, Off, Mackenzie Smith, 12, Off; Alessia Lloyd, 12, Def; Aly Allen, 11, Def.
BOYS TENNIS: Ninad Raut, 11; Vlad Shumakov, 11; Zak Herrmann, 11; Belal Mansour, 11; Leonardo Rodriguez, 11.
GIRLS TENNIS: Sydney West, 11
BOYS TRACK: 4×400 relay (Riddyk Ayan, 11; Mason Spearin, 10; Joseph Medina, 11; Alexzay Rodriguez, 9)
GIRLS TRACK: Catherine Fleming, 12, 100m and 300m hurdles, 12; Ava Schmitt, 9, 1600m and 3200m.
WRESTLING: Dylan Dison, 11, 119 pounds.
WEIGHTLIFTING: Isaiah Fitzpatrick, 11, 154 pounds; Kenneth Walker, 11, 219; Devin Leathers, 11, 238.
SECOND TEAM PICKS
BASEBALL: Christopher Labraon, 12, INF.
SOFTBALL: Abigail Vyas, 12, P; Elise Eason, 12, INF; Stephanie Daly, 10. BOYS LACROSSE: Garrett Schwartz, 11, Off; Jackson Payton, 11, Def.
GIRLS LACROSSE: Bridgette Currin, 10, Def,
BOYS TENNIS: Jeremy Caruso, 11
GIRLS TENNIS: Natalie Andelova, 9; Oceane Bucaille, 12
BOYS TRACK: Izaiah Williams, 10, 200m; Riddyk Ayan, 11, Long jump; 4×800 relay (Mason Spearin, 10; Jaime Candelaria, 11; Tyler Dana, 9; Joseph Medina, 11.)
GIRLS TRACK: Maryam Khalil, 12, shot put and discus; 4×100 relay (Kenzye Gainey, 11; Amaiya Potter 11; Daylyn Brown, 9; Ashtyn Warner 11); 4×400 relay (Catherine Fleming, 12; Faith Sidwell, 12; Kenzye Gainey, 11; Amiaya Potter, 11).
WRESTLING: Kenneth Walker, 11, 219 pounds
WEIGHTLIFTING: Dylan Dison, 11, 119 pounds; Alex Cruz, 10, 139; Elijah Brown, 10, 183.
CYPRESS CREEK
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
ETHAN PETRY, BASEBALL
JAYDEN CRUZADO, WEIGHTLIFTING
FIRST TEAM PICKS
BASEBALL: Ethan Petry, 12, INF.
SOFTBALL: Charlie Montgomery, 12, INF; Reagan Alapa, 11, OF.
BOYS LACROSSE: Nicholas Vreeland, 12, Off.
GIRLS LACROSSE: Avery Smith, 11, Off; Mirando Garcia, 12, Def
BOYS TRACK: Kione Roberson, 12, Long jump
GIRLS TRACK: Tiffany Colin, 11, 100m, 200m, 400m.
WRESTLING: Jayden Cruzado, 9, 129 pounds
WEIGHTLIFTING: Jayden Cruzado, 9, 129 pounds; Matt Hensley, 11, 169.
SECOND TEAM PICKS
BASEBALL: Seamus Gallagher, 10, INF.
SOFTBALL: Miranda Schwartz, 12, INF.
BOYS LACROSSE: Ben Sheldon, 11, Off; Logan Falk, 11, Def.
GIRLS LACROSSE: Ashlynn Hunter, 10, Off; Jaidyn Davis, 11, Def
BOYS TENNIS: Kai Penalosa, 10
BOYS TRACK: Kione Roberson, 12, High jump
WEIGHTLIFTING: Huey Wyche, 9, 129 pounds
HONORABLE MENTION
Girls tennis: Melanie Rodriguez, 10
WESLEY CHAPEL
TEAM CHAMPIONS
Baseball
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
LATIA DOVE, GIRLS TRACK & FIELD
JORDEN MCCASLIN, WRESTLING
FIRST TEAM PICKS
BASEBALL: Zach Showalter, 12, P.
SOFTBALL: Kadence Means, 12, INF; Ava Blakely, 10, OF.
GIRLS TRACK: 4×100 relay (Remiyah Harris,12; Valeria Farjardo, 10; Latia Dove, 12; Annalyse Rogers 12).
WRESTLING: Connor Maddox, 11, 154 pounds; Jorden McCaslin, 12, 199.
WEIGHTLIFTING: Jorden McCaslin, 12, 199 pounds
SECOND TEAM PICKS
BASEBALL: Zach Bice, 12, INF; Jacob Carrillo, 11, OF.
SOFTBALL: Madison Golka, 12, INF; Courtney Marks, 10, OF.
GIRLS LACROSSE: Briana Belcher, 11, Def.
BOYS TRACK: 4×100 relay (Jorden McCaslin, 12, Nehemiah Morgan, 12, Sebastian Gutierrez, 11, Jaylan Blake 12).
GIRLS TRACK: Alexi Benitez, 12, 100m hurdles; Valeria Farjardo, 10, 100m; Annalyse Rogers, 12, 200m; Latia Dove, 12, Long jump.
HONORABLE MENTION
LACROSSE: Anthony Iserino, 12, Off
BOYS TENNIS: Alexander Raatma, 11
GIRLS TENNIS: Piper Dunne, 10
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