OAKLEAF - Oakleaf High School's sports programs produced numerous outstanding finishes in the 2023-2024 seasons; state champion weightlifter, region baseball and softball finishes, boys and girls wrestlers to state and a boys basketball team that had one of its best seasons in a decade of strong finishes, but, it was two athletes that made the biggest displays of raw athletic talent and grittiness that highlighted a strong year of sports for the Knights.
For track star triple jumper Takoda Brown, a senior, the trek to following in the footsteps of a history of state titles in the jumping events; Merlin Briley, two-time triple jump state champion, and Loren Johnson, long jump state champion, second in triple jump in Class 3A, came with two weeks of anxiety as he stayed within inches of not being in position to go after his eventual state title.
Brown, ranked just sixth in Class 4A behind a cadre of talent that had bests well beyond his March 16 season best of 14.42 meters; 47'-3.7", with a Class 4A best jump of 15.70 meters (51'-5" feet), kept his focus on the task at hand at the University of North Florida for the Class 4A championships to walk away with his first state title in four years of finishing in the top 10 of numerous high-powered track meets.
Statewide, in all classes, Brown was ranked 13th in Florida with the 15.70-meter jump from Jaden Lippett of Winter Haven the top measure for the entire regular season.
With a fourth-place finish at regions and a third-place finish at districts; both with jumps well under his 14.42 meters jump from the Bob Hayes Invitational set on March 16, Brown watched as his higher-ranked competitors; mainly Anim Gyamfi of Bartram Trail, took advantage of Brown's first round foul to put him at the bottom of the round two rosters.
In his second round jump, with Gyamfi leading with a 13.95 meters jump (45'-9.25"), Brown answered with his eventual winning jump of 14.01 meters (45'-11.75") then had to hope the measure would hold.
As the rounds progressed, Brown hit 14.00 meters (45'-11.25") on his third jump, then 13.85 meters (45'-5.25") on his fourth jump.
The lone scare to Brown's mark came in the final round with Gyamfi fouling on his fourth attempt with three jumps under 14.0 meters. Still, Lake Mary's Lester Williams III made the field hold their breath with a jump that looked tantalizingly close to Brown, but, fortunately, was 13.95 meters to secure Brown's title.
Bari William of Largo hit 13.94 meters (45'-9") on his second jump to keep the fans on their toes.
In another strong region run for the Oakleaf High softball team under the direction of coach Heather Han, the Lady Knights, once again, had their dangerously strong batting lineup in crucial games that took near-losses to dramatic late-inning wins, it was pitcher/slugger Charlotte "Charlie" Maddox, that proved to be the catalyst on both sides of the pitch; as a pitcher and as a batter, that fueled many of the Lady Knights games that got them to another deep region playoff run.
Maddox, a returning senior in the fall, was a lethal flamethrower on the mound for Han with an overall 13 wins, four loss record with 115 strikeouts to be the Knights' top hurler, but Maddox also was one of the strongest bats in the lineup with a .409 batting average with a second-on-team 18 runs batted in and a team-leading 36 hits; both with catcher Meshayla Pettaway her wingman as the one-two dynamo punch in the batting lineup.
With a commitment to Dartmouth University, Maddox finished with seven doubles with just three strikeouts and five times walked.
Off the mound, Maddox hammered 11 strikeouts against the likes of the vaunted Middleburg High (5A region semis) lineup, 11 strikeouts against Jensen Beach (4A region finals) and 12 strikeouts in their district championship game against Nease.
From the batter's box, Maddox had her most productive game with three hits and three runs batted in against Lake Howell for a region playoff 8-3 win for Oakleaf. Oakleaf lost in their region semi to Hagerty 11-0 with Hagerty losing 4-0 in the region final to eventual Class 6A champion Pace High.
For their outstanding seasons and outstanding efforts in producing big results for their teams, Takoda Brown and Charlotte Brown are selected as the Clay Today/Oakleaf High athletes of the year for seasons 2023-2024.

Fall

Starting with cross country, Oakleaf was led by Morgan Wade in cross country with strong finishes throughout the season with splits near 20 minutes and a solid senior season to come.
For the boy's cross country, Grant Keppel and Jack Strombeck are strong returners; Keppel, a sophomore, Strombeck, a freshman, with Strombeck moving his times lower and lower as the season progressed. Strombeck could be a major factor next fall with his region split of 16:49.8.
Football rolls into year two under coach Chris Foy, who has a history of solid second seasons at teams he has coached in the past; most notably Andrew Jackson where he earned two region playoff berths in his second and third years.
Foy brings a wealth of size and talent back and will bank on his underclass class of athletes including Michael Conner III, James Kitchen and Jordyn Price as playmakers anywhere on the field with senior running back Chris Foy II plus a senior crew of linemen on both sides of the line of scrimmage; Mykel Mayo, Amari Thomas, and Khalil Matthews.
Quarterback for Foy will be between returner Jayven Moreno, who learned under Brandon Wallace last year, and transfer Jack McKissock who brings a strong season last year at The First Academy (19TDs, 1503 Yds passing).
Oakleaf's football schedule is one of the toughest in north Florida with the likes of Riverside, Hawthorne (2X state champs), Bolles, Fletcher and Mandarin (state runner-up).
For volleyball, a 10-15 regular season can improve with a solid group of underclass players despite four senior graduates; most notably senior DeMyah Jackson.
In golf, where Oakleaf battles with powerhouses Fleming Island (girls and boys state qualifiers, boys state champions), the Lady Knights had senior Hailey Evans and junior Emma Farrar top two at districts with the Lady Knights losing a handful of seniors; Emily Acosta, Taylor Bing, Christen Wallace.
For the boy's golf, freshman Jacoby Kelly was the top finisher at districts with senior Tanner Thompson five strokes back. The next two golfers; Salomon Pelayo, Ryan Szpyra and Elijah Perez, all freshmen, will offer a solid team next year.
In the pool, Oakleaf's girls finished strong fifth with boys ninth in a district loaded with Ponte Vedra, Nease and Fletcher.
Underclass girls with strong relay finishes included Alexis Huxohl, Delicia Coleman and Peyton Moore with senior Jazzmine Moore a strong anchor leg in medley relay action.
Strombeck doubled up with fast times in the 200 free and 100 free events as well as Lucius Manley, a sophomore.
Junior Peyton Loving is the top returner, and will be a senior, with an eighth in districts at 50 free with freshman Brylle Wood just a second behind her.
Coleman was a strong fifth in the 100 butterfly and will be a factor next season.
Oakleaf's girls' medley relay got seventh in the region with junior Anna Bredeson anchoring the quartet and 10th in the 200 free relay with Loving individually seventh in the 50 free, and eighth in the 100 free.
Oakleaf sent 25 to the Class 3A championships with top finishes from girls' relays; 15th in medley relay girls, Loving 14th in 100 breaststroke and 20th in 50 free.

Winter
Girls basketball had the roughest of seasons after a reign the last few years under coach Fred Cole and the Lady Knights figure to reverse course and get back to fast and furious hoops next year with just two seniors leaving; Armaany Mullins and Ja' Nease Bender. Junior Makiya Trusel led the scoring with 7.2 points per game.
For the boy's hoopsters, coach Jason Price rolled through the regular season with strong wins over the likes of Bishop Kenny, Ribault (2OTs), Gibbs and Bartram Trail behind a fast-paced attack led by guard Aaron Rivers, who graduates but leaves a legacy of attack on the court with a slew of seniors; Michael Compere, Travis Knox, Jr., and Austin Davenport, all leaving. Price groomed a strong team of underclassmen for 2024 with nearly 15 players on the floor over the season; a 19-7 final finish with a district final loss to Ponte Vedra, who finished in Class 6A Final Four, and a region opening loss to Gainesville, who lost to Ponte Vedra in region semis.
Boys and girls soccer had strong seasons with the boys going 6-3-3 with the boys getting late wins over Wolfson and Bolles, but falling in overtime to Nease in district play after a 1-1 tie.
Cole Perez, a sophomore, and Jackson Pallen, a senior, led the scoring with five goals apiece to lead the Knights scoring.
Girls soccer had to deal with Fleming Island in their final game, a 4-2 loss, and taking region finalist Clay to a 3-1 loss in the prior game. Senior Ellie Thompson was the top cannon for the Knights who finished 4-8-1.
In girl's weightlifting, in one of toughest regions featuring Pace, Navarre, Niceville teams that are annual powerhouses, the Lady Knights got top 10 finishes in both disciplines; Olympics (10th) and Tradition (7th) with G'Amiyia Aiken top finisher with third in Tradition with Ilda Simons, Nya Russell, Ilanan Benayon, DeJean Mote and Danielle Ibe all top 10 district finishers.
The list of Tradition top 10s was also top 10 in the Olympics joined by Danielle Gilbert and Zyaire Lovett-Scott joining the list. Ibe was second in the Olympics at 199.
The same group became one of the largest contingents from Oakleaf to compete at the Class 2A championship meet.
In wrestling, coach Mark DeToro engineered a strong program of athletes that included a third place in girls' state championships from Kailani Barrientos at 135 and a 23rd place team finishes from the boys who also won their district title.
DeToro put five athletes in the Class 2A championships and came home with sophomore Sebastian Bonachea taking third in his 126 weight class while Connor Barnes, Micah Thomas, Jerimiah Baker and Keon Barrientos also competed. Bonachea wrestled back to third after losing his semifinal to the eventual state champion.

Spring

For the spring sports, it was all Shevchooks for the highlights beyond Takoda Brown's track final with the brothers Shevchook; Elijah and Noah, taking on the state's best weightlifters and coming home with a bucket load of medals.
Elijah Shevchook, who made the strategic move to lose 10 pounds from his 2023 time in the 169 weight class to come back in as one of the lightest 154 pounders; nearly 150-151 pounds for most of the season, proved that dynamite does come in small packages as he stormed past much more seasoned competitors to take the state title in Tradition in the very tough Class 3A ranks.
Shevchook's totals as a 169 in 2023 were 440 in Olympics (195/245) and 510 in Tradition (245/265) turned to massive totals at 154 as a 151-pound competitor with totals of 485 in Olympics (220/265) and 560 in Tradition (265/295) to win the Tradition state title and finish fourth in the Olympics with the top five being separated by just 25 total pounds. Shevchook, who won the state title in Tradition with a best bench of 295 on his final lift, was also the district and region champion in Tradition along the way.
At 129, Noah Shevchook, Elijah's younger brother, squeezed out a third-place finish in Tradition and a second-place finish in the Olympics.
At state, Oakleaf also had Ray Williams at 119, Ethan Simmons at 238 and Tony Gray at Unlimited.
In baseball, senior pitcher hitter Jorden Parkes was the point man for a Knights team that had upset wins over 2A champions St. Johns Country Day School, 5A region finalist Clay and 3A Final Four finisher Trinity Christian Academy, 2A region finalist North Florida Christian, but found the going rough in the final two games; 6A runnerup Buchholz and 6A region finalist (lost to Buchholz 1-0) Hagerty, to halt a season promising to be a strong finish.
Oakleaf coach Matt Carter had an exciting lineup with JP Espinosa, Jeter Farina, Jaythan Arriaga and Giancarlo Calderon all hitting double figures for runs batted in. Arriaga was a menace on base with 20 stolen bases adding to the chaos.
In softball, with Maddox as the point person for coach Han, Oakleaf had one of the more dangerous leadoff batting lineups with Jaydyn Beall (18 steals), Avery Garcia, Pettaway, Maddox and slugger Amya Mirelez facing off against the top pitchers. Pettaway (.400BA, 22RBIs, 7 2Bs, 2 3Bs) and Mirelez (.375BA, 26RBIs, 10 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 2 HR), both the most prolific batters in Knights recent history, won't return but the rest of the Oakleaf lineup will return next season.
In flag football, Oakleaf 9-5 overall, blitzed the final few weeks of the season with high-scoring games; 26-0, 20-6, 37-0, 27-14, but ran into Fleming Island in their first round of playoffs to end the season with a 27-6 loss.
In tennis, coach Greg Martin loses three seniors; Terfel Wayne, Ehan Shah and Liamwski Hejmano with four returners for 2025.
For the girl's tennis, just one senior, Abby Downs, will leave the team with juniors Lauren Cugno and Adassah Prevost most prolific last year.
For a track, Oakleaf fielded one of the most explosive combinations of sprinters and jumpers with the lineup including Devin Collins, Takoda Brown, Josper Stimphil and sophomore Trinton Bryant to be added to the list next year with all but Brown returning.
On the track, Collins (8th in long jump 4A) was sub-11 100 meter man while Stimphil was sub-50 400 meter guy (11th in 4A); both sub-23 200s also, to add points to Oakleaf totals.
Junior Ca'Mari Davis manned the hurdles with strong races through regions.
For the girl's track, distance ace Morgan Wade was the top threat for team points in 800, 1600 and 3200 with freshman Alaina Outram making some noise early in her career.
In the sprints, freshman Timia McMillian got close to the 12-second mark in the 100 while junior Kaymin Sales was near the 25-second mark in her 200s and under 60 seconds for 400s with another upcoming freshman, Skylar Smith, posting near one-minute marks.
One big loss will be senior hurdler Keira Smalls (7th in 4A) while freshman Brooke Linscomb and sophomore Brooklynn Jenkins manned the 400 hurdles just 4-5 seconds away from the first place spots; Linscomb also a top jumper with junior sister Madison and her both near 17 feet and 38 feet in triple jump.
Madison Linscomb was the top javelin thrower from the area (10th in 4A) with Gloria Lewis, a sophomore, top five in discus and shot put.