Some awoke in the wee hours of the morning to squeeze in an extra workout before school. Others toted their textbooks to practices and games to keep up with the demands of honors classes.

To the athletes who will grace the stage at The Miami Herald's All-Broward Athletics Awards on Wednesday morning at Signature Grand in Davie, being good just wasn't good enough.

Pine Crest guard and Gatorade National Player of the Year Brandon Knight; American Heritage's McDonald's All-American Kenny Boynton Jr.; Parkway's McDonald's All-American Erica Wheeler; Deerfield Beach quarterback and two-time state sprint champion Denard Robinson; St. Thomas Aquinas' nationally-ranked cornerback and hurdler Cody Riggs; and Coconut Creek's two-sport standout Maya Pressley head a list of nominees in 46 individual categories.

The annual gala, which honors athletic and academic achievements, begins at 8:30 a.m. and has featured past Athletes of the Year in U.S. Olympic track stars Walter Dix (Coral Springs) and Sanya Richards (St. Thomas Aquinas), NFL players like McArthur's Errict Rhett and Blanche Ely's James Jones, and tennis great and St. Thomas Aquinas product Chris Evert.

Riggs, who led the Raiders to their second consecutive state track title and played a pivotal role on Aquinas' national championship football team, and Robinson, who is headed to Michigan, have emerged as front-runners for the 6A-4A Male Athlete of the Year Award.

Knight has the inside track on the boys' 3A-1A award after leading Pine Crest to its second consecutive state basketball title and becoming just the second junior following Greg Oden and LeBron James to claim the Gatorade National Player of the Year award.

Last year, St. Thomas Aquinas won 17 awards in the 6A-4A classification, highlighted by the coveted All-Sports, Boys' and Girls' Major Sports Awards and is poised to extend its dominance.

The same applies to American Heritage, which took 14 awards in 3A-1A last year, including the big three.

Pressley, who is headed to Auburn University, is looking to add her second consecutive Girls' Track Athlete of the Year award and will contend with Cardinal Gibbons' Macy Huskey, the only Broward athlete named first team in three sports, Cypress Bay's Mariana Lucena, and Archbishop McCarthy's Crissy Gratz for the girls' 6A-4A overall athlete of the year.

Winning a national championship puts St. Thomas football coach and Athletic Director George Smith in prime position for a repeat Male Coach of the Year Award while American Heritage's Marty Cooper is looking to repeat as Female Coach of the Year after leading the Patriots to back-to-back softball state titles.

The other female coach nominees are Cooper City's Phil Schmalz (softball), Parkway Academy's Adam Hopkins (basketball), American Heritage's Brandt Moser (golf) and Boyd Anderson's Duchane Thomas (track).

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