Chow, Kettlewell win state’s top honors in tennis. Plus baseball and weightlifting standouts
Miami Divine Savior Academy senior Lauren Kettlewell was named the 2025 Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Tennis and junior Alessandro De Bernardo of Osceola High School was named Mr. Tennis in voting by a statewide panel of prep tennis coaches.
In addition, Andre Chow of Miami True North Classical Academy was named Girls’ Tennis Coach of the Year and Alberto Lense of Osceola won Boys’ Tennis Coach of the Year honors.
Chow was also a finalist for Boys’ Coach of the Year.
Kettlewell made school history in tennis by winning the state’s Class 1A overall singles and doubles championships this season. She has signed to play college tennis at NCAA Division I Boston University.
Other finalists included Class 4A Player of the Year Savita Bagirathan of Parkland Stoneman Douglas, Class 3A POY Kylie Kochis of Nease and Class 2A POY Bridget Chalich of Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest.
De Bernardo helped his Osceola team win the Class 3A state championship and added the overall singles and doubles championships.
Other finalists included Class 4A Player of the Year Ben Saltman of Winter Haven, Class 2A POY William Freshwater of Naples Barron Collier and Class 1A POY Rafael Bote of Boca Raton St. Andrew’s.
Osceola’s Alberto Lense won the top boys’ coaching honor after leading his squad to the Class 3A title, the school’s first state tennis championship.
Class 4A Coach of the Year Tom Beard of Lake Nona, Class 2A COY Brian Schleifer of Delray American Heritage and Class 1A COY Andre Chow of True North Classical Academy were the other finalists for the boys’ coaching award.
In addition to his team winning the Class 1A boys’ title, Chow led the True North girls to their second consecutive Class 1A state title, earning him the overall girls’ Coach of the Year honor.
The other finalists for the girls’ coaching award included Class 4A Coach of the Year Kelly Gibson of Miami Palmetto, Class 3A COY Mike Kypriss of Nease and Class 2A COY Tobias Croke of Plantation American Heritage.
The Florida Dairy Farmers Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers’ commitment to the state’s youth. This is the 33rd year of these unique awards as they honor the state’s top athletes and coaches in sanctioned FHSAA sports. The program also emphasizes to young people the importance of keeping dairy products a primary part of their diet in their overall nutrition plan.
Postseason weightlifting
The Southwest Ranches Archbishop McCarthy boys’ weightlifting team, under the direction of Coach Heidi Bowser, had an outstanding season.
The Mavericks won the District 16-2A Team Championship in Olympic (snatch / clean and jerk) and Traditional (clean and jerk / bench) divisions. Individual district champs were Gabriel Auais (senior); Jordan Castro (senior); Thomas Dubay (junior); Cedrick Jean Louis (senior); Michael Posy (junior); and Jonathan Vargas (junior). Bradley Christolin (senior) placed second.
From districts, 14 Archbishop McCarthy athletes qualified for regionals.
At regionals, Castro was first in Olympic and second in Traditional, and Dubay was first in Olympic and fourth in Traditional. Auais was fourth in Olympic, and Julian Londono (freshman) placed sixth in Traditional.
At state, Castro was third in Olympic and fourth in Traditional, and Dubay was fifth in Olympic.
Academically, Auais was a finalist for the Miami Herald All-Broward Scholar Athlete award.
State baseball nominees
The Florida Dairy Farmers announced the list of nominees for FHSAA top state baseball honors, and the stellar group includes some local athletes and coaches. They are:
7A: Gio Rojas (Stoneman Douglas) Jr P/DH 12-0, 0.72 ERA, 68 IP, 119 K, 16 BB; Batted .388, 24 R, 32 RBI; Gabriel Gener (Cypress Bay) Sr P 6-2, 1.81 ERA, 58 IP, 75 K, 14 BB; Jann Soto (Miami High) Sr OF .484, 3 2B, 28 R, 19 RBI, 33 SB; Samuel Alonso (Columbus) Sr P 7-2, 1.34 ERA, 52 IP, 79 K, 25 BB; FIU commit; Coach Edwin Bonilla (Miami High) 18-8; Coach Bo Diaz (Cypress Bay) 16-10; Coach Todd Fitz-Gerald (Stoneman Douglas) 31-2 State Champion; Coach Howard Stein (West Broward) 21-14 Regional Finalist.
6A: Gabriel Milano (Doral Academy) Sr 3B .520 BA, 13 2B, 11 HR, 41 R, 42 RBI; University of Miami signee; Zack Malvasio (St. Thomas Aquinas) Sr RF .414 BA, 16 2B, 16 HR, 45 R, 48 RBI; UCF commit; Keniel Marrero (South Broward) Sr INF .471 BA, 6 2B, 5 HR, 27 R, 21 RBI, 22 SB; Lenox Munoz (Miami Beach) Sr SS/P .514 BA, 2 2B, 22 R, 14 RBI, 28 SB; Coach Ralph Suarez (Doral Academy) 23-8 Regional Finalist; Coach Mandy Pelaez (Southwest Miami) 17-11; Coach Manuel Ojeda (Miami Southridge) 15-12; Coach Joe Wardlow (St. Thomas Aquinas) 29-6 State Champion; Coach Chad Rose (Cooper City) 15-8; Coach Charlie Garcia (Miami Beach) 11-16.
5A: Danny Machado (Archbishop McCarthy) Sr SS .442 BA, 6 2B, 5 HR, 36 R, 20 RBI, 16 SB; FAU commit; Alfrin Rosario (Mater Academy) Sr P/IN 2-2, 1.56 ERA, 54 IP, 64 K; .339 BA, 19 R, 14 RBI; Andy Espinosa (Felix Varela) Soph P 9-3, 2.78 ERA, 68 IP, 84 K, 42 BB; Coach Brian Alvarez (Felix Varela) 20-10 Regional Finalist; Coach Humberto Bencomo (Mater Academy) 27-6 State Champion; Coach Mike Fiers (Archbishop McCarthy) 19-13.
4A: Jake Cueto (Belen Jesuit) Soph OF .375 BA, 7 2B, 16 R, 13 RBI, 17 SB; Jordan Rich (Plantation American Heritage) Sr OF .400 BA, 8 2B, 4 3B, 7 HR, 43 R, 26 RBI, 35 SB; Andres Gomez (Mater Lakes) Sr SS .286 BA, 3 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 18 R, 11 RBI, 14 SB; Coach Jesse Fernandez (Belen Jesuit) 16-18 Regional Finalist; Coach Rafael Jiron (Mater Lakes) 10-12; Coach Bruce Aven (Plantation American Heritage) 29-6 State Champion.
3A: Max Burkholz (North Broward Prep) Sr OF .500 BA, 5 2B, 2 3B, 28 R, 13 RBI; Robert Kramer (Monsignor Pace) Sr C/1B .451 BA, 6 2B, 5 HR, 9 R, 21 RBI; Chase Cherne (Gulliver Prep) Jr 1B .326 BA, 7 2B, 4 HR, 19 R, 26 RBI; Coach Jorge Robles (St. Brendan) 19-15 Regional Finalist; Coach David Fanshawe (Miami Springs) 28-3 State Champion; Coach Brian Campbell (North Broward Prep) 23-8; Coach Chuck Lyman (Monsignor Pace) 17-13.
2A: Tino Pena (Ransom Everglades) Jr P 6-1, 2.12 ERA, 33 IP, 49 K, 21 BB; Brian Bolanos (Hialeah Ed. Acad.) Sr C/OF .304, 5 R, 15 RBI; Jesus Garcia (Westminster Academy) Sr 1B .348 BA, 6 2B, 2 HR, 10 R, 24 RBI; FIU commit; Griffin Pomper (NSU University) Sr C .458 BA, 12 2B, 9 R, 25 RBI; Coach Adrien Nieto (True North Classical) 18-9; Coach Ernie Gonzalez (Westminster Academy) 12-12; Coach Kenny Perez (Ransom Everglades) 15-9; Coach Dan Rovetto (NSU University) 23-6.
1A: Aaron Aguilar (Schoolhouse Prep) Jr C .378 BA, 11 R, 7 RBI; Coach Jorge Rodriguez (Schoolhouse Prep) 15-10; Coach Chris Cuadra (Miami Christian) 13-18 Regional Finalist.
Send sports results
For high school and middle school athletes in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, if you have summer sports results and top performers (with stats), email hssports@miamiherald.com.
They will run in the newspaper and online. Photos accepted, too. No deadline. You will be alerted when it will appear in the newspaper and online.
New athletic directors, coaches
For high schools in Broward and Miami-Dade, if you have new sports administration and/or coaching hires to announce, email hssports@miamiherald.com.
---
Roundup compiled by Jim Varsallone
jvarsallone@miamiherald.com
This story was originally published May 27, 2025 at 1:16 PM.
