Without question, the 2020-21 school year will be one to remember with great performances by teams and individuals. But it will also be a year to forget. With that in mind, let’s get the negative out of the way quickly and hopefully, for good.
The Covid-19 pandemic, which wiped out almost all of the spring sports season in 2020, continued to rear its ugly head this past school year, interrupting games and creating behind-the-scenes difficulties for coaches and athletes. The virus shut down fall sports training camps for more than a month—postponing the start of football season and other sports until mid-September.
It caused coaches from across the county to scramble trying to build a schedule and not knowing from game to game whether contests would even be played. “It was the hardest thing any of us had to deal with,” then-Osceola football Coach Doug Nichols, who’s had to deal with hurricanes interrupting the season more than once. “The constant testing and contact tracing was one thing, but we had to spend hours constantly reminding our players to sit in the back of the classroom, as far away as possible from other students to try to keep them safe.”
Schedules were also abbreviated as the state decided that each school had to decide whether they wanted to participate in the playoff series, limiting some schools to six to eight regular season games.
Still there were plenty of highlights in the fall.
Notably, Osceola won six of eight regular season games and then went on a terrific run in the postseason to earn a third trip to the state championship game under Nichols.
With the playoff brackets set weeks in advance and all those choosing to participate in the playoffs, Tohopekaliga won its first playoff game, 28-0, over Winter Springs in its third season of play. On the flip side, St. Cloud was 5-2 and primed for a playoff matchup against local power Edgewater, but was forced to cancel its plans due to a player testing positive for COVID-19 three days before the game.
St. Cloud won Orange Belt Conference (OBC) championships in both boys’ and girls’ golf, with both teams advancing to regional play. Morgan Beaulieu, a junior for the Bulldogs, qualified for the state tournament as an individual and shot 76-75—151, good for 18th place overall and earned Osceola News Gazette Player of the Year honors for a third time.
Coach Carrie Palmi’s Osceola volleyball team finished 16-7 and made a deep run in the playoffs, where they eventually fell in the district finals. Celebration junior Felipe Costa led a contingent of county swimmers to the state meet, where he earned All-State honors with a fifth place finish in the 100-back.
In Cross County, the Celebration boys’ and Harmony girls’ team and boys teams both qualified for the state championship. The Lady Longhorns had an outstanding showing, placing ninth in the state led by a third-place finish by junior Alanie Rivera and a seventh-place finish by senior Brook Mullins.
Winter sports saw the continued emergence of the Harmony wrestling program, as they won a second straight OBC Championship under Coach Vic Lorenzano and his veteran coaching staff. Individually, it was Osceola that found success in the state tournament as Cooper Haase, Jaekus Hines and freshman Gunner Holland all won state titles, giving the Kowboys at least one individual state champion for an unprecedented 15th straight year. Hines was the Osceola News Gazette’s Wrestler of the Year as he and Haase captured their second gold medals. Harmony placed six and Osceola five on the All-OBC wrestling team.
In basketball, City of Life Christian Academy saw its girls’ team earn their trip to the Class 2A Final Four; the Warriors won the 2018 state title. Osceola boys team and St. Cloud girls team made it to regional play.
Girls weightlifting saw Osceola County produce four all-state performers – including Tohopekaliga’s Hannah Ylimaz-Rodriguez, who took third in the 129 pound weight class.
Spring sports rolled into action and saw tremendous performances by both county teams and individuals. The Osceola baseball team, led by Player of the Year Manny Lopez, made a deep run into the state playoffs before falling just one game short of a Final Four appearance, while both Harmony and St. Cloud fielded strong teams. Osceola, 16-10, was again the top softball team in the county – making it to the regional quarterfinals.
Poinciana high jumper Guy Bond and Osceola 400-meter specialist Markevious Jackson each won individual track state championships. Jackson posted some of the fastest 400 times in the nation while earning a scholarship to North Carolina A&T. In all, eight different athletes from Osceola County earned All-State honors – including four from the Harmony girls Team.
The St. Cloud Boy’s Volleyball team posted a solid 18-10 record this season, winning a district championship long dominated by Celebration and earning a trip to regionals. In boys’ weightlifting, three county lifters earned All-State honors by reaching the podium at the FHSAA State Championships. St. Cloud’s Julian Sykes placed third at 154, Osceola’s Nolin Eaddy was fourth at 183 and the Bulldogs Evan Maldonaldo was sixth at 129.
The year concluded with the Osceola News Gazette naming St. Cloud’s Eno Inyang (basketball, track) and Osceola’s Nolin Eaddy (football, wrestling, weight lifting) as it’s Athletes of the Year.
With camps opening for fall sports in less than three weeks, we look forward to more great memories being created in Osceola County.
But not before putting last year’s challenges squarely in the rearview mirror.
