SWFL Sports Awards presented by Babcock Ranch: Travis, Roker win Athlete of the Year honors
The 2024 Southwest Florida Sports Awards sponsored by Babcock Ranch rolled out the red carpet Thursday night for more than 1,000 local high school athletes, coaches, and their supporters.
Evangelical Christian School's McKenzie Travis and Bishop Verot's Leroy Roker earned the marquee honors at the show, held at Suncoast Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College. The pair were crowned the Girls and Boys Athletes of the Year by The News-Press and Naples Daily News. In all, 38 awards were handed out for the 2023-24 school year.
Travis, who will run track at South Carolina and also was named the Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year, made history this spring by becoming the eighth girl in Florida history to take the triple crown in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dash events at the Class 1A state meet. By concluding her high school career with three gold medals, the Sentinels' sprinter cemented herself as one of the best athletes in Southwest Florida's history.
"All my hard work just finally showed off and my senior year I got the big one," Travis said of her award. "This really ends the year on a good note for me."
The other Girls Athlete of the Year finalists were Evangelical Christian's Zoe Yzaguirre, who was the Softball Player of the Year after powering the Sentinels to a Class 2A state championship, and LaBelle's Marissa Burchard, a three-sport standout in softball, basketball and volleyball for the Cowgirls.
Roker, an Ohio State signee for football, was an All-Area first-team and All-Region selection in both that sport and basketball. On the gridiron, he was a ball-hawking safety, grabbing seven interceptions and recording 54 tackles for the Vikings last fall. On the court, he averaged 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists to help Bishop Verot improve to a 22-7 record.
The other Boys Athlete of the Year finalists were Mariner's Marcus Kelley, an All-Area first-team pick in football and an All-Region selection in basketball, and Fort Myers High's Madrid Tucker, an All-Area first-teamer in baseball and an All-Region standout in football.
No team provided its fans with more heart-stopped finishes this school year than the Dunbar High School football team which nabbed the Boys Team of the Year Award. The Tigers finished 11-3, the most wins in program history, and reached the Class 3S state semifinals for the second consecutive season, a feat no other Lee County football team had ever accomplished. But it was how the Tigers' won that made their run even more unforgettable. Dunbar's three playoff wins all came by five points or fewer, including a walk-off kickoff return by Kelby Tyre to stun Naples 12-10 at Staver Field in the regional championship game.
"It was a heck of a season," Brown said. "Down the stretch, my guys they dug deep and they persevered. They do that year after year and this year was no different. I mean backs against the wall, 10 seconds left on the clock, we're going to keep playing football, Dunbar Tiger football."
Winning the first girls basketball championship in school history is a forever memory, one that earned the Evangelical Christian School hoop squad the Girls Team of the Year Award. The Sentinels defeated Central Florida Christian 57-46 in the Class 2A title game, capping a 26-3 season that saw them outscore their opponents by more than 800 points.
"This team was destined from the beginning," Donnell said. "This is a phenomenal group of girls. It was a tremendous year of accomplishments, just no bickering. It was almost a flawless year, including the parents. This was special, man. This year should really be a book because there were so many positive things that happened."
The Jeff Sommer Memorial Coach of the Year Award, named after the late Estero High cross country and track mentor, has been presented annually to the Southwest Florida coach that not only succeeds in the athletic arena but also best exemplifies the 3Ds that Sommer championed — Discipline, Desire, and Dedication. This year's recipient was longtime Lely boys soccer coach Robbie Schank.
The 49-year-old has been coaching the Trojans for 30 seasons, dating back to his late teens. Over the years, Lely has posted a number of winning seasons under his guidance, which included a district championship and a regional berth this season as his team finished 13-6-5. He's done all of this while also serving as a firefighter in Collier County and operating a charter service centered around backwater fishing in Southwest Florida.
"This award is deeper than the plaque deeper than the plaque and the presentation," Schank said. "I'm very close with the (Sommer) family. This is such an honor, it's a blessing.
"This is the most special day I've ever had in my whole life as a coach. This means more than anything. I've never received anything this big and it doesn't get any better than this ... I'm very proud to show this off to my family, my team and my school."
Dunbar football coach Sammy Brown, South Fort Myers baseball coach Willie Eyre and Naples boys cross country and track and field coach Mary Beth Watkins were finalists for the Jeff Sommer Award.
Unified Sports, a division of Special Olympics, is continuing to grow in Southwest Florida schools. Cypress Lake's Peyton Melton was honored as the Special Olympics Athlete of the Year.
Peyton has played in Unified basketball each year he's attended Cypress Lake and has also participated in Unified bowling and community track for three years and community soccer for two. This past season, Peyton led the Panthers' bowling team in scoring average, helping Cypress win the inaugural district championship for Unified bowling. He also dressed for a varsity football game and was one of the team captains. Once the game was over, Cypress Lake ran an untimed play for Peyton to have the chance to score a touchdown. At school, Peyton is an uplifting presence in the hallways, greeting everyone with a high-five.
The other finalists for the award were Lely's Byron Curran, Lehigh's Miriam Hernandez-Martinez and Mariner's Evena Valery.
Lauded as much for her academic achievements as well as her athletic ones, Barron Collier's Rebecca Van't Hoff received the Southwest Florida Scholar-Athlete Award.
Van't Hoff had a 5.75 GPA, taking 14 AP and 17 honors courses, and scored a 34 on the ACT while being named an AP Scholar with Distinction. During her senior year, she was the Type One Diabetes Club president and founder, a Special Olympics volunteer, and volunteered at Poinciana Elementary for children with special needs, an Osceola Reading Matters volunteer, a member of the pre-med club, and a T2 Swim Team member. She also attended an Advanced Medicine Leadership Program at Johns Hopkins University.
Athletically Van't Hoff lettered in swimming, basketball, and track. She made it to state in three swimming events, was the basketball team captain, and finished runner-up in Class 3A in the javelin.
The other finalists were Oasis' Tyler Feichthaler and Estero's Madison White.
The Courage Award is annually presented to an athlete who overcomes long odds to succeed in the sporting award. This year, there were two winners: Lely basketball players Sofiia Kiritsa and Oleksandra Rubanova.
More: Forced to flee Ukraine, Lely's Sofiia Kiritsa, Oleksandra Rubanova win 2024 SWFL Courage Award
Kiritsa and Rubanova both fled their home country of Ukraine last year and moved to Naples, starting high school at Lely last fall. Both left family members and friends behind in their home country, which is still fighting a brutal war with Russia.
The two, who first met in September 2021 when Kiritsa joined Rubanova's basketball club in Kyiv, helped lift the Trojans to a 20-9 record, which included a 16-game winning streak, and the program's first district championship. Lely fell one win short of the final four, losing to Port Charlotte in a regional final. Kiritsa, who averaged 16.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.7 steals per game as a sophomore, was also honored Thursday as the Southwest Florida Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
Udonis Haslem, who played 20 seasons for the Miami Heat, winning three championships while playing in seven NBA Finals, was the show's special guest speaker. Haslem, who will turn 44 on Sunday, is currently the Heat's president of basketball development, a position he moved into after retiring as a player following last season.
Haslem, who was passed over by every team in the NBA Draft coming out of the University of Florida and played a year in France, said that experience helped set the tone for his eventual championship tenure in Miami.
"I needed that year because that was the year that I understood that if I wanted to make it, that it had to become a lifestyle," Haslem said. "It couldn't just become a job. It couldn't become a 9 to 5, it couldn't become comfortable, it couldn't become just easy for me. It had to become a lifestyle for me to get to where I wanted to go."
Haslem said perseverance is an essential quality not just for athletes but for everyone as they progress through their lives.
"What I will tell you kids out here is everything you want in life is going to be on the other side of hard," he said. "You've got to get through the hard stuff to get where you want. Nothing's going to come easy, and if it's easy, you probably don't want it."
Here's a complete rundown of all of Thursday's award winners.
Premier Awards
Male Athlete of the Year
Leroy Roker, Bishop Verot
Female Athlete of the Year
McKenzie Travis, Evangelical Christian
Courage Award Recipients
Sofiia Kiritsa and Oleksandra Rubanova, Lely
FPL Power Play
Kelby Tyre, Dunbar
Jeff Sommer Memorial Coach of the Year
Robbie Schank, Lely
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Rebecca Van't Hoff, Barron Collier
Special Olympics Athlete of the Year
Peyton Melton, Cypress Lake
Boys Team of the Year
Dunbar football
Girls Team of the Year
Evangelical Christian girls basketball
School Spirit Award
Naples High School
Player of the Year Awards
Volleyball Player of the Year
Aisha Keric, Barron Collier
Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year
Joseph Koraya, Fort Myers
Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year
Mackenzie De Lisle, Bishop Verot
Boys Golfer of the Year
Graham Boone, Barron Collier
Girls Golfer of the Year
Eva Lye, First Baptist
Boys Bowler of the Year
Daniel Lynn, Cape Coral
Girls Bowler of the Year
Katarina Hagler, Oasis
Boys Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Year
Nick Fabian, Community School
Girls Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Year
Charlotte Norman, Community School
Defensive Football Player of the Year
Kensley Faustin, Naples
Offensive Football Player of the Year
Carter Smith, Bishop Verot
Girls Weightlifter of the Year
Aleah Baron, LaBelle
Boys Wrestler of the Year
Maximus Brady, Mariner
Girls Wrestler of the Year
Kiera Partello, Barron Collier
Boys Soccer Player of the Year
Emerson LaOrden, Barron Collier
Girls Soccer Player of the Year
Ryleigh Acosta, Mariner
Boys Basketball Player of the Year
Patrick Johnson, Gateway Charter
Girls Basketball Player of the Year
Sofiia Kiritsa, Lely
Baseball Player of the Year
Johnny King, Naples
Softball Player of the Year
Zoe Yzaguirre, Evangelical Christian
Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year
Cal Wyatt, Community School
Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year
Kali Cleary, Gulf Coast
Boys Tennis Player of the Year
William Freshwater, Barron Collier
Girls Tennis Player of the Year
Indi Patel, Riverdale
Boys Weightlifter of the Year
Nick Bloomston, Fort Myers
Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year
Andrew Azunque, First Baptist
Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year
McKenzie Travis, Evangelical Christian
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Southwest Florida's top athletes, teams honored at 2024 Sports Awards show
