Tigers Win Florida All-Sports Award

The 2021-22 school year will go down as arguably the greatest in Jesuit High School athletics annals, with a school-record three State Championships, nine Region titles, and another statewide All-Sports Award title.

The FHSAA recently announced its All-Sports Award rankings , a.k.a the Floyd E. Lay Sunshine Cup, and Jesuit again topped the standings, claiming its third overall Florida All-Sports title in the past four years.

The Tigers, as they have for many years in the All-Sports rankings, also captured top honors in their classification (5A) and locally, easily outdistancing all Tampa Bay area schools, public and private, from Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties (see charts below).

Measured against every school in all classifications, Jesuit, with 156.75 points in the FHSAA scoring system, topped runners-up Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (the Class 6A winner with 123.75 points) and Jacksonville Bolles (118.70, 4A) by wide margins. In 2020-21, Bolles had edged out Jesuit by four points for the overall crown.

Under the leadership of athletic director Terry Rupp '84, over the past nine years Jesuit has finished No. 1 statewide four times and never below 6th place. Among Jesuit's 12 FHSAA sports programs over the past nine years, the Tigers have claimed District titles in 79 of 104 opportunities, a 76% clip.

Leading the way for Jesuit in 2021-22 were the three State Champions:

• Football: After years of frustration in the State Semifinal, Jesuit football, led by head coach Matt Thompson and All-State performers Wade Woodaz '22 (Clemson signee) and Junior Vandeross '22 (Toledo), went 15-0 and earned the school's first football crown in 53 years.
• Wrestling: Led by head coach Sal Basile, Jesuit wrestling captured the Class 2A State Tournament in spectacular fashion, winning a school-record five individual State titles - Roman Lermer '24, Braden Basile '22 (Army West Point), Tom Crook '22 (Virginia Tech), Jack Crook '22 (Harvard), and Sergio Desiante '22 (Tennessee-Chattanooga).
• Baseball: The Tigers captured the program's 6th State Championship and 2nd under head coach Miguel Menendez with a 6-0 title-game win over Eau Gallie, which culminated an explosive, record-setting run through the playoffs led by Class 5A Player of the Year Wes Mendes '23 and pitcher Jamie Arnold '22 (Florida State).

Golf (head coach David Simmons) and Swimming (Bill Shaffer) both were State runner-up, with golf equaling the best team result at State in school history led by 2nd- and 3rd-place individual results from Carter Dill '22 and Andrew Siffert '23. In the pool, Aiden Clements '23 earned an individual State title in the 100 backstroke and was part of two relays that also won State gold to lead Jesuit swimming, which won its 13th straight Region title in 2021-22.

Four other Jesuit teams captured Region crowns: soccer (Eric Sims '95), lacrosse (Charlie Cummins), and tennis (Joe Curtis) each reached the State Semifinal, and track & field (Andy Wood '92) also earned a Region title. For lacrosse, it was the first Region crown in 11 years as a Varsity program.

The three State Championships give Jesuit 28 all-time in eight different sports. Several times Jesuit has won two State titles in a school year, most recently in 2019-20 (when there was no spring sports playoffs due to COVID-19), but this marked the first year with three State titles 

See below the FHSAA All-Sports Award rankings in 2021-22 for boys sports programs: 1. in all classifications, 2. among Tampa Bay area private schools (Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco), 3. among all Tampa Bay area schools, and 4. among Class 5A schools. Click here to view the entire boys rankings on the FHSAA website.

 

 

 

 

 

FHSAA 2021-22 Boys All-Sports *Florida - Overall*
School	Points
1. Jesuit High School (5A)	156.75
2. Ft. Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (6A)	123.75
3. Jacksonville Bolles (4A)	118.70
4. Miami Belen Jesuit (5A)	116.25
5. Ponte Vedra (6A)	105
6. Miami Columbus (7A)	91.25
7. Berkeley Prep (3A)	73
8. Palm Beach Gardens Benjamin (3A)	68.50
9t. Punta Gorda Charlotte (5A)	66.75
9t. Boca Raton St. Andrews (3A)	66.75
FHSAA 2021-22 Boys All-Sports *Tampa Bay - Private*
1. Jesuit High School (5A)	156.75
2. Berkeley Prep (3A)	73
3. Indian Rocks Christian (2A)	32.75
4. Tampa Prep (3A)	28.75
5. Calvary Christian (3A)	24
6. Cambridge Christian (2A)	21.75
7. Clearwater Central Catholic (3A)	21
8. Tampa Bay HEAT (2A)	19
9. Tampa Catholic (3A)	17.75
10. Seffner Christian (3A)	17
FHSAA 2021-22 Boys All-Sports *Tampa Bay - All Schools*
1. Jesuit High School (5A)	156.75
2. Berkeley Prep (3A)	73
3. Plant (7A)	58
4. St. Petersburg (5A)	42.75
5. Indian Rocks Christian (2A)	32.75
6. Tampa Prep (3A)	28.75
7. River Ridge (5A)	24.88
8. Calvary Christian (3A)	24
9. Wharton (6A)	23.5
10. Cambridge Christian (2A)	21.75
FHSAA 2021-22 Boys All-Sports *Class 5A Schools*
1. Jesuit High School	156.75
2. Miami Belen Jesuit	116.25
3. Punta Gorda Charlotte	66.75
4. Jensen Beach	65.25
5t. Plantation American Heritage	43
5t. Panama City Arnold	43
7. St. Petersburg	42.75
8. Leesburg	40.13
9. Merritt Island	38.75
10. Naples	34.75