For more photos from the OBC banquet, go to O(ur) B(est) C(hampions): A Photo Gallery
On a night that annually salutes the best and brightest in Osceola County high school sports, St. Cloud reclaimed the coveted Orange Belt Conference All-Sports Award Thursday night at the annual OBC Awards Dinner.
Harmony multi-sport standout Kinzie James and St. Cloud weightlifter Mikey Ziss took home the female and male Athlete of the Year honors, and Osceola football coach Eric Pinellas was named the Dean Cherry Award winner as county coach of the year.
The Bulldogs won spring championships in boys and girls track, softball and boys weightlifting to move ahead of defending champion Harmony by a narrow 156.5-155 margin. It was St. Cloud’s first All-Sports title since winning three years in a row (20182020) and snapped the Longhorns four-year reign (2021-24).
“After coming so close the last couple of years, it’s really something we wanted to win. I am so proud of the effort all our athletes and coaches put into it,” St. Cloud Athletics Director Bryan Smart said.
James was a standout on her volleyball, flag football, and beach volleyball teams. In football, she was the Longhorns’ top receiver and defensive back, playing a major role in Harmony’s OBC and District championships. She recorded 685 volleyball assists and 41 aces in the gym and captained beach volleyball squad.
“It really came as a surprise to win this honor,” James. “Entering my senior year my only real goal was to have fun.”
James, who will pursue a career in medicine at the University of Florida, said flag football became her favorite sport after her freshman year and will pursue the sport at the club level with the Gators.
Ziss is the male honoree for a second time. He repeated his achievement of winning the gold medal in both the Traditional and Olympic disciplines in the 119-pound class at the FHSAA state Championships. He finishes his career with a county-record tying six individual FHSAA state championships. Ziss has represented the USA in several International competitions. Ranked No. 1 in his weight class nationally, Ziss will attend Florida State University where he will pursue a degree in business management. He will continue his amateur career under the coaching of Cory Aun with hopes of competing for a national championship this summer.
It was a clean sweep for St. Cloud in the major award category, as the Bulldogs also edged Harmony for the Academic Award. St. Cloud athletes combined for 3.385 GPA – edging Harmony’s athletic GPA of 3.366. It should be noted that seven of the eight county public schools saw the cumulative GPA of its athletes for the year tally 3.09 or higher.
Overall, Osceola County athletes across all sports earned a 3.266 cumulative GPA.
Harmony softball player Lindsay Green and Osceola track athlete Ethan Ortiz were the OBC Scholar Athletes of the Year. Green has a 4.00 GPA (4.671 weighted) and has completed 12 AP courses and seven college courses at Valencia State College as a dual enrollee. Her class rank in fourth of 689 students. Ortiz GPA is 3.97 (4.6343 weighted) and ranks at the top of his class at Osceola. He is in dual enrollment at the University of Florida and completed over 400 hours of community service. He has already earned his AA degree from Valencia and is a finalist for the US Presidential Scholars program.
The Tohopekaliga girls cross country team was the top academic team with a 3.860 team GPA; while Osceola’s cross country team took the boys honor with a 3.866 mark.
St. Cloud was the recipient of the Advent Health Community Service Award. Over the last 12 months, Bulldogs athletes registered more than 4,700 community service hours. Celebration, last year’s recipient, was second with more than 4,300 service hours.
The Mike Fields Distinguished Leadership Award went to Osceola baseball coach Nikko Martell; while the M. Dean Cherry Coach of the Year Award went to Osceola football coach Eric Pinellas.
Named for the legendary coach, educator, athletics director and community leader, the Mike Fields Award is given annually to the coach that best exemplifies those virtues. Among his achievements, Martell created the Kowboys Community Service Scholarship. He and his team also partnered with Extend an Olive Branch, an organization that provides aid to disabled military veterans, homeless families and victims of domestic violence. Martell and his team adopted a Puerto Rican Little League team, providing them with equipment and uniforms and his team was active in Students Working Against Tobacco.
”Coach Martell has been an asset since arriving on campus. He has proven not only to our baseball team but also to all our student athletes that winning off the field is just as important as winning on it,” Osceola Athletic Director Rick Tribit said.
Playing one of the toughest schedules in the state, Pinellas helped guide Osceola to an 12-3 record including four playoff wins and a spot in the Class 6A state title game. He coached the 6A Player of the Year, four first team All-State players and saw 10 seniors earn college athletic scholarships.
“I am humbled by the honor but the fact of the matter it doesn’t happen without the great work of my assistants, administration, and especially the players. It’s their hard work and dedication that can make a coach look good. I really feel I am just a small part of it.”
The Coach of the Year from each school were also recognized. Joining Pinellas were Celebration lacrosse coach David Shearer, Harmony girls’ soccer coach Scott Marlega, Poinciana weightlifting coach Bree Lopez, Liberty weightlifting coach Janko Beras, St. Cloud track and cross country coach Kevin Harkema, Gateway boys soccer coach Sagar Patel and Tohopekaliga weightlifting coach Alaine Cora.
In addition, St. Cloud’s Craig Carnell was honored at Athletics Trainer of the Year, and Bryan Smart (St. Cloud) and Travis James (Gateway) were named OBC Co-Athletics Directors of the Year. Smart oversaw the Bulldogs return to the top of the all-sports and academic trophies; while Gateway enjoyed one of their best overall years in recent memory as the Panthers finished fourth overall in the standings, had two OBC team champions and finished in the top four in 17 events.
