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Crews among finalists for state’s best player; Pickett for coach

By Randy Lefko Sports Editor
Posted 3/25/20

GAINESVILLE (March 16) — The Florida Dairy Farmers girls soccer players of the year by class have been released and St. Johns Country Day School junior forward Paige Crews is one of the top six …

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Crews among finalists for state’s best player; Pickett for coach


Posted

GAINESVILLE (March 16) — The Florida Dairy Farmers girls soccer players of the year by class have been released and St. Johns Country Day School junior forward Paige Crews is one of the top six candidates for the prestigious Florida Dairy Farmers girls soccer player of the year.
“It is an honor to be chosen because there are a lot of great players across the state,” said Crews, who put out 12 goals and 12 assists for the Spartans while being instrumental in scoring with her wicked accurate corner kicks finding the net with front of the goal scrambles. “We definitely dominated at scoring off our set pieces and, with Maddy Moody’s long throw-ins, that kind of replaced the type of scoring of previous players like Abbey (Newton), Kamy (Loustau) and my sister Payton, who got 25-30 goals.”
Crews, who joins an elite list of past Spartans’ players; Abbey Newton and Carson Pickett, both double winners and both players at Florida State University, and Kamy Loustau, now at Princeton, and Chelsea Burns, who played for Duke.
“Our whole team and coach Pickett with those past players have established such a culture here that the new players coming in who don’t have the experience of state championships have bought in to the process and trust it,” said Crews, who is slated to join sister Payton at Texas Christian University. “My senior season, one of my key things to improve is my senior leadership. I understood my role from midfield to the goal box and tried to use my teammates to create the scoring.”
On the coaching side, St. Johns coach Mike Pickett, who has been the Dairy Farmer coach of the year 11 times, is top coach in Class 2A with the same potential to be selected as the state coach of the year. Pickett coached to a 24-1 season record with a ninth-consecutive state title; a 4-0 win over Shorecrest Prep in late February.
The six individual class finalists for the 2020 Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Soccer and Girls’ Soccer Coach of the Year have been announced following balloting by a statewide panel of high school girls’ soccer coaches and prep media representatives.
Every finalist was the leading vote-getter in their classification, making each one the Player of the Year or Coach of the Year in that class. The 2020 Miss Soccer and Girls’ Soccer Coach of the Year will be announced following a final round of balloting by coaches and media.
Also chosen as a Class 7A player of year candidate was Oakleaf High junior Hannah Johnson who finished third in the Class 7A player of year voting.


Miss Soccer Award:

Area players

Madelaine Rhodes, Senior, Forward, Vero Beach, Class 7A Player of the Year
Rhodes led her squad to a 18-2 record and a spot in the Final Four by scoring 50 goals and adding 13 assists. She has signed with the University of Florida.

Mia Atrio, Senior, Forward, Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, Class 6A Player of the Year Led her squad to a 18-2-1 record and the Class 6A state title by scoring 30 goals and posting 11 assists. She scored the winning goals in the state semifinal and championship games. University of Miami signee.

Jordyn Pitter, Senior, F/MF/D, Archbishop McCarty, Class 5A Player of the Year
Helped her squad to a 22-1-2 record and the Class 5A state title with outstanding play at every position except goalie. She scored 17 goals and had 11 assists. Signed with University of Central Florida.

Chloe Iuliano, Senior, Forward, Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), Class 4A

Player of the Year Led her team to a 16-4-2 record and the Class 4A state title by scoring 18 goals and adding 13 assists. She has committed to play college soccer at Mississippi State University.

Olivia Candelino, Senior, Forward, The Bolles School (Jacksonville), Class 3A Player of the Year
Led her team to a 23-6 record and its third straight state title by scoring 41 goals and adding 40 assists. She has signed to play college soccer at Auburn University.

Paige Crews, Junior, Midfield, St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park), Class 2A Player of the Year
Crews led her school to its ninth straight state title by scoring 12 goals and adding 12 assists. She has committed to play college soccer at Texas Christian University.

 Coach-of-the-Year Award:


Jen Rodriguez, Bartram Trail (St. Johns), Class 7A Coach of the Year
In her 19th year as head coach at Bartram Trail, Rodriguez posted a 21-1-3 record and won her first state championship to go along with three other Final Four appearances. She posted her 300th career win in the state semifinals.

Ramiro Vengoechea, Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, Class 6A Coach of the Year
Led his squad to an 18-2-1 record and the Class 6A state championship. In three years at Lourdes, Vengoechea has posted a 55-5-2 record with two state titles (2018 and 2020).

Mike Sica, Archbishop McCarthy, Class 5A Coach of the Year
In his 10th year at Archbishop McCarthy, Sica led his squad to a 22-1-2 record, a third straight Final Four appearance and his first state title. He has a career record of 202-39-21.

Tom Devenny, Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), Class 4A Coach of the Year
Devenny posted a 16-4-2 record in leading his squad to the Class 4A state title. In three years, Devenny has posted a 38-13-4 record.

Matt Tracy, The Bolles School (Jacksonville), Class 3A Coach of the Year
Tracy led his squad to a 23-6 record, its seventh straight Final Four appearance and its third straight state title. His career record of 307-77-28 at Bolles includes six state titles and 12 Final Four appearances.

Mike Pickett, St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park), Class 2A Coach of the Year
Pickett led the Spartans to a 24-1 record and their ninth straight state title. In 22 years at St. Johns, he has won 12 state titles and has an overall record of 465-57-30.

Final voting numbers by class (top three):


Class 7A

Madelaine Rhodes Vero Beach 89
Ella Dudley Bartram Trail (St. Johns) 51
Hannah Johnson Oakleaf (Orange Park) 38

Coach School
Jen Rodriguez Bartram Trail (St. Johns) 120
Kate Dwyer Cypress Bay 40
Daniel Dickens Vero Beach 34

Class 6A


Mia Atrio Lourdes Academy 69
Kimberly Slinkosky Cooper City 36
Kat Jordan Venice 31

Coach
Ramiro Vengoechea Lourdes Academy 84
Gary Bolyard Venice 78
Calvin Dixon Viera 34

Class 5A

Jordyn Pitter Archbishop McCarthy 47
Delmis Reyes Englewood (Jacksonville) 41
Guiliana Johnston Suncoast 34

Coach

Mike Sica Archbishop McCarthy 91
Dave Silverberg Ponte Vedra 58
Matt Diamond Estero 25

Class 4A

Chloe Iuliano Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) 52
Sydney Polivka Cardinal Gibbons 47
Reece Oliver LaBelle 44

Coach
Tom Devenny Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) 95
Margo Flack Cardinal Gibbons 65
Katie Cook Lemon Bay 41

Class 3A

Olivia Candelino The Bolles School (Jacksonville) 121
Jeanette Galvan Crescent City 34
Ella Simpson The First Academy 29

Coach
Matt Tracy The Bolles School (Jacksonville) 95
Jason Streets Lakeland Christian 56
Eric Vasquez Carrollton School 31

Class 2A

Paige Crews St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) 67
Haley Woodaz Carrollwood Day 58
Natalie Gorji Out-of-Door Academy 29

Coach
Mike Pickett St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) 115
Neal Wolfrath Shorecrest Prep 57
Christina Nair International Community 22