St. Thomas Aquinas, American Heritage sweep Broward All-Sports awards
Once again, St. Thomas Aquinas and Plantation American Heritage were the top high school sports programs in Broward County.
The two powerhouses combined for seven team state titles this academic year and had a slew of other teams make deep playoff runs.
So it should come as no surprise that the two schools, once again, are being honored with the Miami Herald’s All-Sports Awards in Broward County for the 2023-2024 athletic season.
In addition to the overall All-Sports award, the Herald also gives out the Boys’ Major Sports Award, which recognizes success across six sports (football, basketball, soccer, baseball, track and field, and wrestling), and the Girls’ Major Sports Award, which looks at how schools fared across five sports (indoor volleyball, basketball, soccer, track and field, and softball).
Both schools swept all three awards in their respective classifications, with Aquinas winning in the Class 7A-6A division and American Heritage in the Class 5A-2A division.
For St. Thomas Aquinas, its four state titles came in football, girls’ basketball, girls’ indoor volleyball and girls’ tennis.
The football team has now won five consecutive state titles and a state record 15 overall. The girls’ basketball team has won four consecutive state titles. The girls’ tennis team set a state record with its 14th overall state title. And the volleyball team has seven total state titles.
The Raiders’ success this year extended beyond the state titles, though. The boys’ tennis team was state runner-up. Four teams — girls’ soccer, beach volleyball, boys’ lacrosse and boys’ water polo — advanced to the state semifinals, while the flag football team was a state quarterfinalist. Another three — boys’ basketball, softball and girls’ water polo — got to the regional finals. The girls’ track and field team finished fifth at state, while the boys were 10th. Both swimming and diving teams had top-five team finishes, too — the girls fourth and boys fifth.
American Heritage, meanwhile, had won team state titles in boys’ track and field, girls’ basketball and girls’ soccer.
The girls’ soccer title was the 13th in school history, girls’ basketball its sixth in the past seven years and boys’ track its third and first since 2016.
The rest of American Heritage’s highlights from this season include state runner-up performances from both baseball and girls’ golf, a third-place finish from the boys’ golf team and a state semifinal berth from the softball team.
Others to note (in alphabetical order)
▪ Archbishop McCarthy: The Mavericks’ softball team was a state semifinalist while the baseball team advanced to the regional final.
▪ Cardinal Gibbons: The Chiefs’ baseball team won a state title, while football and girls’ soccer both reached the regional final.
▪ Chaminade-Madonna: The football team won yet another state title — its third in a row and sixth in eight years — while the Lions’ boys’ track and field team finished third at state.
▪ Cypress Bay: The Lightning boys’ tennis team finished as state runner-up, while both soccer teams and the boys’ volleyball team were regional finalists.
▪ Dillard: The Panthers won state titles in girls’ cross-country and track and field. Their flag football team was a regional finalist.
▪ North Broward Prep: The Eagles won the Class 4A state title in baseball, their third championship in the sport in the past four years.
▪ Pembroke Pines Charter: The Jaguars won a state title in boys’ basketball, were state runner-up in flag football and state semifinalists in boys’ soccer. Their softball and girls’ soccer teams were also regional semifinalists.
▪ South Broward: The Bulldogs won the Class 6A state title in boys’ soccer — their first in the sport in school history and the first state title of any kind for the school since the girls’ basketball team’s 2008 state championship.
▪ Stoneman Douglas: The Eagles’ baseball dynasty continued with its fourth consecutive state championship, while their girls’ soccer team advanced to the state semifinal.
▪ Western: The Wildcats won their first-ever state title in softball and saw its football team reach the regional final in Class 4M.
This story was originally published June 24, 2024 at 8:20 AM.
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