This is Belen’s breakout two-sport star; Aquinas hurdlers among nation’s best in track

Belen Jesuit’s Carlos Iglesias had proven himself as a middle infielder on the school’s baseball team throughout his four years of high school.

But he shocked his coaches by how quickly he excelled at playing wide receiver this past fall.

Iglesias became one of the breakout football players in Miami-Dade County when he led all Class 6A wide receivers in the state in yards per game (86.8) and led the county in 6A in catches (44) and receiving yards (694).

Iglesias’ presence allowed Belen, a team which had long deployed a Wing-T run-first offense to convert to a wide open spread attack.

“I never expected to be playing football seriously,” Iglesias said. “I practiced playing flag football before my senior season. But I set a goal to break receiving records at Belen and was able to do it.”

Iglesias’ late start in playing the sport coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on recruiting limited his exposure to recruiters.

Iglesias, however, earned a scholarship offer to play for Division-III Rochester University in New York where he will also be able to play baseball.

“He definitely fell victim to a little bit of lack of exposure because of the pandemic,” said Belen wide receivers coach Eddy Franca, who played on the school’s 2010 state runner-up team. “But he’s going to a great school academically and athletically and is going to be able to do both.”

Iglesias, who earned second team All-Dade honors, had been persuaded by Belen football coaches to join the team since he began high school. But Iglesias had only played flag football with his friends.

But this past summer, Iglesias began training on the beach running routes with friends and twice a day at the school to learn the ins and outs of playing the position.

“He’s always loved sports so he’s always watching videos and trying to learn everything about the game and how to get better,” Iglesias’ father, Jorge, said.

In his first game, Iglesias caught a pass despite being covered by two defenders and ran for a 60-yard touchdown. He also caught a game-winning touchdown against La Salle on an over the shoulder catch later in the season. He was later invited to play in a Florida-Georgia All-Star game that was held in Orlando.

“Nobody really knew who I was coming into the season, but after the first couple of games, I had to deal with double teams all the time,” said Iglesias, who has a 3.6 GPA and scored a 1380 on his SAT. “That made it fun.”

When Iglesias wasn’t playing football this summer, he was cooking.

Iglesias, who one day wants to be a chef, made as many as 70 southern fried chicken sandwiches once a week for a delivery service he put together during the pandemic.

Belen was one of the schools which improvised last year to get more athletes noticed by holding a “combine” at their school.

Franca said Iglesias, who also played golf and basketball until his sophomore year, ran 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash and a 4.28 pro-agility shuttle.

“His natural athleticism and hand-eye coordination were evident from day one,” Franca said.

Iglesias wasn’t just good at catching passes and scoring touchdowns. He also became a leader on and off the field as well.

“I think the best thing he got from football besides a scholarship was the maturity it taught him,” Jorge Iglesias said. “When he puts his mind to something, he’s very dedicated.”

TRACK AND FIELD

With less than three weeks until the state championships, eight South Florida athletes own the highest marks in the nation in their respective events according to Athletic.net’s rankings.

▪ North Miami’s Amanda Kinloch and Eddiyah Frye of St. Thomas Aquinas have each run a 13.46 in the 100 hurdles, which is tied for the fastest. Frye’s teammate, Alexis Glasco, ran a national-best 41.68 seconds in the 300 hurdles.

▪ Southridge’s Alyssa Jones is setting the pace nationwide in the high jump (5-11.75) and long jump (21-4).

▪ Miami Northwestern junior Aaliyah Butler ran the nation’s fastest time in the 400 meters (53.05).

▪ Dillard senior Jerry Phillippe has the fastest time in the boys’ 110 hurdles (13.62 seconds).

▪ Calvary Christian jumper Kennedy Sauder leads all high jumpers with a mark of 7-1.75 while teammate Gregory Janvier leads all triple jumpers with a mark of 50-11.