A strong spring sports season boosted Harmony High School to the 2020-21 Orange Belt Conference (OBC) Team Championship.
Awarded annually, the honor represents the best combined athletic showing of Osceola County’s eight public high schools.
Girls volleyball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls tennis, and baseball were not included this year because the Covid pandemic either forced cancellation of conference tournaments or prevented round-robins from being played in those sports.
Points were awarded on the basis of finish, with the winning team earning eight points.
Harmony’s boys and girls track teams and the boys weightlifting team all won conference titles in the spring. Combined with fourth-place finishes in softball and boys volleyball, the Longhorns amassed 34 points in spring sports, part of their 96.5 total. It was enough to edge out St. Cloud (91) and Celebration (87.5) for the points title.
During the school year, the Longhorns also finished first in girls cross country, girls swimming and diving, and wrestling. Harmony also had runner-up finishes in girls golf and competitive cheer.
“I’m extremely proud of all our coaches and athletes for winning the OBC All-Sports Trophy,” Harmony athletic director Dan Carr said. “It really is a tribute to their persistence and ability to overcome incredible obstacles in this Covid year.”
It was Harmony’s ninth OBC points title and first since 2017, breaking a three-year winning streak by St. Cloud.
This time, St. Cloud had team champions in boys and girls golf, girls weightlifting and boys volleyball. Celebration had champions in boys cross country, competitive cheer and boys swimming and diving to go along with six runner-up squads.
Osceola (54.5), which won in softball, edged Tohopekaliga (53.5) for fourth place. Poinciana (24.5), was sixth, followed by Gateway (30) and Liberty (18.5).
County athletic director Ryan Adams said Covid scheduling problems were the reason not all team sports could be calculated into the standings.
“Unfortunately, that may have made a difference in the final tallies,” he said. “But all our county coaches deserve a ton of credit for guiding their programs through an extremely difficult year.”
St. Cloud captured its fourth OBC Academic Championship with a cumulative GPA of 3.546 for all athletes, including a 3.879 GPA by the boys tennis team. The Bulldogs has 23 of its teams finish the school year with a cumulative 3.0 GPA or higher.
“Really, a lot of the credit has to go to our assistant principal, Jennifer Wrona,” said St. Cloud girls basketball and tennis coach Chad Ansbaugh. “A long time ago, she pushed through the idea that participation in athletics was a privilege, not a right. Going way above state and county guidelines, it became a rule at St. Cloud that if you were failing a single class, you were automatically ineligible for athletics until you brought that grade up, and she made the coaches responsible for weekly monitoring of grades and attendance.
“When she first brought that rule up, I can tell you a lot of coaches wanted to fight her over it, but in the long run it was a brilliant idea. It holds everyone accountable.”
The Bulldogs also won the academic honor from 2016-2018.
Other impressive academic achievements for St. Cloud this school year included a 3.873 mark for the girls weightlifting team, 3.832 by the girls tennis team, 3.666 by the girls volleyball team and 3.636 by the girls basketball team.
“It’s a great honor for our school to regain the OBC All-Academic Trophy,” St. Cloud athletic director Eric Godfrey said. “We continually strive to make the point they are student-athletes and not the other way around. All our coaches emphasize the importance of academics.”
Harmony, which has won the award an area-leading eight times since it was created in 2010, was second this time with a 3.456 mark. Celebration was third at 3.363.
We continually strive to make the point they are student-athletes and not the other way around. All our coaches emphasize the importance of academics.”
— ERIC GODFREY St. Cloud athletic director
