By: J. Daniel Pearson
Photo: Sonya Ziss
Positively Osceola’s latest sports roundup celebrates the outstanding achievements across Osceola County, highlighting champion weightlifter Mikey Ziss, the competitive spirit of Osceola’s volleyball team, and the impressive performances on the golf course and cross country trails.
ZISS TAKES SILVER MEDALS
Mikey Ziss, a four-time FHSAA state weightlifting champion at St. Cloud High School, added more hardware to his trophy case last week by winning three silver medals as a member of TEAM USA at the Youth Pan Am Weightlifting Championships in Ecuador last Wednesday. Ziss hit a 194-pound lift in the snatch to take second place and then –despite a hand injury – recorded a new personal best of 258-pounds in the clean-and jerk to take second place in that discipline. His 452 total in both secured the overall silver medal in the men’s 55KG class.
OSCEOLA OFF TO STRONG VOLLEYBALL START
It was a solid start for the Lady Kowboys last week as they played two home matches and then participated in the highly prestigious NIKE TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS in Gainesville. Osceola defeatd Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy (3-1) and Tohopekaliga (3-0) in best of five matches during the week. Jordin Southall (19 kills), Dari Bravo (5 aces, 7 digs) and Cate Palmi (14 kills, 4 aces, 12 digs) led the way for Osceola in that match.
At the NIKE Tournament, Osceola went 3-3 on the weekend, the Lady Kowboys took wins against St. Thomas Aquinas (23-25, 25-23, 15-7), North Cobb (Ga.) in straight sets (25-17, 28-26) and Fresno’s (California) Clovis North (25-16, 23-25, 15-11); while losing to one of the top teams in the nation in Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman (20-25, 21-25) and dropping two-three set matches to Lake Highland Prep (21-25, 25-21, 11-15) and Trinity Catholic (23-25, 25-14, 12-15) – two teams that made it to the FHSAA 3A State Semifinals last year.
“The NIKE was a great tournament as we were battle tested by some great teams,” Osceola coach Carrie Palmi said. “Unfortunately we lost two matches that came down to the wire in the third set. About the only disappointment was that we had leads in both of those matches and let the opposing team come back.”
Osceola will be tested this week, hosting undefeated Deland (9-0) on Tuesday and Bishop Moore (4-1) on Thursday. They will also play Gateway on Friday.
Tohopekaliga (season record 1-2) has a home match against Southland Christian (9/4). Gateway (1-3) has two home matches this week with St. Cloud (9/3) and Osceola (9/5) . The Panthers picked up their first win of the season with a 28-26, 25-10, 22-25, 25-22 win over Southland Christian.
The Lady Bulldogs opened their season with a sweep over City of Life and a five-set win over Melbourne (3-2) before dropping a pair four-setters to Bayside and The Villages.
Poinciana (1-1 this year) has a busy week with a home match with Celebration (0-2) and away games with Liberty (9/5) and Central Pointe Christian Academy (9/6). After losing its opener to Osceola, Celebration went on a three-match winning streak with wins over Liberty, Faith Christian and Central Pointe Christian. Through four matches, Karin Comacho was leading the Storm in kills with 25 and Sophie Fiore led in aces with 10.
Harmony was off to a 3-0 start, sweeping Central Pointe, Innovation and Gateway last week. Sam Vickers had 16 kills and Kinzie James had 31 assists in the 25-9, 25-21, 25-20 win over Gateway. The Longhorns take to the road this week with matches at St. Cloud (9/4) and Melbourne (9/5).
GOLF
The fall golf season is starting to get underway and the St. Cloud boys look to be one of the stronger teams in the region this year. In a match against Harmony last week, the Bulldogs won by 36 strokes, 144-180. They were led by senior Espn Pool and freshman Arnold Pouncy, who each shot two-under 34s. Overall the Dogs had four players break 40, as junior Ethan Parrish (37) and freshman Dominick Velazquez (39) joined Pool and Pouncy for a level team score of 144. Cesar Gandia led Harmony with a 41.
CROSS COUNTRY
The majority of county teams will be at the St. Cloud Bulldog Invitational this Saturday at 7 a.m. County teams opened the 2024 season on Aug. 24, with Osceola hosting the Kowboys Invitational that included Gateway, St. Cloud, Harmony, and Tohopekaliga.
In the girls’ meet. St. Cloud’s Lailana Decker was the top finisher from county schools, taking third place in 20:33.67. Osceola’s Mia Gonzalez-Nunez (13th-22:07.46), Celebration’s Claire Reburn (16th-22:40.52) and Harmony’s Candence Edwards (23rd-23:16) also had top 25 finishes. Harmony was the top finisher among Osceola County schools, placing sixth in a meet won by Mill Creek Baptist.
On the boys’ side, top county finisher was Harmony’s Riley Ramirez (18:12.73) in 19th place. Gateway’s Langston Carry (22nd-18:26.97) and Isaiah Casiano (25th-18:43.64) also posted top 25 finishes. Oviedo (40) won the team competition; St. Cloud (206) was eighth.
St. Cloud and Gateway participated in the Whitmore Invitational in Polk County last Saturday. Of the 21 teams participating, the Bulldogs placed third in both the boys and girls divisions. Decker won the girls’ championship in 20:07.30; while Kyla Perez 21:02.66 was fourth. Casiano (17:37.58) placed 9th overall while Carry from Gateway 13th (18:01.38).
