Dade Scholar Athlete Awards return to honor best and brightest among its public schools

Andre Fernandez
·3 min read

It has long been a tradition of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the Greater Miami Athletic Conference to honor the best and brightest of its student-athletes annually.

But the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 kept those entities from being able to do so face-to-face.

That changed on Tuesday when MDCPS and the GMAC’s Scholar Athlete awards were held for the first time in four years in person at a ceremony at the Doubletree by Hilton Miami Airport hotel.

The banquet was attended by several MDCPS School Board members and North Miami Beach alum Dr. Tommy Richardson, now the Principal at Carrie P. Meek Westview K-8 school, was the Keynote speaker.

MAST Academy’s Sara Zampa (left) smiles after she was presented with a $1,000 scholarship from Herff Jones Miami. Zampa is congratulated by Miami-Dade County School Board Chair Mari Tere Rojas and Herff Jones Sales Representative Max Nieto (right).
MAST Academy’s Sara Zampa (left) smiles after she was presented with a $1,000 scholarship from Herff Jones Miami. Zampa is congratulated by Miami-Dade County School Board Chair Mari Tere Rojas and Herff Jones Sales Representative Max Nieto (right).

A total of 76 scholar athletes - one boy and one girl - from each of the 38 GMAC member public schools were acknowledged for their academic and athletic achievements and 24 received scholarship awards from various institutions.

Here’s a look at those recognized:

▪ Coral Gables Audrey Simon and Coral Reef’s Ryan Sarafoglu were each awarded the General Chappie James Memorial Awards Platinum Scholarships by the Orange Bowl Committee totaling $2,000 each. Hialeah Gardens’ Samelis Sanz and Mourning’s Lorenzo Fedele were presented with the $1,500 Gold scholarships. Miami Northwestern’s Mackenzie Colson-McLeish and Miami Carol City’s Tylor Miller were awarded with the Silver scholarships worth $1,000 each. TERRA Environmental Institute’s Gianna Machado and Cutler Bay’s Sebastian Varela were awarded the $500 Bronze scholarships.

Miami Northwestern’s Mackenzie Colson-Mcleish smiles after being presented with a General Chappie James Memorial Scholarship by the Orange Bowl Committee at the Miami-Dade Public Schools/GMAC Scholar Athlete Awards held at the Doubletree by Hilton Miami Airport hotel.
Miami Northwestern’s Mackenzie Colson-Mcleish smiles after being presented with a General Chappie James Memorial Scholarship by the Orange Bowl Committee at the Miami-Dade Public Schools/GMAC Scholar Athlete Awards held at the Doubletree by Hilton Miami Airport hotel.

▪ The Miami Dolphins Foundation presented $1,000 scholarships to Miami Palmetto’s Tara Llorente, Booker T. Washington’s Mela Fleary and Varela’s Andrea Paz on the girls’ side and Reagan’s Rodrigo Herrero, Hialeah-Miami Lakes’ Curtis Everett and American’s Refreno Vangates on the boys’ side.

▪ BSN Sports presented $1,000 scholarships to Miami High’s Joelle Wilson, the Miami Herald’s 2022-23 Class 7A-5A Player of the Year, and Miami Central’s Brennan Sands.

Miami Killian softball player Tori Allen (left) is presented with a $1,000 scholarship award by Miami Marlins Youth Foundation Senior Director Sarah Martin (right).
Miami Killian softball player Tori Allen (left) is presented with a $1,000 scholarship award by Miami Marlins Youth Foundation Senior Director Sarah Martin (right).

▪ The Miami Marlins Foundation presented $1,000 scholarships to Miami Killian’s Tori Allen and Ferguson’s Nicholas Narvaez.

▪ First Tee Miami and DeLucca Enterprises presented $1,000 scholarships to Hialeah’s Shanora Charles and Hialeah Gardens’ Ryan Anthony Cimino.

▪ Kiwanis Club of Miami Citizenship Awards scholarships worth $1,000 each were awarded to Braddock’s Lia Valdes Cardenas and South Miami’s Johender Alejandro Suarez.

▪ Herff Jones Miami presented $1,000 scholarships to MAST Academy’s Sara Zampa and Miami Beach’s Caleb Berman.

Miami Beach’s Caleb Berman (second from left) is presented with a $1,000 scholarship by Herff Jones Miami.
Miami Beach’s Caleb Berman (second from left) is presented with a $1,000 scholarship by Herff Jones Miami.

SCHOLAR ATHLETES

American: Refeno Vangates, Chakiya Wooten; Booker T. Washington: Walter Mammarella, Mela Fleary; Braddock: Cesareo Eneoello Beruvides, Lia Valdes Cardenas; Carol City: Tylor Miller, De’Zyre Frederick; Central: Brennen Sands, Joy Williams; Coral Gables: Christian Sanchez, Audrey G. Simon; Coral Park: Ricardo Uzcategui, Paola Nazareth Oropeza; Coral Reef: Ryan Sarafoglu, Mina Pomares; Cutler Bay: Sebastian Varela, Olivia Dinehart; Edison: Kingyatta Marlon, Anne C. Charles; Ferguson: Nicholas Narvaez, Adriana Roldan; Goleman: William Sebastian Gil, Abigail Vinces; Hialeah: Jonas Junquera, Shanora Charles; Hialeah Gardens: Ryan Anthony Cimino, Samelis Sanz; Hialeah-Miami Lakes: Curtis Everett, Angie Zuleta; Homestead: Markwon Strong, Alejandra Ibarra Nunez; Jackson: Byron Holt, Emzy Zuniga; Killian: Koree Jacquet, Tori Allen; Krop: Douglas Katz, Eden Haik; MAST: Franscesco Cascone, Sara Zampa; Miami Beach: Caleb Berman, Christina Hope-Borges; Miami High: Armando Ruano, Joelle Wilson; Miami Springs: Jordan Perez, Emily Vasallo; Mourning: Lorenzo Fedele, Kenya St. Fleurant; Norland: Carl Parrish III, Melody Hyppolite; North Miami: Garcon Christ-Roud, Icart Galumette; North Miami Beach: Xavier Walker, Shaniya Dagrin; Northwestern: Daniel Jean-Charles Jr., Mackenzie Colson-Mcleish; Palmetto: Brian Shirley, Tara Llorente; Reagan: Rodrigo Herrero, Chelsea Gan; South Dade: D’Marion Ivey, Layla Reyna; South Miami: Johender Alejandro Suarez, Kelly Moselle Ai; Southridge: Yainiel Reina Montano, Sahnyah Ellis; Southwest: Lester Martinez, Sophia Jimenez; Sunset: Daniel Perruc, Isabella Mas; TERRA: Zechariah Blain, Gianna Machado; Varela: Kevin Pacheco, Andrea Paz; Westland Hialeah: Yohan Collado, Angry Torralbos.