Poll: Who do you think was the best fall high school athlete in Miami-Dade? Vote now.
After another impressive fall sports season in which four teams won state championships, the Miami Herald honored its fall sports players of the year in the sports of football, girls’ indoor volleyball, cross country, golf, swimming and diving and bowling.
As it does annually, the Miami Herald will select its overall Athletes of the Year and reveal those winners in June. But while this will not have a bearing on those results, the Herald is asking who YOU think was the best performer from that fall sports season.
Below is a look at the 16 athletes who were selected as Players of the Year in their respective sports from the fall season in Miami-Dade County.
Take our poll below to cast your vote. The poll will be open until Monday at 10 p.m. You may vote as often as you like until then.
We will publish similar polls for the winter and spring sports seasons in the coming weeks.
Here are the candidates:
▪ Taron Dickens, Northwestern, 8A-6A football offense: Dickens passed for 3,743 yards — the most in Florida, according to MaxPreps -- to lead the Bulls to a Region 4-6A championship.
▪ Mike Jackson, Palmetto, 8A-6A football defense: Finished his season with 10 interceptions for the Panthers and signed with FIU.
▪ Wesley Bissainthe, Central, 5A-Independents football defense: Bissainthe totaled 86 tackles, six sacks, 15 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and two interceptions for the Class 5A state champion Rockets before signing with the University of Miami.
▪ Rueben Bain, Central, 5A-Independents football defense: Bain set a school record with 29 1/2 sacks to go along with 60 tackles, 48 1/2 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.
▪ Carson Haggard, Gulliver, 5A-Independents football offense: Haggard threw for more than 3,000 yards and 35 touchdowns for the Raiders before signing with Tulane.
▪ Nicholas Prieto, Florida Christian, boys’ golf: Prieto tied for fifth at the Class 1A state championship with county’s best state score and maintained the second-highest scoring average in the county.
▪ Remi Bacardi, Palmer Trinity, girls’ golf: Finished 15th in the Class 1A state championship with county’s best state score and had the top scoring average in county.
▪ Angeles Alderete, Mater Academy, 7A-5A girls’ volleyball: Alderete finished her 2021 season with 287 kills for a 45.2 kill percentage and led the Lions to a state championship.
▪ Emily Matias, Westminster Christian, 4A-2A girls’ volleyball: Matias finished the season with 292 kills, 162 service points, 47 aces and 112 digs to lead the Warriors to a state runner-up finish.
▪ Adam Magoulas, Belen, boys’ cross country: Magoulas dealt with in-season injury, which hampered him late after he became one of three runners in the state to break 15 minutes.
▪ Joshua Ruiz, Belen, boys’ cross country: Ruiz posted a time of 15:37.4 at state to finish second and lead the Wolverines to their 13th state championship.
▪ Penelope Sosa, Coral Park, girls’ cross country: Sosa became her school’s first state champion in the sport after overcoming a bout with COVID-19 and a hip injury during the season.
▪ Tyler Keller, Hialeah Educational, boys’ bowling: Keller won a district championship and led the county with a 216 scoring average.
▪ Gillian Pons, TERRA, girls’ bowling: Pons was the runner-up in District 17 and led the county with a 178 scoring average.
▪ Juan Mora, Doral Academy, boys’ swimming and diving: Mora won a state title in the 100-meter breaststroke in Class 4A and added a fifth-place finish in the 100 butterfly, plus a ninth-place finish as part of Doral’s 200 medley relay.
▪ Olivia Dinehart, Cutler Bay Academy, girls’ swimming and diving: Dinehart won the state title in the 100-meter breaststroke at the Class 1A meet, finished third in the 200 individual medley, and added a third-place finish with the Sharks’ 200 medley relay and a fourth-place finish with their 400 freestyle relay.
This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 9:13 AM.