Best on the beach: Fletcher state champions ranked first in nation

They’re champions of the Sunshine State, and now beyond.

Undefeated at 20-0, champion of Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A after sweeping St. Thomas Aquinas in the final in Tallahassee, Fletcher beach volleyball under head coach Brooke Wooten is ending its greatest-ever season at No. 1 in the national MaxPreps rankings.

The Senators leapfrogged Berkeley Prep (24-0), the Class 1A champions, by virtue of their superior strength of schedule.

For the Fletcher pairs of Ashton Kirton and Elina Adhikari, Leila Brummel and Lila Waite, Sofia Ventimiglia and Jaylin Sakhno, Karsyn Smith and Ramsey Langton, Amelia Richter and Kylie Brummel and alternates Layla Harvey and Channing Wooten, plus the teammates who trained with them and supported them through the year, this achievement places the Senators into the Northeast Florida history books.

Fletcher beach volleyball joins a short list of Duval County public school teams with serious national championship claims in any sport over the years. Most recently, Ribault girls basketball a decade ago won the four-team Dick’s Sporting Goods Nationals against elite opposition at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2017.

While the Senators will enter 2027 without more than a half-dozen graduated seniors, several of their top contributors are on course to return, including UAB-committed junior Waite.

Mandarin-Trinity among spring game highlights

It’s gridiron time.

After more than two weeks of practice, the time has come for pads to meet opposing pads in high school football.

Spring games officially kick off this week for Northeast Florida with some heavily-anticipated matchups, including Trinity Christian’s trip to Mandarin on Thursday, May 14.

That matches Miami-committed QB Knox Annis and national recruit Brysen Wright of Mandarin against a Trinity squad that made the Class 1A state semifinals in 2025, including rising senior prospects Terrell Pinkney and Adrian Williams.

Thursday’s schedule also includes a matchup of Episcopal and University Christian and a three-team jamboree with Eagle’s View, Providence and host Duval Charter.

The May 15 schedule pits Camden County against a prospect-rich Columbia in a Florida-Georgia battle, plus Branford at Keystone Heights, Middleburg at Palatka, Newberry at Suwannee, Old Plank Christian at St. Joseph and Ridgeview at Crescent City.

Then, on May 19, Bartram Trail travels to Baker County in the first Wildcats game since Jamie Rodgers’ return to Memorial Stadium, and Christ’s Church and Hilliard play at Cornerstone Classical in a jamboree.

Surprise stories surge at state track

Winning from an unseeded heat in track and field is supposed to be rare… right?

Not so much at this year’s four-day FHSAA championships at UNF, and in a couple of cases, Jacksonville-area runners were the ones ending on top.

• In the Class 2A boys 200-meter run, Owen Kaye of Raines turned up the speed to win in 20.87 from the unseeded heat. No one in the second heat went under 21.13, leaving the Vikings senior a champion in his final high school individual race.
• The same happened in the Class 2A boys 100. On that occasion, Kedric Wright Jr. of Palatka and Kelvin Brown of Raines ended up 1-2 in 10.60 and 10.62, respectively, from the unseeded heat. Nationally-ranked sprinter Zamarii Sanders of Cardinal Newman, who had to fight strong and unfavorable winds in the second heat, could only finish in 10.66.
• Tallahassee Rickards’ Davion Crumitie, who has a 10.05 100, found himself in the unseeded heat of the Class 3A boys 200 and blasted away from the pack in 20.79. His margin over the top seeded-heat runner was more than a third of a second.

The field events also produced winners from the unseeded flights, like Raymond Hawkins of Pembroke Pines Flanagan with a long jump of 24 feet, 3/4 inch to win Class 4A.

Milestone for Walk Off

The First Coast also celebrated a baseball milestone of a different kind.

Jacksonville-based Walk Off Charities has now served 10,000 students all-time with its free baseball clinic program, conducted in partnership with Duval County Public Schools. Walk Off reached that mark on May 8.

Walk Off Charities, founded by Frank Frangie of radio station WJXL (1010XL), began the baseball clinics in 2017, introducing thousands of kids across the Jacksonville area to the sport.

Among its other initiatives at the varsity level, the organization also conducts the annual preseason tournaments for baseball and softball at Fort Family Regional Park.

Around the area

Bishop Kenny defender Anna Perry committed to Barry women’s soccer. … Fletcher swimmer Seth Ayers committed to St. Thomas men’s swimming. … St. Johns Country Day pitcher Mason Schnell committed to Ave Maria baseball. … Former Oakleaf outfielder Khloe Banks was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team for Purdue softball. … Former Nease swimmer Charlotte Driesse announced her transfer from Kentucky to Florida Gulf Coast women’s swimming. … Fleming Island named Paralympic medalist Morgan Ray as the school’s new swimming and diving coach. … Tocoi Creek named Al Fredette boys lacrosse coach. … Nease promoted Elias Walton to head girls soccer coach. … Bolles’ Greer Boree set a Florida record for face-off wins with 1,298. … Fleming Island set school track records with Meadow Schubert (14.78, girls 100 hurdles, and 1:04.13, girls 400 hurdles), Halle Steeves (56.75, girls 400) and Schubert, Steeves, Juliannah Santana and Brooke Reynolds in the girls 4×400 relay (4:00.42). … Oakleaf added school track records at the state meet for Rayna Autry (11.94 meters, girls shot put), Rayna Lawson (24.08, girls 200), Emmanuel Souffrant (21.29, boys 200) and Rodney Townsend III, Kashe Johnson, Souffrant and Jelani Chester in the boys 4×400 relay (3:17). … The Florida Athletic Coaches Association scheduled its All-Star Classics for flag football (May 23 at Mulberry), baseball (May 27-28 at Melching Field in DeLand) and softball (May 28-29 at Patricia Wilson Field in DeLand). … The University of South Florida named Bishop Kenny basketball coach Jerry Buckley to its counselor advisory board.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Fletcher high school beach volleyball ranked first in United States