The first days of fall saw a stream of sensational girls golf scores.
Circle Christian junior Alexis Burbank recorded a hole-in-one on the third hole at Rio Pinar during her team’s stellar 135 score to win vs. Lake Highland Prep. Ana Boone, who has been on a tear, shot 4-under-par 32 for the Centurions. Nicole Sardinha added a 33, and Burbank a 34 in what is believed to be a school record nine-hole score for Circle, which won the 1A state title in 2013 and was a runner-up four times — including the past two years.
“For all six of our girls to be par or better. … It was an amazing day,” Circle coach Allyson Kotes said.
Circle Christian is rated by iWanamaker as No. 2 in the state for all classes behind FAU High School of Boca Raton. Lake Mary Prep is No. 3.
Winter Park sophomore Phah Smitasin shot 9-under 63 to lead her team’s victory in the Metro Conference Tournament at Zellwood Station Country Club. The Wildcats topped defending state champion Lake Nona 288 strokes to 292.
“Phah was amazing. And all five of our girls came through,” Winter Park coach Joe Difrancesco said. “We always talk about having our best day. We had our best day.”
Lake Nona’s Alexandra Snyder shot 64 and Boone’s Corinne Searl was third at 69.
Windermere Prep junior Charlize Peterson shot 4-under 31 in a 135-149 nine hole win vs. Lake Mary Prep at The Timacuan Club.
Circle Christian hosts this weekend’s Qdoba Burrito Challenge at the Providence Golf Club but will play without four girls starters who qualified for the Florida Junior Tour championship.
A football first
Robby Pruitt, who set a state record when he piled up seven FHSAA state championships by the time he was 36, broke another standard last week.
At age 62 he became the first football coach in high school history to reach 200 career wins in two different states when his 4-1 Williston team beat Ocala Trinity Catholic 49-21.
Pruitt has a 200-38 record in Florida, including 33-8 in four years at Williston. He was 88-20 with four state championships at Jacksonville University Christian (1984-92) and 79-10 with three consecutive state titles at Union County (1993-99).
Pruitt’s Georgia record was 209-63-1 with stints at Fitzgerald (120-21-1), Coffee County (83-38) and Warner-Robins (6-4).
Jacksonville Bolles sophomore Xander Edwards, the son of former NFL fullback Marc Edwards, ran 39 times for 522 yards and 8 touchdowns in a wild 73-49 district win for the Bulldogs (5-1) against Baldwin (4-2) last week. The yardage total ranks second in state history behind the 535 yards Kaleb Wagner of Baker gained in a 2021 game.
Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry, the only player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season at the high school, college and NFL levels, carried 48 times for 502 yards in 2012 as a high school phenom for Yulee. He set a national record for career yards with 12,124 in four seasons.
Orangewood Christian ninth grader Ellie Enger (4) leads a team ranked No. 1 in Class 2A. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
Volleyball
Florida’s kill leaders, according to MaxPreps, are senior Natasha Casey of Lake Howell (14-5) with 370 and senior Soraya Teston with 362 for East River (11-10). Foundation Academy (17-3) junior Haley Higgins is fourth on that list with 350.
Casey, a 6-foot-2 left-handed hitter, is set to sign with UCF, according to Lake Howell coach Kim Vach.
“She had a long list of schools looking at her,” Vach said. “It’s big for UCF. She’s a hard-core athlete.”
Vach, a head coach for 27 seasons, is sharing head coaching duties with Paul Tang this year.
Orangewood Christian (17-4), No. 1 in the FHSAA Class 2A power rankings, went 6-1 in the prestigious Nike Tournament of Champions Southwest in Phoenix over the weekend. The Rams beat teams from Arizona, California, Colorado, and Oregon and lost only to Southern California powerhouse Mater Dei in a competitive 25-20, 25-22 match.
Mater Dei won the tournament and moved up to No. 2 in MaxPreps’ national rankings.
“It was a great tournament. Great competition,” Orangewood coach Diane Langmo said.
Isabel Bertelsen, Amber McClain and Isabel Incinelli led Winter Park (17-1) in a 25-19, 28-26, 25-19 Saturday victory against visiting North Carolina 2024 state champ Cardinal Gibbons (16-3). The Wildcats moved into the MaxPreps top 20.
Oviedo (16-5), No. 3 in 6A, went 5-1 in the Iron Horse Invitational in Charleston, South Carolina. The Lions lost a tight championship match 25-15, 14-25, 15-12 to host Phillip Simmons (27-3), a South Carolina state runner-up last season.
Oviedo hosts its backyard rival, 7A No. 4 Hagerty (16-3), on Thursday night.
Kissimmee Osceola (20-3), No. 2 in 7A, won the Orange Belt Conference for the fourth time in a row since that tournament for Osceola County public schools was revived in 2022. The Kowboys are on a 16-match win streak and hit the 20-win mark for the seventh consecutive season — not counting the 2020 season shortened by COVID.
Thayna Da Rosa (21 kills, 15 digs), Kennedy Connell (19 kills, 15 digs) and Paeton Wheeler (49 assists) led The First Academy (14-3) in a come-from-behind 25-18, 16-25, 18-25, 25-23, 16-14 win against Bishop Moore (9-9).
Bishop Moore’s Swing for the Cure tournament is Friday-Saturday at Orlando’s Game Point Event Center. Winter Park is the top seed in the Premier Division, followed by St. Johns Beachside (17-1) and Lake Brantley (11-7).
Winter Park edges Orangewood in clash of FHSAA girls volleyball state title contenders
Bowling
Noah McPherson, Mitch Guttentag, Nick Stephan, Beckett Kemp and Paul Miedico all rolled games over 200 Tuesday as the Huskies (12-0) defeated Lyman, 2572-2373.
Celebration’s Santiago Velasquez rolled a 258 game as the Storm outscored four Orange County teams.
Eden Bastian posted a 219 girls game for Winter Park, which is 10-0 in dual play after beating Timber Creek (8-2) on Monday.
Bishop Moore’s teamwork helps golf star Jack Mokris deal with diabetes
Boys golf
Ponte Vedra defeated Arizona champ Notre Dame Prep in a match play final to win the unique Wolverines vs. the World tournament, hosted by Windermere High at Orange Lake Resort.
Ponte Vedra shot 282 and 285 for a 567 total ahead of The First Academy (283-294—577) and NDP in stroke play. Circle Christian (296-290—586), Lake Highland Prep (305-290—595) and Bishop Moore (306-291—597) finished 4-5-6.
Ponte Vedra defeated Circle and NDB topped TFA in match play semifinals.
Top individuals from area teams were: Jack Mokris (Bishop Moore) 69-69—138; Mingbo Jiang (TFA) 67-73—140; Casper Chopra (LHP) 73-67—140; and Riley Sillaway (Lake Mary) 67-74—141.
Luke Gossett shot 5-under-par 30 in leading Circle Christian to a 135-149 win against Lake Mary Prep at Ventura Country Club.
Ayden Febres shot 5-under 31 for St. Cloud in a 139-157 win vs. Lake Nona at Royal St. Cloud Golf Links.
Will Somers shot 5-under 67 as Winter Park totaled 291 at Orange County National to win the Metro Conference Tournament ahead of Windermere (297).
Cross country
East Ridge swept the boys and girls titles at the Ocoee Invitational. Individual champ Axel Sallault (16:09.03) led the Knights’ boys victory ahead of a highly rated Oviedo team missing several of its fastest runners. Horizon’s Abigayle White was the first girl to finish with a 19:25.6 time.
Upcoming Saturday meets include the Green Monster Invitational at East Ridge; and Metro Conference meets at Orlando University (East Division) and West Orange (West). The FLRunners.com Invitational has races Friday and Saturday.
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
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