Local standouts win top state soccer awards. Plus state hoops honors, water polo and more
Kameron Clark of Miami Columbus won the Florida Dairy Farmers State Boys’ Soccer Coach of the Year award after leading his Explorers to an 18-4-5 record and the Class 7A state title.
In a final round of voting by Florida high school boys’ soccer coaches and media, Clark tallied 61 points in winning this year’s award, with Class 5A Coach of the Year Mark Forrester of Beachside finishing a close second with 59 points.
Prior, Clark was voted Class 7A Coach of the Year, making him eligible for the state’s overall top boys’ soccer coaching honor.
Class 3A COY Jonathan Rosas of Downtown Doral was third with 45 points, followed by Class 6A COY Danielle Fotopoulos of Sunlake (29), Class 4A COY Tom Hage of Bishop Moore (28), Class 1A COY Cam Omsberg of The Pine School (22) and Class 2A COY Adrian Moreno of Holy Trinity (10).
Senior forward Alessandro Gonzalez from Mariner is the 2026 Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Soccer. Gonzalez helped his team to a 25-3-2 record and a spot in the regional finals by scoring 47 goals and adding 11 assists.
Gonzalez, who was earlier named the Class 5A Player of the Year, tallied 70 points in winning this year’s award, edging Class 7A POY Rodrigo Castrillo of Cypress Bay who was the runner-up with 68 points. Class 6A POY Robert Calazans of Mandarin was third with 44 points, followed by Class 2A POY Drew Monti of Episcopal (38), Class 4A POY Clayton Boone of American Heritage-Plantation (27), Class 1A POY Hopeny Louis of Highlands Christian (17) and Class 3A POY Jadyn Senger of Cocoa Beach (5).
More state soccer honors
Bianca Raskin, a senior from St. Thomas Aquinas High School, is the Florida Dairy Farmers 2026 Miss Soccer following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of girls’ high school soccer coaches and media representatives.
Raskin, a center midfielder, led her team to a 23-2-1 record and the Class 6A state title by scoring 31 goals and adding 22 assists. Raskin, who earlier was named the Class 6A Player of the Year, tallied 98 points to finish ahead of Class 7A POY Teagan Jahns of Lake Mary who finished with 90 points.
Class 2A POY Mia Mackrey of King’s Academy finished third with 39 points, followed by Class 4A POY Eva Rothman of Barron Collier (34), Class 3A POY Lola Rey of Montverde Academy (25), Class 5A POY Veronica Aguilar of Lourdes Academy (12) and Class 1A POY Gloriana Chalkias of Canterbury School (5).
Christian Eissele, who earlier was named the Class 7A Coach of the Year after guiding Lake Mary to a 20-2-1 record and a second consecutive state championship, was named the Florida Dairy Farmers State Girls’ Soccer Coach of the Year.
Eissele totaled 85 points to finish ahead of Class 2A COY Bridget Mackrey of King’s Academy (53) and Class 4A COY Cindy Marcial of American Heritage-Plantation (46). Class 5A COY David Fique of Lourdes Academy (34) finished fourth followed by Class 6A COY Bryan Hantak of St. Thomas Aquinas (32), Class 3A COY Margo Flack of Cardinal Gibbons (14) and Class 1A COY Paolo Acosta of The Canterbury School (10).
The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers’ commitment to the state’s youth. This is the 34th year of these unique awards as we honor the state’s top athletes and coaches in 31 FHSAA sanctioned and recognized 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.
State hoops awards
The eight individual class finalists for the 2026 Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Basketball and Boys’ Basketball Coach of the Year were announced after voting by a statewide panel of high school girls’ basketball coaches and prep media members.
Every finalist was the leading vote-getter in their classification, making each one the Player of the Year or Coach of the Year in their respective class.
The two overall winners will be announced following a final round of balloting by coaches and media.
The eight finalists for the 2026 Mr. Basketball Award include six class winners from the area:
Caleb Gaskins, Miami Columbus, Senior Forward, Class 7A Player of the Year: The McDonald’s All-American led the Explorers to a 26-6 record and a fifth consecutive state championship by averaging 23.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. Signed with the University of Miami.
Drake (DJ) Sandi, St. Thomas Aquinas, Senior Guard, Class 6A Player of the Year: Led the Raiders to a 28-4 record and the Class 6A state championship by averaging 11.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3.6 steals per game. Committed to American University.
Tai Bell, Mater Lakes Academy, Sophomore Guard, Class 4A Player of the Year: led the Bears to an 18-10 record by averaging 33.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 4 steals per game.
Cayden Daughtry, Calvary Christian, Junior Guard, Class 3A Player of the Year: led the Eagles to a 25-1 record and the Class 3A state title by averaging 26.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.7 steals per game.
D.J. Gaines, Westminster Academy, Junior Guard, Class 2A Player of the Year: averaged 30.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 2 steals per game.
Kevin Thomas, Sagemont Prep, Senior Guard, Class 1A Player of the Year: led the Lions to a 24-6 record and the Class 1A state title by averaging 15.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2 steals per game. Signed with LSU.
The eight finalists for the state’s 2026 Boys’ Basketball Coach of the Year include four class winners from the area:
Julius Sandi, St. Thomas Aquinas, Class 6A Coach of the Year: led the Raiders to a 28-4 record and the Class 6A state championship. In six seasons at Aquinas, he has compiled a 137-29 record.
Dave Roca, Pembroke Pines Charter, Class 5A Coach of the Year: led the Jaguars to a 22-6 record and the Class 5A state championship, the school’s third state championship in the past six years (2021, 2024-26).
Cilk McSweeney, Calvary Christian, Class 3A Coach of the Year: led the Eagles to a 24-1 record and the Class 3A state championship. In 12 years at Calvary, he has posted a 205-87 record, while winning five state titles (2017, 2021, 2022, 2025, 2026).
David Roe, Sagemont Prep, Class 1A Coach of the Year: led the Lions to a 24-6 record and the Class 1A state championship. In nine years, Roe has compiled a 181-70 record, including a state runner-up finish in 2022.
Other locals in the classification voting: 7A: 2. Coach Jorge Milo, Columbus. 5A: 3. Robert Guishard, Pembroke Pines Charter. 2A: 2. Coach Ralph Mata, Miami Country Day.
District water polo
BOYS: District 16 Semifinal: Gulliver Prep 25, Cutler Bay 1: Leading the Raiders was Sr. Captain Sebastian Piedra with 4 goals, 2 steals and 2 assists. Sr. Javier Kodsi added 4 goals, 1 steal and 1 assist. Sr. Matthew Preston and Sr Jonas Schoenwald each had 3 goals. GP 14-9.
Baseball
Southwest 11, Coral Reef 0: Four Eagles pitchers combined on a 3-hitter as Southwest (13-6) won its sixth consecutive game. Dylan Duarte was 2-for-4 with 2 runs; Anthony Reyes was 2-for-2; and Orisjoe Valdes drove in 3 runs with a hit and a sacrifice fly. Starter Marcos Veliz struck out 4 in 2 1/3 IP, and Tyler Villamor collected the win in relief.
Boys’ volleyball
True North d. Southwest 27-25, 25-20, 25-16: Big win for the Titans. Rylan Munger (Jr) 15 kills; Robert Romero (Sr) 10 kills, 7 aces; Alejandro Ruiz (Sr) 15 digs, 4 aces; Aisar Hernandez (Sr) 27 assists. TN 10-7, SW 11-3.
Lacrosse
GIRLS: Archbishop McCarthy 8, West Broward 6: Ava Valdivieso 3 goals, 3 assists, 11 groundballs, 8 draw controls, 4 caused turnovers; Sofia Rawda 4 goals, 2 groundballs; Luciana Gomez 1 goal; Francesca Largarde 3 groundballs, 1 draw control; Gabby Laffler 2 groundballs; Josephine Mens 3 saves. AM 5-8, WB 6-6.
Send sports results
For high schools in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, if you have varsity 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. Also, some will be considered athlete of the week nominations.
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Compiled by Jim Varsallone
jvarsallone@miamiherald.com
This story was originally published April 8, 2026 at 12:57 AM.
