First Coast Varsity Weekly: 2021-2022 milestones and memories in Jacksonville high school sports

The season’s concluding First Coast Varsity Weekly wraps up with a look back at the moments good and bad, the achievements and the oddities from the high school sports season in Northeast Florida.

Here’s a look back at the highs, the lows, the milestones and the unusual moments that defined 2021-22 around Jacksonville high school athletics.

July 1: Fort White football coach Demetric Jackson moves after 15 seasons to Columbia, taking over for former Florida State and NFL linebacker Brian Allen.

July 25: Former Bradford head coach David Hurse, Northeast Florida's first-ever FHSAA football champion, dies at age 90.

July 26: Fletcher names all-time Duval County rushing leader Ciatrick Fason as head football coach, taking the place of Bobby Raulerson.

July 26: Trinity Christian cornerback Cam Miller, a 4-star recruit and member of the Times-Union Super 11, commits to Penn State. Miller had recently transferred from Fernandina Beach.

July 29: Jackson assistant coach Lin-J Shell, former head coach of Ribault and a Hall of Fame athlete at Jacksonville University, dies at age 39.

Aug. 23: The Times-Union releases its annual Super 11 list, headlined by cornerback Jaheim Singletary of Riverside.

Sept. 13: St. Johns Country Day guard Taliah Scott, a top-10 national recruit in the 2023 class, commits to Arkansas women's basketball. During the same weekend, Orange Park's Josiah Sabino commits to Jacksonville University men's basketball and Ponte Vedra middle blocker Zeta Washington commits to Cincinnati volleyball.

Sept. 17: Trinity Christian football coach Verlon Dorminey becomes Florida's seventh 300-game winner, defeating Clearwater Academy International 53-50 in an overtime classic.

Oct. 1: Kade Frew rushes for three touchdowns and Bolles shuts out Trinity Christian 35-0 in a battle of unbeaten private-school rivals.

Oct. 2: Nease senior Rheinhardt Harrison runs 14:45 at the New World Fall Spectacular at Cecil Field, breaking the Florida boys cross country record for a 5-kilometer course.

Oct. 7: Fletcher fights from behind to top Mandarin in five sets for the Gateway Conference volleyball championship, the Senators' seventh consecutive title.

Oct. 13: Gavin Nelson and Annie Loehle lead Mandarin to a Gateway Conference double in the cross country championships at Cecil Field.

Oct. 23: A dominant Raines shuts out rival Ribault 30-0 to win the 52nd Northwest Classic in football.

Nov. 5: Bishop Kenny's boys team improved from sixth in 2020 to first in 2021, winning the Class 2A title for the school's first swimming championship since 2004.

Nov. 6: The FHSAA rules that White must forfeit its Oct. 28 victory over Parker, shaking up the Class 5A football playoff picture.

Nov. 6: Bolles repeats its Class 1A boys and girls swimming championships, the 34th consective for the boys team and 31st for the girls.

Nov. 9: St. Johns County officials select Beachside as the name for the area's newest high school, to open in 2022-23. The school's sports teams are later designated as the Barracudas.

Nov. 12: On an exceptional Saturday in Tallahassee, three Northeast Florida teams (Bolles boys, Bolles girls and Ponte Vedra girls) win overall cross country titles, while Nease's Rheinhardt Harrison, St. Johns Country Day's Matthew Stratton and Bolles' Jillian Candelino earn individual victories.

Nov. 14: Ponte Vedra won its first-ever team girls swimming championship, finishing ahead of Tallahassee Chiles and St. Petersburg to win Class 3A.

Nov. 17: Ponte Vedra wins its seventh FHSAA team championship in boys golf, surpassing Nease and Tampa Plant for the most in state history.

Nov. 17: Mater Academy defeats Ponte Vedra in the Class 6A volleyball final, denying the Sharks' bid to extend their state title streak.

Nov. 18: St. Johns Country Day junior guard Taliah Scott scores a career-high 55 points in a victory over Atlantic Coast.

Nov. 18: Mandarin announces a "change of leadership" and the departure of 2018 state champion and Florida Dairy Farmers coach of the year Bobby Ramsay as head football coach. Ramsay joins newly-launched 11-man program Impact Christian five months later.

Nov. 21: Riverside 5-star cornerback Jaheim Singletary commits to play college football at Georgia.

Nov. 26: Baker County defensive end Orlando Holland records seven sacks in the Region 1-5A football final against Wakulla as the Wildcats advance to the final four.

Dec. 2: Nease senior Rheinhardt Harrison wins the Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Cross Country award, after capturing his third consecutive FHSAA state title.

Dec. 3: Flagler Palm Coast upsets St. Johns Country Day 2-1 in girls soccer, ending the Spartans' winning streak at 44 games.

Dec. 9: Trinity Christian defeats Hialeah Champagnat Catholic 41-23 in the Class 2A football final, winning the ninth state championship in Conquerors history.

Dec. 12: Bolles Super 11 defensive lineman Hayden Schwartz announces his commitment to Minnesota.

Dec. 15: Parker's Damani Dent, White's Christian Ellis and Riverside's Jaheim Singletary are among Jacksonville-area players signing in the early signing period for football.

Dec. 31: Former Florida State running back and longtime Parker football coach Fred Pickard dies at 83 in Tennessee after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

Jan. 11: Three-time FHSAA champion Robin Mignerey steps down as Ponte Vedra volleyball coach.

Jan. 14: Leaning on defensive strength, Jackson stifles Sandalwood on the way to a 48-27 win in the Gateway Conference girls basketball championship.

Jan. 14: Antonio Mancinotti scores the goal to lift Mandarin past Stanton 1-0 in the Gateway Conference boys soccer championship.

Jan. 14: Fletcher defeats Mandarin 2-1 in the Gateway Conference girls soccer final on Sarah Christiansen's overtime goal.

Jan. 14: Nease senior Sydney Gomes surpasses Megan Piggott's career scoring record for a girls basketball player to represent a St. Johns County school. Gomes, who scored her first 1,310 points while playing in New York, eventually finishes with 2,449 points.

Jan. 26: Ribault hires Aaron (Ram) Pinckney as its new football coach, in place of Marlon White.

Jan. 28: Beginning with an opening 12-0 run, Jackson races past Paxon 53-28 to win the Gateway Conference boys basketball championship.

Jan. 29: Bishop Kenny's Maddie Millar becomes only the second player in Florida history to surpass 400 career 3-pointers in girls basketball.

Jan. 31: Fleming Island is forced to forfeit nine boys basketball games, including the Fortegra High School 9:12 Invitational, for using an ineligible player.

Jan. 31: Former Raines coach, athletic director and principal Jimmie Johnson dies at age 88.

Feb. 1: Bolles edge rusher Jack Pyburn commits to play college football at Florida, just before National Signing Day.

Feb. 2: Bartram Trail, Bishop Snyder, Ponte Vedra and West Nassau win FHSAA cheerleading championships in Gainesville.

Feb. 2: Dozens of athletes across Northeast Florida sign national letters of intent during National Signing Day.

Feb. 10: Former Lee High School safety LeRoy Butler is elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame after a championship career with the Green Bay Packers. He follows Bob Hayes, Brian Dawkins and Harold Carmichael as Hall of Famers from Jacksonville.

Feb. 10: Providence girls basketball coach Gigi Bistrow wins her 500th game with the Stallions in the Class 3A playoffs.

Feb. 10-12: Bradford, Clay and Suwannee win state girls weightlifting championships at the three-day FHSAA finals in Port St. Joe.

Feb. 11: Creekside uses a flurry of two goals in 19 seconds just before halftime to upset national No. 1 Bartram Trail in the Region 1-7A girls soccer playoffs, ending the Bears' 32-game winning streak.

Feb. 14: Bolles holds a jersey retirement ceremony for Baltimore Orioles outfielder D.J. Stewart.

Feb. 15: St. Johns Country Day girls soccer coach Mike Pickett wins his 500th game with the Spartans.

Feb. 23: Julia Boaventura nets both goals for St. Johns Country Day, defeating Shorecrest Prep 2-0 in the Class 1A final and wrapping up the Spartans' 11th consecutive state title.

Feb. 25: Riverside football coach O.J. Small steps down after 11 seasons, 79 victories and seven consecutive playoff appearances.

Feb. 25: Fletcher upsets top seed Miami Lourdes 1-0 on Angelina Madera's game-winning goal in the Class 6A girls soccer final, becoming the first Duval County public school to win a state soccer championship.

Feb. 25: Avery Robinson scores twice to lead Creekside past Cypress Bay 3-1 in the FHSAA Class 7A girls soccer final, the first title in the program's history.

Feb. 25: Administrators remove John Pate as Hilliard head football coach after consecutive playoff appearances. Waylon Cox is later named as the new coach.

Feb. 26: Longtime Bob Hayes Invitational Track Meet director and former Raines track coach and athletic director James Day dies at 89, after leading the annual meet for more than a half-century.

Feb. 28: The Florida High School Athletic Association votes to split football into Metro (consisting of Duval, Seminole, Orange, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties) and Suburban divisions beginning with the 2022-23 school year.

March 1: Fletcher defeats Mandarin 4-1 at Jacksonville Beach in the first official beach volleyball match in FHSAA competition.

March 2: North Florida Educational Institute guard Issac Tevarus scores 44 points in a 76-72 loss to Weston Sagemont in the Class 2A boys basketball state semifinals.

March 3: After trailing 21-4 in the second inning, Raines rallies to defeat White 28-26 in baseball.

March 4: Bradford defeats Paxton in the Class 1A boys basketball final for a historic title for the Tornadoes.

March 5: Clay's Garrett Tyre wins a state boys wrestling title at 220 pounds, while Clay's Madisyn Blackburn, Ponte Vedra's Olivia Richie and Orange Park's Andrea Smith all capture the inaugural girls titles at the FHSAA finals.

March 16: After a public outcry over plans for cancellation, Palatka administrators agree to continue their annual football series with St. Augustine in the 2022 regular season.

March 16: Wolfson names Step Durham, 25, as the youngest head coach in Gateway Conference football, taking the place of Dennis Bettinger.

March 19: Cyrus Ways of Nease runs the nation's second-fastest high school 110-meter hurdles time of the year at the annual Bob Hayes Invitational Track Meet, held in honor of longtime meet director James Day.

March 24: The FHSAA releases its final district football assignments for 2022 under the new Metro/Suburban system.

March 25: Creekside defender Brenna Robinson wins the Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Soccer award, and Creekside's Joe Soto is named girls soccer coach of the year.

April 6: Ponte Vedra boys basketball coach Kevin Whirity steps down, one month after leading the Sharks to the state final.

April 8: The Raines boys and Mandarin girls teams repeat their victories in the Gateway Conference track meet.

April 10: St. Johns Country Day places second in the USA Baseball National High School Invitational in North Carolina, losing to Stoneman Douglas in the final.

April 21: Stanton continues its perfect season by defeating Mandarin for the Gateway Conference flag football title. On the same day, the FHSAA boys weightlifting championships begin, ultimately resulting in victories for Keystone Heights and Suwannee.

April 22: Fletcher tops Sandalwood to win the Gateway Conference baseball championship, and Baldwin softball comes from behind to defeat Mandarin for a Gateway softball repeat.

April 25: Clay softball coach Matt Lewis earns his 500th victory with the Blue Devils.

April 25: The FHSAA board of directors votes to begin implementing a shot clock for boys and girls basketball on an "optional but recommended" basis, but stops short of requiring shot clock usage by 2024-25.

April 26: Ponte Vedra wins the Class 3A boys tennis championship, the Sharks' first-ever title in the sport.

April 27: Chase Healey of Christ's Church Academy goes back-to-back to win the Class 1A individual singles title in boys tennis, Jacksonville's first repeat champion since Duval High School's George Yenawine in 1923.

May 7: Bartram Trail defeats Vero Beach 8-7 on Izzy Difato's goal with 1:22 remaining, winning the Class 2A girls lacrosse championship.

May 11: West Florida holds off Bishop Kenny 4-3 in a 17-inning Region 1-4A softball battle, including a 37-strikeout performance from West Florida pitcher Sydney Scapin and 16-plus scoreless innings from BK's Kaitlyn Gilmore.

May 12: Bolles repeated its Class 2A team championship in girls track and field, led by individual titles for Jillian Candelino, Zee Curtis and Emily Rohan.

May 23: Hours after his graduation, Raines lineman Rashaud Fields is fatally shot on Jacksonville's Northside. Fields had committed to play college football at Keiser.

May 27: Middleburg defeats Groveland South Lake, 1-0, to win the school's first-ever state softball championship.

June 3: Nease senior Rheinhardt Harrison becomes the first Florida high schooler ever and the 16th in U.S. history to break the four-minute mile.

Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: 2021-2022 Northeast Florida high school sports year in review