On December 1, the Gulf Coast 8 Athletic Conference announced its selection of All-Conference athletes from its member schools across Hernando and Citrus Counties. These include the fall sports of golf, volleyball, swimming, cross country, and football. This edition serves as a part one and will cover all the players from these teams except football, which will be covered in our next issue.
Many players and coaches from Hernando County were honored in these selections, including Hernando Boys Golf Head Coach Kevin Bittinger, who received the conference’s “Coach of the Year” award. The coach had this to say about his recognition and the athletes on his team who received all-conference honors:
“Coach of the Year is a representation of the quality of the team I have. In golf, [Coach of the Year] goes hand in hand with the team’s success. Kids had a great year after putting in a ton of work throughout the summer. We bring back four of our top five golfers so I expect us to continue to be competitive next year.”
“[Connor Fahey] showed tremendous improvement throughout his four years at HHS. Was really consistent and solid this season after working hard to improve his game… A 4-year starter and definitely going to be missed. Great kid and great golfer.”
“[Mason Morgan] has a ton of potential and has improved every year. Needs to get a little mentally tougher moving forward and going to be the leader of the team next year. Has all the physical tools to be our number one and compete for [Player of the Year] next year.”
A variety of other golfers from across the county received honors as well:
Boys Golf:
Player of the Year: Jacob McGeehan – Weeki Wachee
Honorable Mentions:
Cotton Jackson – Hernando
Michael Konkie – Central
Conner Anderson – Nature Coast
Dylan Cooper – Nature Coast
Davey Williams – Springstead
Hugh Huddleston – Springstead
Gavin Agudelo – Weeki Wachee
Girls Golf:
Player of the Year: Miranda Hernandez – Nature Coast
All-Conference:
Katelyn Carlsen – Hernando
Rylie Csont – Weeki Wachee
Honorable Mentions:
Central: Arianna Lalane, Sophie Kean
Hernando: Carollanne McClelland, Samantha Thompson
Nature Coast: Madeline Romine, McKenzie Gambrel
Springstead: Keeley Fedorow, Elisa White-Rios
Weeki Wachee: Alvalynn Crisp, Atene Antanaviciute
Many county schools were recognized in volleyball as well, with Springstead taking the coach and player of the year honors, among others. The Red, White, and Blue earned an 18-9 record for the season and Senior Captain OH Emily Miller logged a total of 411 kills, which was good for first in 6A District 9 and twentieth in the State of Florida. Head Coach Andrea Gracey spoke on her recognition, Miller, and her other all-conference winners.
“I love this recognition, but I would not be as successful as I am as a coach without the coaching staff that I have,” Coach Gracey said. “So, I really think that this is a team award for us. I have Coach Alondra [Montanez] that is our assistant and we welcomed Coach Mike [Lanziero] who is our JV coach, but they’ve really been the backbone to help in order to make me successful – our extended eyes and ears on the court… It makes my job as a coach easier, but I had a really young team this year and I’m excited to see all that they accomplish.”
“Emily has been a contender for player of the year since her sophomore year,” Springstead’s head coach said. “So, it was really exciting that it was finally her year. She had the best year yet. She posted up more kills than she has any season. But I think just her hitting percentage shows that she really executed on the court for us. So, I was just very proud of all of her hard work the last four years on our varsity team and getting this spotlight as player of the year.”
“I love that we had such great recognition,” Coach Gracey said. “It does speak how deep and well-rounded we were… [Senior S Isabella Nunag’s] been our center all four years. So, it was really good to see that she still had the spotlight there as all-conference team. She was one that has been named to all-conference the last three years as well.”
“[Junior RS Rylynn Lanziero], definitely, she is a junior right-side hitter, but she really executes as another offensive option for us,” Coach Gracey said. “Again, she had a solid hitting percentage in her conversions for what she was getting set. Then, definitely blocking and a digging option for us as well.”
“Lastly, [Sophomore L Aubrie Gelm], she’s our tenth-grade sophomore transfer from Ohio,” said the Eagle’s volleyball coach. “She didn’t start off as our libero, but she definitely earned that spot by her serve receive. She almost had a 2.0 serve receive rating. Contributed really well defensively… I’m proud of our entire team by our serve receive and our defense that allowed us to be so successful.”
Other selections:
All-Conference:
OH Addison Carpenter – Nature Coast
OH/M Marlee Schumacher – Weeki Wachee
L Zioneliz Miranda Perez – Central
Honorable Mentions:
Central: Jade Harper
Hernando: Brooke Hart, Bailey Poe
Nature Coast: Amanda Tirado, Ava Pontrelli
Springstead: Savannah Imhof
Weeki Wachee: Dylan Elferdink, Isabel Shelby
Boys Swimming:
All-Conference:
50 Yd Free Style: Danny Pontrelli – Nature Coast
100 Yd Free Style: Danny Pontrelli – Nature Coast
100 Yd Back Stroke: Nick Chany – Weeki Wachee
Honorable Mentions:
Hernando: Colten Cloud, Kaleb Russell
Nature Coast: Caden Kelczewski, Antonio Strawcutter
Springstead: Hunter Yoder, Brodee Haas
Weeki Wachee: Nick Garza, Jake Johnsen
Girls Swimming:
Coach of the Year: Meaghan Jeffers – Weeki Wachee
All-Conference:
200 Yd Individual Medley: Alexis Horn – Hernando
100 Yd Butterfly: Elisa Bethke – Nature Coast
100 Yd Free Style: Ellagrace Galioto – Nature Coast
100 Yd Back Stroke: Elisa Bethke – Nature Coast
100 Yd Breast Stroke: Alexis Horn – Hernando
Diving: 50 Free/100 Free: Lucia Mejia – Nature Coast – Utility
Honorable Mentions:
Central: Jael Pierre, Genevieve Barreto
Hernando: Jaysa Demitro, Anmarie Rutter
Nature Coast: Camila Camino, Brianna Aviles
Springstead: Grace Appleton, Amanda Bray
Weeki Wachee: Taylor Lariano, Rylee Rhineberger
Boys Cross Country:
All-Conference:
Isaac Rosario – Springstead
Zachery McCollum – Springstead
Avery Smith – Springstead
Noah Carpenter – Nature Coast
Honorable Mentions:
Central: Evan Jablonski
Hernando: Reilly Bruns, Isaiah Garcia
Nature Coast: Brayden Barrett, Michael Morales
Springstead: Collin Mindt, Theodore Toler
Weeki Wachee: Tyler Boucher, Jean Cintron
Girls Cross Country:
Player of the Year: Remington Lay – Hernando
All-Conference:
Ashlynn Sentner – Nature Coast
Gianella Walczak – Springstead
Honorable Mentions:
Central: Natasha Dotson
Hernando: Makenzie Eltzroth, Miranda Griffith
Nature Coast: Addison Cunane, Xianni Smith
Springstead: Kambryn Earls, Kylee Redmond
Weeki Wachee: Isabelle Geraghty, Jasmine Randazzo
With basketball, soccer, and other sports in full swing, the county’s high schools will hope to continue their strong play and garner more accolades. In our next edition, we will further delve into the Gulf Coast 8 Conference honors when we cover the football-related awards.
