FHSAA Lacrosse Rankings: Pensacola Catholic boys and girls still area's best
Pensacola Catholic boys and girls lacrosse remain the top area teams in the latest FHSAA rankings, which were announced on Tuesday.
On the boys side, the Crusaders and Gulf Breeze are essentially hand-in-hand, with Pensacola Catholic sitting at No. 11 in the state, and Gulf Breeze at No. 12.
For the girls, Pensacola Catholic is ranked 20th in the state, but is first overall in Region 1-1A.
District tournaments begin in the middle of next week on April 10, and go until April 18. Regional tournaments will start the following week for both classes. Each district champion will earn an automatic bid, while the next four best teams will earn at-large bids.
Here's a breakdown of each class and the state rankings for area teams.
Boys
Class 2A
Gulf Breeze (15.142) – first in District 1-2A, second in Region 1-2A, second in Class 2A, 12th overall
Milton (2.877) – fourth in District 1-2A, 15th in Region 1-2A, 41st in Region 1-2A, 79th overall
Navarre (-7.152) – sixth in District 1-2A, 25th in Region 1-2A, 79th in Class 2A, 157th overall
If the regular season ended today, assuming the top team in each district wins its tournament, the four Region 1 automatic bids would be: Lake Mary (District 4), Gulf Breeze (District 1), Fletcher (District 2) and St. Augustine (District 3). The four at-large bids would go to: Ponte Vedra (District 2), Nease (District 2), Lake Brantley (District 4) and Niceville (District 1).
The region quarterfinals would be:
No. 1 Lake Mary vs. No. 8 Niceville
No. 2 Gulf Breeze vs. No. 7 Lake Brantley
No. 3 Fletcher vs. No. 6 St. Augustine
No. 4 Ponte Vedra vs. No. 5 Nease
Class 1A
Pensacola Catholic (15.236) – first in District 1-1A, second in Region 1-1A, 10th in Class 1A, 11th overall
West Florida (2.256) – second in District 1-1A, ninth in Region 1-1A, 39th in Class 1A, 83rd overall
Booker T. Washington (-7.061) – third in District 1-1A, 16th in Region 1-1A, 73rd in Class 1A, 155th overall
Pensacola (-12.612) – fourth in District 1-1A, 19th in Region 1-1A, 87th in Class 1A, 182nd overall
If the regular season ended today, assuming the top team in each district wins its tournament, the four Region 1 automatic bids would be: Bolles (District 4), Pensacola Catholic (District 1), Oak Hall (District 3) and South Walton (District 2). The four at-large bids would go to: Episcopal School of Jacksonville (District 4), Menendez (District 3), Trinity Catholic (District 3) and Maclay (District 2).
The regional quarterfinals would look like:
No. 1 Bolles vs. No. 8 Maclay
No. 2 Pensacola Catholic vs. No. 7 Trinity Catholic
No. 3 Oak Hall vs. No. 6 South Walton
No. 4 Episcopal School of Jacksonville vs. No. 5 Menendez
Girls
Class 2A
Gulf Breeze (4.703) – first in District 1-2A, ninth in Region 1-2A, 32nd in Class 2A, 63rd overall
Milton (-1.613) – third in District 1-2A, 14th in Region 1-2A, 55th in Class 2A, 114th overall
Tate (-7.654) – fourth in District 1-2A, 19th in Region 1-2A, 74th in Class 2A, 155th overall
Navarre (-11.729) – fifth in District 1-2A, 22nd in Region 1-2A, 86th in Class 2A, 180th overall
If the regular season ended today, assuming the top team in each district wins its tournament, the four Region 1 automatic bids would be: Bartram Trail (District 3), Lake Mary (District 4), Nease (District 2) and Gulf Breeze (District 1). The four at-large bids would be earned by: Creekside (District 3), Forest (District 3), Tocoi Creek (District 3) and Apopka (District 4).
The regional quarterfinals would look like:
No. 1 Bartram Trail vs. No. 8 Gulf Breeze
No. 2 Lake Mary vs. No. 7 Nease
No. 3 Creekside vs. No. 6 Apopka
No. 4 Forest vs. No. 5 Tocoi Creek
Class 1A
Pensacola Catholic (12.664) – first in District 1-1A, second in Region 1-1A, 11th in Class 1A, 20th overall
West Florida (6.066) – third in District 1-1A, sixth in Region 1-1A, 27th in Class 1A, 53rd overall
Booker T. Washington (2.675) – fourth in District 1-1A, ninth in Region 1-1A, 45th in Class 1A, 82nd overall
Pensacola (-0.091) – eighth in District 1-1A, 21st in Region 1-1A, 85th in Class 1A, 164th overall
If the regular season ended today, assuming the top team in each district wins its tournament, the four Region 1 automatic bids would be: Episcopal School of Jacksonville (District 2), Pensacola Catholic (District 1), Ponte Vedra (District 3) and Oak Hall (District 4). The at-large bids would go to: South Walton (District 1), West Florida (District 1), Bolles (District 2) and St. Augustine (District 3).
The regional quarterfinals would look like:
No. 1 Episcopal School of Jacksonville vs. No. 8 St. Augustine (District 3)
No. 2 Pensacola Catholic vs. No. 7 Bolles
No. 3 Ponte Vedra vs. No. 6 West Florida
No. 4 Oak Hall vs. No. 5 South Walton
Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on X (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola Catholic boys, girls lacrosse rank high in FHSAA rankings