High School Sports

Top state awards for water polo coaches, players. Plus Miami scholar athletes, state boys’ hoops honors

Westminster Academy Dane Fox prepares to throw the ball during the FHSAA Boys Water Polo State Championship final match against Mater Lakes Academy on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at Gian Zumpano Aquatic Center in Miami.
Westminster Academy Dane Fox prepares to throw the ball during the FHSAA Boys Water Polo State Championship final match against Mater Lakes Academy on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at Gian Zumpano Aquatic Center in Miami. FOR THE MIAMI HERALD

Senior Kathleen Serig of Miami Gulliver Prep is the state’s Florida Dairy Farmers 2025 Miss Water Polo, and junior Dane Fox of Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy is the winner of the state’s 2025 Mr. Water Polo award, after a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school water polo coaches.

In addition, Carroll Vaughan of Gulliver Prep and Daniel Cercols of Westminster Academy were named winners of the state’s Girls’ and Boys’ Water Polo Coach of the Year awards, respectively.

Gulliver Prep’s Kathleen Serig attempts to score during the FHSAA Girls Water Polo State Championship final match against Seminole Noles (Sanford) on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at Gian Zumpano Aquatic Center in Miami.
Gulliver Prep’s Kathleen Serig attempts to score during the FHSAA Girls Water Polo State Championship final match against Seminole Noles (Sanford) on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at Gian Zumpano Aquatic Center in Miami. FILE PHOTO / ANDREW ULOZA FOR THE MIAMI HERALD

Serig helped her team to the state championship with 84 goals while adding 36 assists and 64 steals. The senior attack finished her four-year varsity career with 334 goals, 150 assists and 197 steals.

Westminster Academy Dane Fox prepares to throw the ball during the FHSAA Boys Water Polo State Championship final match against Mater Lakes Academy on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at Gian Zumpano Aquatic Center in Miami.
Westminster Academy Dane Fox prepares to throw the ball during the FHSAA Boys Water Polo State Championship final match against Mater Lakes Academy on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at Gian Zumpano Aquatic Center in Miami. FILE PHOTO / ANDREW ULOZA FOR THE MIAMI HERALD

Fox helped his team to the state title with 103 goals while adding 51 assists and 39 steals. He scored the overtime goal in an 11-10 semifinal win over Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas and added two goals in his team’s 11-10 title-match victory over Miami Hialeah Mater Lakes Academy.

Vaughan led her squad to a 27-1 record and Gulliver’s first girls’ state title since 2013. Her team avenged its only loss of the regular season to Seminole (8-7) by scoring an 8-5 win over the 2024 title winner in the championship game.

Cercols’s Westminster squad posted a 24-2 record on the way to winning the school’s first boys’ state water polo title.

Scholar Athletes

The Miami Chapter of Delta Psi Kappa recognizes and promotes worthwhile achievements of women in the fields of Health, Physical Education and related fields.

Each year, Delta Psi Kappa recognizes outstanding high school senior women athletes from each Miami-Dade County high school and awards scholarships to two high school seniors, as well as a college student studying in a field related to Health Sciences and or Physical Education.

This year’s recipients of the Mary Mahan Grant are Miami High’s Devyn K. Riggins and Ronald Reagan/Doral High’s Antonia Dean. The Alleine Swain College Scholarship Winner is Barry University’s Lia Larramendi Mirabel.

The following are Delta Psi Kappa Bravo Award recipients.

Kamilla Gareeva (Mourning), Solange Aleman (American), Jasmin Brown (Goleman), Deztinie Lewis (Booker T.), Valentina Tomas-Dolan (Coral Gables), Samantha Ruiz (Coral Reef), Abigail Lintner (Cutler Bay), Clara Benzaquen (Krop), Adriana Zavala (Varela), Catherine Fuerte (Braddock), Jasmine Uz (Hialeah Gardens), Nyla Hayes (Hialeah), Isabella Velasquez (Hialeah-Miami Lakes), Jamilah Miller (Homestead), Doral Sofia Carrasquel (JC Bermudez), Sophia Diaz (Ferguson), Florencia Alvarez Bomrad (MAST), Leah Mercer (Miami Beach), Ja’Kayla Milton (Carol City), Eymani Brown (Central), Carmen Dragustinovis (Coral Park), Camille Canidate (Edison), Daniela Valentina Rodriguez (Jackson), Amanda Cepero (Killian), Jayden Victoria Courtney (Norland), Tyra Cox (Northwestern), Alessandra Falcon (Palmetto), Devyn K. Riggins (Miami High), Ronairda Legra (Southridge), Gia Culler-Guerra (Miami Springs), Paula Villacreses (Sunset), Yoshaney Cayaso (North Miami Beach), Naima Valcin (North Miami), Antonia Dean (Reagan), Anisleidy Chavez (South Dade), Natalie Delgado (South Miami), Tatiana Andrea Perez (Southwest), Oakley Sever (TERRA), Ruth Gonzalez (Westland Hialeah).

Basketball state honors

Source Hoops presents the 2024-25 Boys’ Basketball Class 7A All-State Team.

Fifteen players represent the best of the best for those high schools that participate in Class 7A of FHSAA boys’ hoops.

Players were selected based on in-person evaluations, a review of all-area teams selected by media from around the state and without regard to a player’s travel team or high school affiliation or his ranking by other outlets.

In 7A, state and national champ Miami Christopher Columbus had three players on first team and one on second team. Players from Miami Palmetto and Miami High were also chosen to the elite group.

7A FIRST TEAM

Cameron Boozer, 6-9 Sr, Columbus

Cayden Boozer, 6-4 Sr, Columbus

Jalen Reece, 6-1 Sr, Orlando Oak Ridge

Terrance Drain, 6-8 Sr, Windermere

Caleb Gaskins, 6-8 Jr, Columbus

7A SECOND TEAM

Jamier Jones, 6-5 Sr, Orlando Oak Ridge

Santiago Henriquez, 5-11 Sr, Miami Palmetto

Jaxon Richardson, 6-6 Jr, Columbus

Johnny Lackaff, 6-2 Soph, Sarasota

Romarie Robinson, 6-5 Sr, Miami High

7A THIRD TEAM

Alex Springs, 6-2 Sr, St. Cloud

Tor-El Robinson, 6-3 Sr, Wellington

Luke McCrimmon, 6-2 Jr, Kissimmee Osceola

Jeremy Felix, 6-0 Sr, Port St. Lucie Centennial

Nolan Nelson, 6-8 Soph, St. Augustine Creekside

All-County Ballots

High school coaches of spring varsity sports should have received their ballots to send Miami Herald All-Dade and Miami Herald All-Broward nominees. If you have not received a ballot, email hssports@miamiherald.com.

Send high school sports results

For high schools in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, if you have varsity results and top performers (with stats), email hssports@miamiherald.com.

They will run in the newspaper and online. Photos accepted, too. No deadline. Send after the game, the next day or weekly. You will be alerted when it will appear in the newspaper and online.

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Roundup compiled by Jim Varsallone

jvarsallone@miamiherald.com

Jim Varsallone
Miami Herald
Jim Varsallone writes a high school sports column twice a week, featuring top performers in all varsity sports (boys and girls) in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. He also covers pro wrestling, something he’s done since his college days in the late 1980s. Now in his fifth decade of coverage, he currently follows WWE (Raw, SmackDown and NXT), AEW, Ring of Honor, TNA Impact Wrestling, MLW, WOW, NWA, and the South Florida indies, mainly CCW. He writes MMA, too -- mostly profile stories and video interviews with American Top Team and Sanford MMA fighters in South Florida. As for pro wrestling, he writes feature stories and profile pieces, updates upcoming show schedules in South Florida, photographs the action and interviews talent (audio and video) -- sharing the content here and via social media on his Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channel: jim varsallone (jimmyv3 channel). Support my work with a digital subscription
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