Poll: Who do you think was the best spring high school athlete in Broward? Vote now.
Broward County teams finished off another impressive spring sports season with seven teams winning state championships. The Miami Herald honored several of the players on those squads and others with its spring sports players of the year in the sports of baseball, softball, track and field, tennis, water polo, volleyball, lacrosse and flag football.
As it does annually, the Miami Herald will select its overall Athletes of the Year and reveal those winners next week. But while this will not have a bearing on those results, the Herald is asking who YOU think was the best performer from that spring sports season.
Below is a look at the 22 athletes who were selected as Players of the Year in their respective sports from the spring season in Broward County.
Take our poll below to cast your vote. The poll will be open until Tuesday at 10 p.m. You may vote as often as you like until then.
Here are the candidates:
▪ Roman Anthony, Stoneman Douglas, baseball: Anthony, an Ole Miss signee and draft prospect, posted a .545 batting average this season with 10 home runs, 40 RBI and 36 runs scored to lead the Eagles to their second consecutive state championship.
▪ Chris Arroyo, Stoneman Douglas, baseball: Arroyo went 10-1, posting a 0.54 ERA and striking out 74 batters over 52 innings. The 6-1 lefty pitched a five-inning shutout in the state championship game, striking out seven while giving up just two hits and a walk.
▪ Jake Clemente, Stoneman Douglas, baseball: Clemente went 10-0 with a 1.11 ERA and 80 strikeouts over 57 innings. Ten of those strikeouts came in Douglas’ state semifinal win over Orlando Hagerty. Clemente also hit the walk-off three-run homer to seal a 10-0 mercy-rule win over Palm Beach Gardens in the final.
▪Erik Blair, American Heritage, baseball: Blair led the Patriots with a .447 batting average and 38 RBI while also hitting five home runs and scoring 22 runs. On the mound, he pitched to a 2.29 ERA with 69 strikeouts against 26 walks over 39 2/3 innings.
▪Yoel Tejeda Jr., North Broward Prep, baseball: Tejeda Jr. finished the season with a 1.82 ERA and 90 strikeouts over 61 2/3 innings. This included throwing 6 2/3 shutout innings with eight strikeouts in North Broward Prep’s 1-0 state semifinal win over Cardinal Newman.
▪Jordyn Hustey, Cooper City, softball: Hustey, a senior righty, finished the season with a 0.97 ERA with 135 strikeouts over 115 1/3 innings. She threw 11 complete games, including three shutouts and one perfect game to lead the Cowboys to the Region 4-6A final.
▪ Kirsten Caravaca, Cooper City, softball: Caravaca had a .512 batting average with 14 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 37 RBI and 14 runs scored this season while helping the Cowboys make it to the Region 4-6A final.
▪ Emily Legette, American Heritage, softball: Legette, a Virginia Tech commit, paced the Patriots this season with a .471 batting average to go along with 27 RBI, 17 runs scored, eight doubles, three home runs and 20 stolen bases.
▪ Brianna Godfrey, Coral Springs Charter, softball: Godfrey went 19-3 with 13 complete games, one no-hitter and 232 strikeouts in 119 innings with a 0.59 ERA to lead the Panthers to the Class 3A state semifinals.
▪ Chris Johnson Jr., Dillard, boys’ track and field: Johnson Jr. won a pair of Class 3A titles in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and posted the fastest times across all four classifications in both events last month in Gainesville.
▪ Jassani Carter, Flanagan, girls’ track and field: For the second straight season, Carter won 4A titles in the 100 and 200 dashes, and her Falcons were the top South Florida team in 4A, finishing fifth last month in Gainesville.
▪ Corey Craig, Monarch, boys’ tennis: Craig, a senior and Boston University signee, went a perfect 15-0 this season and won the Class 4A individual singles title.
▪ Juhnyee See, Coral Springs Charter, girls’ tennis: See, a sophomore, won overall singles and doubles titles in Class 2A, making her one of only two players in the state this season to accomplish the feat.
▪ Isabella Pacheco, St. Thomas Aquinas, girls’ tennis: Pacheco went a perfect 6-0 in singles and doubles during the team portion of state to help the Raiders win their 12th overall team title and first since winning four in a six-year span from 2003-2008. An injury kept her from the chance at sweeping the individual singles and doubles crowns.
▪ Nicholas Santarsiero, St. Thomas Aquinas, boys’ water polo: Santarsiero led the Raiders to their eighth state final four in nine seasons with 116 goals, 26 assists and 57 steals. He also drew 52 fouls, primarily playing as the center forward.
▪ Charlotte Lucas, Fort Lauderdale, girls’ water polo: Lucas totaled 101 goals, 71 assists and 110 steals, and drew 37 fouls this year to lead Fort Lauderdale to a District 11 championship.
▪ Gino Briglio, Cardinal Gibbons, boys’ volleyball: Briglio totaled 819 assists, 111 digs and 22 aces to lead the Chiefs, who were ranked No. 1 in the state throughout the majority of the season, to the state semifinals.
▪ Alyssa McBean and Halley Tang, St. Thomas Aquinas, beach volleyball: McBean and Tang, the top pair on the Raiders’ team which advanced to the state tournament in its inaugural FHSAA season, went 14-3 this season.
▪ Jordan Faison, Pine Crest, boys’ lacrosse: Faison, a Notre Dame commit, scored 54 goals as a midfielder for the Panthers, leading them to the Class 1A regional semifinals.
▪ Ava Yovino, St. Thomas Aquinas, girls’ lacrosse: Yovino scored 45 goals, and led the Raiders with 39 assists and 82 ground balls as Aquinas made it back to the Class 2A state semifinals.
▪ Sydney Ford, Western, flag football: Ford went 307 of 423 passing for 3,809 yards, 50 touchdowns and just seven interceptions, and ran 47 times for 355 yards and six more touchdowns. She also caught 12 passes for 114 yards and four touchdowns. As a linebacker, Ford led Western with 71 flag pulls and had a sack and three interceptions as the Wildcats won their first state championship.
This story was originally published June 9, 2022 at 10:00 AM.