ORANGE PARK – With the St. Johns Country Day School baseball making their season one of the more dramatic if not exciting, picking the best player may be counterproductive, but here goes.

For Spartan girls soccer, once again trying to get back to state champion rings, for best player on the field, normally on both ends of the pitch, was a simple answer.

Baseball coach Tom Lucas had his share of super players; Kyle Boylston, Seth Alford, Jack Ensell, Kody Daneault, Kolt Myers, Trevor Bradley, Connor O’Steen, Austin Stratman, Hunter Rodgers, TJ Sunderhaus, Nick Bowden, Collin Briggs, Gabriel Gilliand, etc, etc, (Wait? Is that the whole team?, LOL).

From the list, one could say that James Gilson played the most pivotal role with his two walk-off smashes keeping the Spartans in the state title chase.

Gilson was a top hitter for the season; .416, 26 RBIs, 4 HRs, and 14 stolen bases, so there is some stats there.

Gilson’s pivotal and opportunistic game winners came from a season of preparation as was the team’s success.

For Schmidt, just a sophomore standout in coach Mike Pickett’soccer factory, has been on a worldwide soccer tour; in Germany, Turkey, and California, with her invites to numerous national teams while being selected to an All-America status over the summer.

For the Lady Spartans, she was simply the best player on the field, no questions asked, with her nifty footwork and seemingly, 360-degree vision, that gave St. Johns their ride to the state semifinal; 24 goals, 10 assists, but a 1-0 loss to end the season. St. Johns finished 15-3-5 against a gauntlet schedule with Schmidt drawing plenty of attention from opposing defenses, but still deftly unstoppable.

“Sydney is by far the best all-around player in the area, no question,” said Pickett, noting her selection to the USA U-16 national team, in a mid-season article in Clay Today. “We’ve played different approaches to get her free as most teams are doubling and tripling her, but she is so good and doesn’t need much space to move.”

For their consistent great play on the field, Gilson and Schmidt are selected as the Clay Today/St Johns Country Day School boys and girls athletes of the year.

FALL

Girls volleyball got a jolt of new lightning with alum Jenna Williams entering the fray in local competition as new head coach to replace long-time head coach Traci Livingston and Williams brought in a new passion and fun to the court to lift the Lady Spartans to a 15-8 season record with two playoff games; the final against Final Four finisher Oak Hall.

With two headbangers at the net; juniors Hadley Dantzler and Brynn White both smashing for over 170 kills on the season, Williams’s team will be as lethal in the fall as ever with the loss of just one senior; Kate Jacobs, a 272 dig backliner, but White and Danzler were also proficient from the back line as well.

In cross country, the the era of Stratton still in air though with sister Rebecca and now state champion Matthew, who should be injury free, full tilt and joined by former wingman Graham Myers at the University of Florida, dad coach Greg Stratton has nurtured a whole host of young runners that were led by junior Rebecca Stratton; 62nd at state, but fortified by a tough running seventh grader, Kate Staten, junior soccer ace Kaitlyn Sunderhaus, and seniors Sofia Conde and Sarah Robinson.

For the boys, senior Richard Nichols was the top dog and team leader with his inspirational finishes giving the young team behind the same encouragement of the Stratton work plan.

Greg Stratton, with a trip to Utah for cross-country running over the summer, knows how to build for the future.

For swimming and diving, the Spartans unlucky draw is to be in the same district and region as the Bolles machine, but sophomore Josh Lewis broke the lineup with a top 20 finish in 200IM and seventh in 100 fly at regions, with Eleanor Myers 26th in 100 free/19th in 100 breaststroke, and Alexandra Kuczkowski 23rd in 100 breaststroke.

In golf, junior Addy Vogt was a consistent top finisher at all levels with a fourth-place finish at regions and an eighth grader, Beckham Cummings, made a region visit.

WINTER

Lots happened in the winter seasons between and fast-moving, high-scoring basketball team led by eighth grader Camden Cooper, who has already got his name ready to go on the 1,000 points banner in the Spartan gymnasium and a whole bunch of underclassmen that relish the push by coach Ian Gibson, who’s iconic motivational moves puts the Spartans on high octane from start to finish.

Cooper, with nearly 20 points per game has a bevy of comrades on the floor that keep the game pace high and the ball in Cooper’s hands a bunch of time; Grayson Moody, five assists per game, is an incoming senior.

Spartans, with 14 game win streak midseason, finished 21-5 with their final two losses at the end of the season in the district final and region opener with both teams, University Christian and Impact Christian meeting in the region final; Impact making the Final Four Class 2A.

The girls, under new coach Tyler Miller, finished strong at 19-8 with their own 11-game win streak, lost fiery shooter Mary Kate Kent to graduation (23 points per game) but returned paint prowess in Kendall Proffitt (14.4 points per game), Ashanti Williams (10 rebounds per game) and late bloomer Sophia Mejias (10 PPG, 3 Assists).

In boys soccer, St. Johns got into their district final and a region spot, but lost two excruciatingly close games to Christ’s Church Academy; 1-0 and 54-(2OT). Stats-wide Corbin Berrang netted 18 goals to lead the Spartans with Bodie Brafford on eight assists.

For the girls, Cece Nowicki returns for her senior season having added 10 goals with Schmidt. Senior goalkeeper Roxy Mathews is just another stellar blocker in the box with 65 saves and 13 shutouts.

Girls weightlifting added one more year of the Justin Frisbee building block vision with senior daughter Addison Frisbee winning a region title in Olympics along with Gabi Oceguera with Frisbee also finishing fourth in regions with teammates Sofia Conde, Jules Raimonda, Gabi Oceguera all getting top 10 finishes in Traditional.

In wrestling, with new coach Hunter Hill at the helm and the Spartans athletic staff seeing a new fervor for the sport, two standouts; both state meet qualifiers; Colt Hill and Kevin McLean, an eighth grader, with McLean third at Class 1A 106 and Hill, a seventh grader, sixth at 113.

Hill admirably rebounded from a first-match loss to win three matches while McLean beat Suwannee High standout Eli Joliceur, a junior with a 56-8 record, 8-6 to take third. Joliceur beat McLean for the Region 1-1A title.

SPRING

Baseball was the talk of the town in the spring season with their Class 2A title after a handful of final game finishes, but softball, under new coach Brittany McGuire and her two sidekicks; Ridgeview High’s powerhouse twins; Brittany and Brooke Michaels, stormed through a high scoring season behind the pitching prowess of Jules Raimondo with late season seven-game win streak before facing tough games against St. Joseph Academy and Trinity Christian Academy to finish 11-6.

Raimondo graduates with a .528 batting average with 15 RBIs, 3 doubles, 2 triples 2HRs and 17 stolen bases as well as 135 strikeouts from the mound.

Brooklyn Mauck is another senior leaving with a .600 BA, 21 RBIs six doubles and seven stolen bases.

Top returners will be juniors Audrey Jackson and Gabi Oceguera both with 35 RBIs between the pair.

In track, senior shot putter Ashlyn Rose got a ninth in her regions and seventh in discus with Rebecca Stratton 11th in 1600 and Sunderhaus 19th in 800 to lead Lady Spartans.

For the boys, freshman Arlo Kistner had his best day with a sixth in the 3200 with the Spartans 4 x 800 12th and sophomore 400 meters specialist 17th in his event with a strong 55.29.

Callie Berrang won a district tennis title and traveled to the state meet.