By: J. Daniel Pearson
St. Cloud High was the big winner Thursday night as the Bulldogs won the Orange Belt Conference All-Sports Trophy for the 2024-25 school year and followed it up by being claiming the Academic Award for the highest cumulative grade point average among its athletes and also took home a Community Service trophy.
“Incredible year for the Bulldogs,” Athletics Director Bryan Smart said. “We have been so close the last couple of years for the all-sports award, so it feels good to come out on top. While winning the All-Sports Award was a goal, the academic and community service awards means so much more. I am proud of all our coaches and the effort our athletes put in this year — both on the field, in the classroom, and inside the community.”
Trailing Harmony 97-96 heading into the spring season, the Bulldogs posted champions in boys’ weightlifting, boys’ and girls’ track and softball to edge the Longhorns for the team title (156.5-155). The win broke Harmony’s four-year run as champions (2021-24) and was St. Cloud’s first title since 2020 and their 11th in school history.
Overall. The Bulldogs led all county schools with 9 OBC team championships (boys and girls golf, boys and girls track, softball, boys’ and girls’ cross country, boys and girls weightlifting); while placing second in seven others. Harmony posted three team champions (flag football, girls’ soccer and baseball); with 10 second place finishes. Celebration, with five team champions in boys and girls’ tennis, boys’ volleyball and boys and girls swimming, finished third in the All-Sports race with 127 points.
Points are awarded on an 8 (first place) to 1 basis (last place) in 24 boys’ and girls’ sports. Champions were determined by week-long tournaments for team sports or single day championships for individual sports. To count, a sport must be sponsored by at least five of the eight public schools. Due its’ nature, football was not included.
Individually, Harmony multi-sport star Kenzie James and St. Cloud weightlifter Mikey Ziss were named OBC Athletes of the year. James excelled in flag football, volleyball and beach volleyball. In flag, she was a top receiver and defender for the Longhorns – catching 121 passes for 1366 yard and 15 touchdowns with 12 pass breakups and five interceptions. She played a key role as Harmony repeated as OBC and District champions in the sport. She recorded 658 assists and had 41 service aces in helping Harmony to a 12-9 record in volleyball.
Ziss earns the OBC Athlete of the Year nod for the second straight time. This spring he won state championships in both the Traditional and Olympic disciplines to tie him with former Osceola track and field star Brett Williams for the most individual state championships in county history (6). Ziss has represented the United State of America by competing on the international stage.
St. Cloud athletes also impressed in the classroom, winning the OBC School Academic Award with a cumulative 3.385 GPA, edging out 2024 champion Harmony (3.376). Overall, seven of the eight Osceola County public schools posted GPA’s of 3.093 or higher. Liberty, which just missed hitting the 3.00 mark, saw its athletes improve to 2.935. Overall, Osceola County athletes posted a combined average GPA of 3.226.
Harmony softball player Lindsay Green and Osceola cross country runner Ethan Ortiz were named the OBC Scholar Athletes of the Year. Green, who is dual enrolled at Valencia has a perfect 4.00 GPA (4.571 weighted) and has completed 12 AP courses and seven college courses. Her class rank in fourth of 689 Harmony students.
Ortiz has already earned an AA degree from Valencia and is dual enrolled at the University of Florida. He has a 3.97 GPA (4.6343 weighted) and is ranked number overall in his class at Osceola. He has amassed over 400 community service hours in his high school career.
The top individual teams in the county were also recognized with the Boys Academic Award going to the Osceola cross country team with a 3.866 cumulative GPA and the Tohopekaliga cross country team taking the girls award with a 3.860 GPA.
St. Cloud athletes posted more than 4,700 community service hours during the past year to edge Celebration (4,300) hours for the Advent Award. St. Cloud athletes donated their time to a variety of causes – including serving as coaches at youth sports camps.
Coaches and administrators were recognized with the Mike Fields Distinguished Leadership Award, the M. Dean Cherry Coach of the Year Award and the OBC Athletic Director of the Year Award.
Being cited for creating the Kowboys Community Service Scholarship; Osceola baseball coach Nikko Martel was named recipient of the Fields Award. In addition to the scholarship, Martel 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. The Kowboys also adopted a Puerto Rican Little League team, providing them with equipment and uniforms.
Each school’s Coach of the Year and were recognized. Honored were Celebration lacrosse coach David Shearer, Harmony girls’ soccer coach Scott Marlega, Osceola football coach Eric Pinellas, 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.
From that list, Pinellas was selected the recipient of the M. Dean Cherry Coach of the Year award. Playing one of the toughest schedules in the state, Pinellas guided Osceola to 8-2 regular season record and then four straight playoff wins – two on the road – as the Kowboys reached the Class 6A FHSAA State Championship game. Along the way, four of his players earned first team all-state honors, 10 signed college athletic scholarships and Taevion Swint was named 6A Player of the Year,
“I’m such a small part of this award,” Pinellas said. “It really belongs to my assistant coaches, athletic staff and especially the student athletes whose hard work, dedication and skills make something like this possible.”
St. Cloud’s Craig Carnell was named Athletic Trainer of the Year; while Bryan Smart (St. Cloud) and Travis James (Gateway) were named OBC Co-Athletics Director of the Year. Smart oversaw the Bulldogs winning both the All-Sports and Academic championship; while James helped guide the Panthers to one of their best finishes in recent memory – including championships in boys soccer and girls basketball and top four finishes in 17 different sports.
