Six championships equals one Sunshine Cup: Bolles wins top FHSAA award for 2022-23

Bolles received the Florida High School Athletic Association's Floyd E. Lay Sunshine Cup for Class 4A schools, the annual competition recognizing excellence across all sports.

The school earned FHSAA championships for 2022-23 in boys and girls cross country, boys and girls swimming and boys and girls track, in addition to placing second in boys lacrosse and girls tennis and qualifying for state semifinals in football, boys soccer and girls soccer.

At that rate, the trophy cabinet will be getting crowded inside the Davis Gym. The school now owns 44 state titles in boys swimming, 36 in girls swimming, 14 in girls cross country, seven in boys cross country, six in girls track and three in boys track.

Bolles' overall team score of 232 points was second among all schools in all classes, behind only St. Thomas Aquinas. This year's Sunshine Cup is the 27th in the history of Bolles athletics.

Three Northeast Florida schools occupied the top five in Class 4A. In addition to Bolles, Suwannee finished third and Bishop Kenny fourth.

Bolles wasn't the only area team on top of the list. In Class 7A, Bartram Trail took first place in the standings with 137.75 points, following the Bears' championships in the girls soccer and girls lacrosse tournaments. That was enough to overcome Windermere and Tampa Plant.

In Class 6A, Ponte Vedra placed second and Fleming Island fourth behind St. Thomas Aquinas; in Class 5A, Clay came in second behind Jensen Beach and placed first in girls standings; and in Class 2A, Union County was second behind Miami True North.

Carns, Sandford set for national showcase

First Coast catcher Hunter Carns and Bartram Trail pitcher Schuyler Sandford were selected for the Dick's Sporting Goods Perfect Game All-American Classic in baseball.

The annual showcase highlights 60 leading high school prospects from around the United States and Canada.

Carns and Sandford are among 10 Florida honorees, with Tallahassee Lincoln first baseman Myles Bailey, Oviedo Hagerty pitcher Talan Bell, Florida Christian pitcher Lazaro Collera, IMG Academy outfielder Noah Franco, Oviedo outfielder Kaiden Lopez, Plant City Durant pitcher Chase Mobley, Strawberry Crest third baseman Akhil Nimmala and Tampa Jesuit shortstop Noah Sheffield.

The game is scheduled for Aug. 20 at Chase Field in Phoenix, the home ballpark of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Frechette, Mosser in lacrosse combine

Bartram Trail's Ryann Frechette and Ponte Vedra's Lily Mosser, both seniors playing in attack, are among four Florida players selected to the USA Lacrosse National Team Development Program combine from Monday through Wednesday in Sparks, Md.

Frechette won the Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Lacrosse award in May after scoring 135 goals to lead Bartram Trail to a repeat state championship, and Mosser scored 24 goals and six assists for Ponte Vedra in her junior season.

The event also serves as a training camp for future national team selections. Previous selections to the combine from Northeast Florida include Sofia Chepenik and Keeley Cleland, both from Episcopal, and Carsyn Christel from Creekside.

Johnson sisters shine at Junior Olympics

A pair of super St. Johns County sisters continued their feats on the track.

Double state champion Alyson Johnson, entering her sophomore year, earned two championships during this week's AAU Junior Olympic National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

Johnson, winner of the Class 4A 1,600 and 3,200 for Creekside at May's FHSAA meet in Jacksonville, won the girls 3,000 in the 15-16 age division with a time of 10:12.69 on Saturday, beating a pack of national runners by four and a half seconds. She also won the 1,500 in 4:35.67.

Her younger sister, Sydney Johnson, surpassed the national meet record at the same competition Saturday. She won the 3,000 in the 13-year-old girls division in 10:03.33, taking down the previous Junior Olympic age group mark set in 2016. Her winning margin in that race was more than 32 seconds over the field. She added a title in the 1,500, in a St. Johns County 1-2 finish with Eva Delaney.

Ryan, Donovan receive national honors

Award season arrived for two of Jacksonville's veteran coaches in distance running.

The National High School Athletic Coaches Association named Tony Ryan of Bolles as the national girls cross country coach of the year, after leading the Bulldogs to their 14th Florida High School Athletic Association championship last fall.

Ryan has won 10 state cross country championships at Bolles (2004, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022) and helped the Bulldogs' girls track and field squad to three consecutive state trophies. He also won girls cross country championships while leading Bishop Kenny's girls team in 1994, 1995 and 1996.

The NHSACA also selected Jim Donovan, veteran track and field coach at Lee and Mandarin, to its hall of fame during last week's meeting in Lincoln, Neb.

A longtime assistant at Mandarin, Donovan coached for 44 years at Lee (now Riverside) from 1963 to 2007, leading the Generals to the 1967 Class 2A state boys cross country title at Birch State Park in Fort Lauderdale. The 1-2 finish of Lee and Forrest that year remains the last time that Duval County public schools swept the top two spots at an FHSAA boys cross country final.

He also entered the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1999, and served as FACA president for the 2010-11 year.

Around the area

Bishop Kenny forward Clare Coyle committed to Furman women's basketball, after averaging 10.9 points and 9.2 rebounds last year in the Crusaders' run to the state final. ... Bartram Trail midfielder Carolyn Johnson committed Saturday to Johns Hopkins women's soccer. Johnson scored 10 goals and eight assists last season for the Bears, ranked No. 1 in the nation by the United Soccer Coaches. … Bolles football linebacker and lacrosse midfielder J.D. Matson committed to Washington and Lee. … Paxon catcher Ben Oberdorfer signed with Macalester baseball. … Ridgeview infielder Gamble Hulsberg signed with Trinity Baptist baseball. … Oakleaf catcher Meshayla Pettaway committed to Alabama State softball. … Keystone Heights pitcher Caitlin Frampton committed to Eastern Florida State College softball. … Beachside middle blocker Lainie Stapleton committed to Air Force volleyball. … Creekside outside hitter Sarahbelle Jameson committed to Embry-Riddle volleyball. … Bishop Snyder guard Jackson Pringle-West committed to Trinity Baptist men's basketball. … Middleburg named Rhiannon Weiskopf girls weightlifting coach. … Camden County hired David Bailey as head boys basketball coach. … Ribault announced plans to hold this year's home basketball games at Edward Waters University, as the Northside school undergoes a near-total rebuild of its campus. ... High School 9:12 announced its inaugural Fall Sports Media Day for Thursday, Sept. 14. The event will showcase volleyball, cross country, golf, swimming, cheerleading, wrestling and soccer. ... Nominations are due Aug. 24 for the FHSAA's student-athlete advisory committee. Interested students can apply through the FHSAA's online form.

Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed Bartram Trail's position in the Class 7A standings due to a calculation error.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Bolles School wins FHSAA Floyd E. Lay Sunshine Cup for 2022-23 sports