KEYSTONE HEIGHTS - Brawn and speed were the name of the games for the Keystone Heights High sports teams with the boy's weightlifting team chasing down a fourth state title against another repeat state champion. In contrast, speed on the field provided the spark for a girl's soccer progeny that defied the odds of a repeat massive scoring barrage for a season.

For the boys, Keystone Heights senior weightlifter Trey Jeffries III was the mainstay of a team destined to be the ones to chase down an elusive fourth straight state title. For Jeffries, the chase included a second round of state titles in two weightlifting disciplines: Olympics and Traditional. That is precisely what Jeffries did as he dominated his weight class in every meet he entered, then capped it off with his second-round state titles.
For Kiersten Shaw, who amassed an incredible 71 goals as a sophomore after an even better 58 goals as a freshman and 67 goals through her seventh and eighth grade (31 and 36) seasons for the Lady Indians.
With those astounding stats on her resume before her junior season, Shaw was to be marked by just about every defender on the field whenever she played and, though, heavily guarded away from the ball, Shaw still smashed in 34 goals for a season that she played about half the games as previous season. The goals per game stat from her 71 goals in 25 games to her 34 goals in 12 games for her junior was identical; 2.8 goals per game. Shaw was held to one or fewer goals just twice in the 12 games of 2023 with both games losses with the team finishing at 12-7-1.
Shaw was also the top hitter for the girls' volleyball team with 132 kills.
Jeffries and Shaw are named the Clay Today/Keystone Heights athletes of the year for the 2023 and 2024 seasons for their tenacity in keeping the skill sets up to excellence level.

Fall

In the fall, the cross country season was highlighted by the brother-sister duo of the Griffins; Tyler and Olivia who were consistently the top finishers for the Indians' harriers. Olivia Griffin, just a freshman, had to battle among the powerhouses of Bolles, Bishop Kenny and Episcopal in the Keystone Heights super-strong district and came in 40th at districts with a solid 21:37.4.
Brother Tyler Griffin, a senior, fared better with a 23rd in 17:56.8.
In volleyball, our soccer ace Kiersten Shaw was the top hitter for a three-win season with 132 kills for the Lady Indians with Abbie Roach, also a multi-sport star in softball, second with 57 kills and a team-leading 35 blocks.
In golf, football punter Connor Guy and baseball ace Alex Addington were the top hitters on a team chock full of seniors, minus junior Ty Mitzel, that resoundingly won a district title; 320-356 over Madison County, then just missed a region team berth with a seventh place finish again in a region chock full of Bolles, Episcopal and Providence with Guy top finisher at 12th.
For the girls' golf, after a history of state tournament finishes, got a seventh-place finish from senior Amber Cunningham at districts with the rest of the team middle schoolers and earned a region tournament berth with just four golfers. Middle schoolers Aubrey Brook, Jasmine Walls and Ashlyn Duncan may be the next generation of Keystone Heights' historically good golfers.
Football got a good look at the future with a heavy graduation class from the 2022 team leaving a roster full of youngster that took their lumps.
A stylish quarterback, sophomore Baylor Ford, a wide receiver, Jackson Parmeter and a huge offensive line youngster, Bryce Daniels, will all have their shot at punching up another solid season for coach Steve Reynolds who got a 5-5 finish and a playoff spot in 2023.

Winter

Boys soccer ran the table for most of the season on what looked like another of coach Trevor Waters' solid teams of attackers with the Indians finishing 13-3-2, but having the unenviable task of being Williston twice to keep playing. Junior forward Aaron Wiley led the Indians with 37 goals and 86 points for the season. Senior Bryce Huntley with 21 goals for the season.
Boys basketball had a team full of seniors led by Garrett Teague's 8.5 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game.
Girls basketball struggled through one win, but has a freshman and sophomore duo returning for 2024; Riley Shuford and Alana Anderson with junior Brynn Creekmore back for one more season.
Keystone Heights girls weightlifting had good people to emulate with the boys' team one of the more dominant teams in the state and they took heed to win a share of the district title with Baldwin, 42-24, in Traditional with Chloe Still and Paige Harrington winning titles, then taking a 57-56 district title in Olympics, again over Baldwin, with Harrington the lone individual title but the Lady Indians winning with numbers; five-second place finishers: Cadie Bowles, Kourtney Marsh, Chloe Still, Ashlyn Brown and Lily Mitchell.
At regions, Keystone Heights finished sixth in Olympics with Brown third at 154, Harrington fifth at 183, Bowles sixth at 101 and Still eighth at 139; all in Olympics.
In wrestling, the boys' team has steadily improved over the years and had a strong outing in 2024 with Atreyu Contes, Phoenix Contes and Jared Goetzman leading the team.
For the girls wrestling, Kathryn Brossette finished fifth in the district tournament.

Spring

Boys weightlifting have solidified their spot in annual prowess and put up the fight in chasing down arch-rival Suwannee High with South Sumter in the mix as the Indians finished second in the Tradition and third in Olympics behind Jeffries' two titles and outstanding efforts from unlimited Tyler Duncan (Third), Ben Ulsch (Third) and Wyatt Van Zant (Third) in Olympics.
In Tradition, with Keystone Heights' advantage in bench press, Jeffries dominated with a 730 total (runnerup at 660) and Ulsch got another third with Van Zant snagging a silver medal. Big totals came from Tyson Baxter; third at 119, Colton Hollingsworth and Jeff Tisdale, fifth and sixth at 129; and Bryson Wester and Jayden Goodman, fourth and fifth at 219. Duncan finished fifth in Unlimited.
In softball, head coach Jessica Marquart's rugged schedule proved to be a readiness test for the Lady Indians, led by senior Abbie Roach (.387 BA) and Ashley Nugent (.417, 4HRs, team-leading 23RBIs), who got to the district final and a region playoff berth with a 14.5 strength of schedule rating and a final 19th in 3A finish. Keystone Heights also had a double barrel pitching rotation with Kadence Massey (74Ks) and Caitlin Frampton (66 Ks).
In flag football, the Lady Indians were led by quarterback Alee Horton, a freshman, who finished with six touchdowns in the air and two on the ground off her 629 yards rushing. Two top pass catchers were Alana Anderson, a sophomore, with 54 catches and six scores, and Ashlyn Brown, with 40 catches.
In track, the boys 4 x 800 relay; Tyler Griffin, James Thomas, Ryeland Wahl and Hunter Sheppard got a 10th in the region championships with the girls 4 x 400; Cali Chamberlain, Kaylee Park, Kenslee Phillips and Olivia Griffin taking a 14th place finish.
At districts, Chamberlain finished second in 400 hurdles as a freshman with Griffin fifth in the 800 and Kaylee Park seventh in the 200.
For the boys' district track, freshman hurdler Jamari Turner won the 400 hurdles with Jaden Park third in the javelin. Griffin and Wahl took seventh and eighth in the 800 with Thomas and Sheppard seventh and eighth in the 1600.
Keystone Heights baseball opened seemingly on fire with a 5-4 win over Fleming Island, but the mojo got quickly scorched by Buchholz and Clay, one the 6A runnerup, the other a 5A region finalist, but Indians coach Chris Roach fixed the engine and Keystone Heights rattled off 10 straight wins behind a batting lineup that had seven double-digit runs batted in hitters; Connor Guy (26), Alex Addington (19), Austin Smith (19), Aiden Screen (15), Ty Mitzel (15), Austin Musgrove (14) and Brady Kerlin (10). The Indians finished 20-5 with a region playoff berth.