Aquinas, American Heritage win Broward All-Sports awards. Gibbons, WA also recognized
St. Thomas Aquinas and Plantation American Heritage once again asserted themselves as two of the top high school athletic programs in Broward County, with the two schools combining to win eight state titles this school year.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Gibbons and Westminster Academy had success among some of the top sports sanctioned by the Florida High School Athletic Association.
As such, the three schools are being honored with the Miami Herald’s All-Sports Awards in Broward County for the 2021-2022 athletic season.
St. Thomas Aquinas swept all three awards for schools in the Class 7A-6A division. American Heritage is the overall winner for Classes 5A-2A. Cardinal Gibbons is taking home the Boys’ Major Sports Award, which recognizes success across six sports: Football, basketball, soccer, baseball, track and field, and wrestling. Westminster Academy won the Girls’ Major Sports Award, which looks at how school’s fared across five sports: Indoor volleyball, basketball, soccer, track and field, and softball.
For St. Thomas Aquinas, this is just another year of athletic success. The Raiders won five overall team state titles: Football, girls’ basketball, girls’ tennis, boys’ lacrosse and boys’ track and field. The football title is Aquinas’ state-record 13th and third in a row. The girls’ basketball team has now won consecutive state titles.
Their girls’ track and field team also finished fourth at state. St. Thomas Aquinas also had teams reach the state semifinals in girls’ lacrosse and boys’ water polo; the Round of 16 in beach volleyball; regional finals in girls’ indoor volleyball; regional semifinals in boys’ soccer, girls’ soccer, baseball, boys’ basketball and girls’ water polo.
In the small school grouping, American Heritage once again reigned supreme to take the 5A-2A All-Sports Award.
The Patriots won a fifth consecutive girls’ basketball state title and swept the boys’ and girls’ golf titles in Class 2A.
American Heritage also advanced to the regional finals in baseball and made regional semifinal appearances in football, boys’ soccer, girls’ soccer and softball.
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Cardinal Gibbons takes home the Boys’ Major Sports Award primarily on the back of its Class 4A state football title, the school’s third in the past four years.
The Chiefs’ wrestling team also finished sixth at state in Class 1A and saw their boys’ soccer team advance to the regional finals in addition to its baseball and boys’ basketball teams reaching the regional semifinals.
Westminster Academy wraps up the Broward awards by winning the Girls’ Major Sports Award for Classes 5A-2A. The Lions won their first girls’ basketball state title in more than three decades and also had a state semifinal appearance in girls’ soccer as well as a regional semifinal trip for softball.
How results are determined
Each sport is given a pre-determined maximum point value, with the total amount of points a school gets for each sport being determined by their record in that sport.
For example, football has a maximum of 120 points, so a team that goes undefeated would get 120 points while a team that goes 5-5 would get 60 points.. Basketball, baseball, softball and girls’ volleyball are maxed at 100 points; swimming, golf, cross country, wrestling, track and field, and tennis are worth up to 60 points apiece; and all other FHSAA sanctioned team sports are worth up to 30 points. Teams also receive bonus points for postseason performance (winning a district title is worth 10 points and each progressive stage throughout the playoffs is worth more points).
Scores below are rounded to the nearest half point.
Big school overall results
St. Thomas Aquinas: 1,935.5 points
Cooper City: 846 points
Small school overall results
American Heritage: 1,160 points
Pine Crest: 1,104 points
Cardinal Gibbons: 1,052 points
Calvary Christian: 1,011 points
Westminster Academy: 934 points
North Broward Prep: 920 points
Coral Springs Charter: 834 points
University School: 609.5 points
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