Coral Glades basketball standout commits; Belen cross-country wins at Pre-State

FIU didn’t win this battle.

Kyler Theophile, a 6-5 senior combo guard for Coral Glades High, held a ceremony on Monday afternoon during which he announced he was committing to Kennesaw State.

“When I went there, it didn’t feel like a recruiting visit,” Theophile said of Kennesaw State. “It felt like I was already home.”

Theophile chose Kennesaw State over FIU, Texas-San Antonio and Georgia Southern.

Coral Glades coach Stefan Whittingham said Theophile had zero offers as of this past June. But then Texas-San Antonio offered him a scholarship, and, after a big tournament in Georgia later that month, Theophile had 17 offers.

Theophile started his prep career as a freshman at Dillard. He was at Elite Academy for his sophomore year before blossoming at Coral Glades last season.

Playing for Whittingham, Theophile averaged 11.7 points and 4.0 assists; leading his team in rebounds (8.3) and steals (2.4). He also helped Coral Glades (20-8) improve by six wins over its previous season.

“Kyler checks every box,” Whittingham said. “He scores, rebounds, passes … and he can defend one through five at the high school level.

“He will graduate at age 17, which means his upside is high.”

Theophile, who has a 3.0 grade-point average, said he has always loved basketball.

“But when I found out that I could do this professionally, my drive went 10 times higher,” he said. “And the coaches (at Coral Glades) gave me no option to fail.”

CROSS-COUNTRY

Belen Jesuit served notice it is still one of the nation’s top boys’ teams by dominating this past weekend at the FSU Pre-State Invitational at Apalachee Regional Park.

Wolverines junior Marcelo Mantecon extended his personal unbeaten streak with a course-record performance, winning the 5K in 14:49. Mantecon controlled the pace early, helping the rest of the Belen pack tighten their spread behind him and the team’s No. 2 runner, Armando Cruz. All five Belen scorers ran times under 15:50, posting 78 points to capture the team title in a field that featured 34 of Florida’s top programs across all classifications.

It was the Wolverines’ seventh consecutive championship at the Pre-State Meet. Nico Veloso finished third with a personal-best 15:36, followed by Jack Michalak and Matthias Murrle rounding out the top five. The Wolverines also recorded their best team average of the season at 15:27.

Belen has not lost a meet at Apalachee Regional Park since 2016, and strengthened its case for an at-large spot at the Nike Cross Nationals following the FHSAA season. The Wolverines will close out the regular season at the Last Chance Invitational in Boca Raton on Thursday before districts next week.

Doral Academy’s runners were among the other notable finishers at the meet.

Nicole Lewis ran a time of 18:56.6 to lead the Doral girls, who finished 15th in the Elite 5K girls’ race. Lewis placed 44th out of 273 runners. On the boys’ side, Victor Pedreira ran a time of 15:53.4 to lead the Firebirds to a 22nd place finish in the boys’ Elite 5K. Pedreira was 40th out of 332 runners with his personal best time in what was Doral’s last meet before the postseason.

FOOTBALL

True North beat Columbus for the first time in school history last week. Junior quarterback Zach Katz led the Titans, completing 17 of 26 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns while adding 37 rushing yards and a score on the ground.

In the backfield, junior Cecil Smith totaled 138 rushing yards on 18 carries and caught four passes for 62 yards.

Junior Mathew Cili also had seven receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown, while senior Jaron Harvey had two catches for 24 yards and a key touchdown.

Defensively, junior George Harris had 10 solo tackles and an assist, while senior Duane Johnson had eight solo tackles and six assists. Sophomore Ricky Carter totaled 13 tackles, including three for loss. The Titans (6-2) will travel to play at Westminster Christian on Thursday before facing Archbishop Carroll on Monday at 6 at Milander Park in the completion of a suspended game in which True North leads 21-7 in the second quarter.

GOLF

District 16-3A: Columbus won the boys’ team championship on Monday with its starting five placing second through sixth individually.

The Explorers finished with a score of 296 to beat Miami Palmetto, which finished second with 330. The Panthers had the individual champion, however, as senior Trevor Tingle, shot a 70 to finish first.

Ferguson freshman Damian Rodriguez shot a 78 to finish seventh and Miami Beach’s Sebastian Zaldivar shot an 80 to place eighth and secure the two regional qualifying spots. Zaldivar won a playoff against South Dade’s Cash Briand to advance.

Team: 1. Columbus 296; 2. Palmetto 330; 3. Doral 341; 4. Braddock 360; 5. Coral Reef and South Dade 362; 7. Coral Gables 380; Individuals: 1. Trevor Tingle (Pal) 70; 2. Sebastian Eterovic (Col) 71; 3. Joe Fernandez (Col) 74; 4. Eduardo Marin (Col) 75; 5. Jake Williams (Col) 76; 6. Marcelo Gonzalez (Col) 77; 7. Damian Fernandez (Fer) 78; 8. Sebastian Zaldivar (MB) 80; 9. Cash Briand (SD) 80; 10. Mike Sarduy (SW) 81.

District 15-1A at Normandy Shores - Boys’ team (par 284): 1. Ransom Everglades 289; 2. Miami Country Day 301; 3. Florida Christian 311; 4. Downtown Doral 319; 5. Immaculata La Salle 334; 6. Divine Savior 400; Individual (Par 71): 1. Cole Durham (RE) 68; 2. William Grayson-Richards (MCD) and Matteo Bloom (RE) 72; 4. Hugo Stenstrom (RE), Lance Zhang (MCD) and Kalani Centeno (FC) 74; 7. Navraj Suri (RE) 75.

Girls’ team: 1. Ransom Everglades 307; 2. Divine Savior 322; 3. Downtown Doral 337; 4. Pinecrest Glades 444; Individual: 1. Stella Lind (DS) 70; 2. Ella Wester (RE) 72; 3. Nina Fischer (RE) 74; 4. Lucia Romero (DD) 75; 5. Misha Gowda (RE) 76; 6. Ana Hernandez (DS) 77.