Athletic Department
Eric Simmonds

Our spring 2011 athletic season is coming to a close and we are wrapping up perhaps the most successful year ever for Sagemont Athletics!

Our girls’ varsity softball team, led by head coach Alberto Gonzalez and assistant coach Gina Florio, had a year in which they all learned a great deal about each other and the game of softball. With many girls graduating last year, we had a new wave of young ladies learning to pitch and take the reigns as leaders for the program. The girls played hard and saw themselves group as a unit throughout the season!

The boys’ varsity baseball team under the direction of head coach, Tommy Martinez and assistant coaches Jose Guzman and Matt Gilson have had a terrific year so far. The boys have made incredible improvements in batting and fielding this season and boast a 9-9 record going into the playoffs, including a 5 game winning streak heading into the post season. They enter the district tournament seeded #3 and will play Coral Springs Christian Academy in the district semi-finals.

The boys’ and girls’ varsity track and field team, led by head coach Deanna Burch, had a tremendous season this year in the third year of the program. Seniors Michael Milam and Brett Bales and juniors Katie Carelli and Alexander Herrmann led the way for this team.

The boys’ varsity volleyball team, led by head coach Ore Pablos, has played in some very close matches against top talent this season. Led by seniors Dylan Flynn and Nicholas Cardamone, these boys look as if they can beat anyone on any given day.

The girls’ varsity tennis team, led by head coach Steven Browne, had a great year playing some of the top talent in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach County! The girls were small in size this year with only 4 players, Kaitlyn Fossler, Chloe Pereira, Genesis Palmero and Zaire Simmons, but battled hard taking 3rd in the district tournament with only 4 girls competing!

The boys’ varsity tennis team, also led by head coach Steven Browne, had a magical season. The boys took home their 8TH consecutive district championship. The boys then advanced through the regional tournament defeating American Heritage Delray in the semifinals, and St. Andrews in the regional final to advance to the FHSAA state tournament as a team for first time since 2006 when they were state runner-up. The boys took full advantage of the trip this time winning 20 of a total possible 21 team points and cruising to the programs first state championship ever! Capturing individual state titles in singles were Zack McCourt, Jake Albo, Camilo Escobar, Justin Higgs and doubles teams McCourt/Albo and Preobrazhenskiy/Escobar. In addition to these accomplishments, Zack McCourt won the overall state singles championship and Zack McCourt and Jake Albo won the overall state doubles championship! Congratulations on an amazing season!

 

Our middle school programs are doing great and getting ready to play at the varsity level!

The co-ed middle school tennis team, led by head coach Steven Browne had some very close matches this season, many of them ending 3-2, but the players learned a lot about the game and will look to build on that next year!

The boys’ middle school baseball team, led by coaches Pat Iacono and Enzo Clemente have had a great season going 3-2 so far at press time. The boys are looking for a return trip to the IAL league championship game this year in May!

The Lower School Campus is already gearing up for the 2011-2012 5th grade sports season. Next school year will be very exciting for the Lower School Campus sports program as this will be the first year the 5th graders are a part of an organized league. In the past, the 5th grade sports program has been comprised of various exhibition games, facing other schools throughout the Broward County area. Next year, Sagemont along with 6 other schools have come together to form The Independent Sports League. The league will kick off the year with an 8 game soccer season, including a playoff tournament and a championship. The league will continue throughout the winter with boys’ and girls’ basketball. I hope all of those future 5th graders are ready because next school is shaping up to be very exciting!

Altogether we have had an incredible year of firsts for Sagemont Athletics. We had 3 teams, girls’ varsity basketball, boys’ varsity basketball and boys’ varsity tennis qualify for the FHSAA state tournament. Girls’ varsity basketball brought home a state runner up trophy and the boys’ varsity basketball and boys’ varsity tennis teams brought home Sagemont’s first two team state championships!
Thanks to everyone who has supported our teams throughout this 2010-2011 school year, have an active summer and as always: Go Lions!

 

Eric Simmonds	Pat Iacono
Athletic Director	Assistant Athletic Director