Marion County high school sports highlights and schedule Oct. 10-16
The final week of regular season volleyball delivers three big-time matchups just before district play. While rivalries hold our attention on the court, MCIAC bowling and golf tournaments will pit the best of their sports against each other.
With the postseason breathing down our backs in several sports, the competition is higher than ever. Stick with us Oct 10th-16th as we update you on the times, scores, and storylines from Marion County sports.
Email your results and highlights, and schedule changes to apettigrew@gannett.com.
Volleyball
Monday, Oct. 10
North Marion defeats Eastside (24-26, 25-7, 25-13. 25-23)
The Colts break their four-game losing streak with a competitive win over Eastside. The Rams made it a game in the first and fourth sets but North Marion was pretty much in control of this game throughout.
Aucilla Christian defeats Redeemer Christian (25-22, 25-8, 25-20)
The Lions lose their seventh game of the season. The sweep marks the fourth loss in their last five game. It's Redeemer Christian's toughest stretch of the season.
Tuesday, Oct. 11
Vanguard defeats North Marion (25-11, 25-10, 25-9)
The Knight defeated North Marion behind senior Ruby Owen team high 11 kills. Sophomore Lillian Hart trailed close behind with 8 kills. Sophomore Sarah Beville added 7 kills and 5 aces. Junior Ronya Hammed had a block party with three stops at the rim. Senior setter and Amherst commit Sophie Reed joined the party with a block of her own, 29 assists, and 5 aces.
West Port defeats Dunnellon (25-10, 27-25, 25-11)
The Wolfpack staved off a strong second set to sweep the Tigers. West Port played a well rounded game with 7 players recording multiple kills. Senior Elayne Arenas Gutierrez recording 5 kills and three blocks. Senior Presley Sutter added 9 aces and 17 assists in the win.
Orlando Faith Christian defeats Redeemer (25-22, 26-24, 25-13)
The Lions take their second loss in the row after Faith Christian's sweep.
Trinity Catholic defeats Tallahassee Leon (25-9, 25-11, 25-15)
The Celtics sweep Leon to add to their 10 game win streak. The streak includes win against four top 15 ranked teams in the state.
The Rock defeats St. John (25-23, 17-25, 18-25, 28-26, 15-9)
The Saints fall in a tough five set matchup against The Rock. Player of the week candidate Rylee Palmateer scored a game high 23 kills.
Wednesday, Oct. 12
St. John defeats The Villages (25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 17-25, 15-11)
The Saints snap out of their two-game losing streak with a Senior Night win against The Villages.
More: High school volleyball: St. John Lutheran takes down The Villages in five-set thriller
Belleview defeats West Port (14-25, 9-25, 25-20, 25-17, 19-17)
The Rattlers take it to the wire to beat the Wolfpack. It was a constant back and forth with Belleview gaining momentum in the second and third sets to have West Port take it back in the second. A deep run into the fifth set fell in now 12-11 Belleview's favor.
Thursday, Oct. 13
Vanguard defeats Forest (25-18, 25-22, 25-11)
The Knights earn a thrilling senior night win over rival Forest.
More: High School Volleyball: Vanguard sweeps Ocala cross-town rival Forest on Senior Night
The Villages defeats Belleview (25-8, 25-15, 25-22)
The Buffalo sweep the Rattlers to end the regular season. Belleview finishes its season 12-12 and will face Rickards (16-2) in the first round of districts.
Trinity Catholic defeats Santa Fe (16-25, 23-25, 25-17, 25-21)
Trinity Catholic gives reigning 4A state champion Santa Fe its second loss of the season. The Raiders took the first set and the Celtics followed up with three decisive sets to end the match.
West Port defeats Lake Weir (25-11, 25-9, 25-17)
The Wolfpack beat Lake Weir in three sets on Senior Night. West Port will face Seminole (9-13) on the road in its first-round district matchup.
Friday, Oct. 14
Cedar Key at Redeemer, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 15
Vanguard at Venice, 8 A.M.
Vanguard vs Astronaut at Venice 10 A.M.
Boys Golf
Monday, Oct. 10
More: High School golf - Forest girls, boys teams capture MCIAC golf tournament
Forest wins the MCIAC boys title for the 11th straight year with a score of 309. Vanguard came in second with a score of 342. With 403 strokes under their belt, Dunnellon took third place. North Marion captured fourth place with a score of 430. Belleview did not have a team score.
Girls Golf
Monday, Oct. 10
More: High School golf - Forest girls, boys teams capture MCIAC golf tournament
Forest finished in first place for the fourth time in a row with a team score of 343. Vanguard(431) finished second, Belleview(447) third, Dunnellon(467) fourth, and West Port(485) fifth.
Tuesday, Oct. 11
Trinity Catholic defeats Oak Hall 214-247
The Celtics defeats Gainesville Oak Hall by 33 strokes. Olivia Petrella of Trinity Catholic scored a match-best 45.
Vanguard vs. The Villages, 4 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 13
Bowling
Monday, Oct 10
MCIAC Tournament at Galaxy Lanes West
West Port takes the first seed of the MCIAC tournament with a team score of 1999 led by CC Kinchen's series-high 512. Forest lands in second with a team score of 1679 led by Madison Roger's series-high 451. Riley Young's team-high 354 led Vanguard to the third seed and overall score of 1397. Belleview's 1135 earned them the final seed with Jordan Jones tallying a team-high 339. Lake Weir's 547 and Dunnellon's 538 keeps them out of Thursday's MCIAC finals
Thursday, Oct. 13
MCIAC Tournament at Galaxy Lanes West
West Port hoists the MCIAC bowling championship. They swept Belleview in the semifinals winning 415 to 182. The wolfpack would sweep Forest in the finals with scores of 398-295, 489-329, and 443-380. Forest came in second after defeating Vanguard in 5 games with a total score of 599-550. Vanguard finished third after taking down Belleview in four games for a total score of 397-381.
Boys Swimming
Thursday, Oct. 13
Belleview defeats Dunnellon 81-28
The Rattlers take a dominant win over a much smaller Dunnellon swim team. Belleview had 40 swimmers compared to the Tigers' 7.
Belleview 1st Place Finishers: 200 Medley relay: Caedmon Attenhofer, Jeremiah Taddeo, Garrett Payne, Derek Balliet 2:06.31, 50 yard freestyle: Garrett Payne 23.91, 100 yard freestyle: Derek Balliet 1:01.06, 500 yard freestyle: Garrett Payne 6:14.42, 200 yard freestyle relay: Derek Balliet, Caedmon Attenhofer, Jeremiah Taddeo, Garrett Payne 1:55.75, 100 yard backstroke: Colin Falkner 1:41.07, 100 yard breaststroke: Jeremiah Taddeo 1:33.87, 400 yard freestyle relay: Matthew Bishop, Bennett Gallaher, Kristopher Clark, Caleb Bowling 4:43.78
Dunnellon 1st Place Finishers: 200 yard freestyle: Westley Ellis 2:37.88
Lake Weir vs. Vanguard, 6:30 p.m. (Cancelled)
Girls Swimming
Thursday, Oct. 13
Belleview defeats Dunnellon 113-10
Belleview's personnel advantage extends to the girls team as well but it's not to slight their talent. The Rattlers swept all 11 events in the pool.
Belleview 1st Place Finishers: 200 Medley Relay: Leilani Jones, Addison Kurzhals, Macy Fraunfelter, Kyla Clark 2:33.72, 200 yard freestyle: Kyla Clark 2:59.19, 200 IM: Sarah Cook 4:20.51, 50 yard freestyle: Macy Fraunfelter 28.25, 100 yard butterfly: Kyla Clark 1:34.81, 100 yard freestyle: Macy Fraunfelter 1:03.56, 500 yard freestyle: Addison Kurzhals 7:18.22, 200 yard freestyle relay: Leilani Jones, Addison Kurzhals, Kyla Clark, Macy Fraunfelter 2:20.70, 100 yard backstroke: Leilani Jones 1:33.69, 100 yard breaststroke: Addison Kurzhals 1:29.30l, 400 yard freestyle relay: Zoya Baty, Genesis Muniz-Rosado, Kamryn Clark, Annabelle Lopiano 5:49.81
Lake Weir vs. Vanguard, 6:30 p.m. (Cancelled)
Girls Cross Country
Monday, Oct. 10
Saints Run 2022
Saint John Lutheran takes home the gold with four runners finishing in the top 5. Sophomore Payton Nazzari paced all runners with a time of 23:20.11. Her freshmen teammates, Reeze Beaser, Lauren Murphy, and Emma Reese, finished in second, third, and fourth place, respectively. Annie Cutler of Meadowbrook Academy finished fifth in a time of 26:47.31.
The Saints won the overall event with Redeemer Christian finishing second.
Tuesday, Oct. 11
MCIAC Cross Country Meet
Vanguard continues their 24 year old tradition of winning the MCIAC cross country title. Six Knights finished in the top 10 with juniors Clayton Knight and Miguel Cruz finishing first and second crossing the finish line in 17:15 and 18:16 respectively. Senior Matt Lammens crossed the line in fourth place with a 18:38 time.
Forest came in second with as three wildcats finished in the top 10. Senior Ryan Elfring paced his group with a time of 18:37 and a third place finish. Freshman Zach Zimmer crossed the line in fifth place with a time of 19:02. Sophomore teammate Luke Gutierrez finished 18 seconds later with a time of 19:20 and a sixth place finish.
West Port took third place with three top 20 finishers including a team leading ninth place race from freshman Luke Lombardo. He finished with a time of 19:31. Junior Bryce Blalock ran a 20:10 that netted him 12th place. With a 17th placed finish senior Certain Williams crossed the finish line in 21:10.
Dunnellon took a fourth placed finish with three runners finishing in the top three. Sophomore Colin Kearse finished in 13th place with a time of 20:41. In 21:11 sophomore Ethan Slagle placed 18th. Finishing 20th is senior Garrett Hinckley with a time of 21:18.
Belleview finished in fifth place with three runners landing in the top 34. Junior Michael Smothers ran a 21:52 to take 23rd place. Junior Aubrey Otieno ran a 22:30 that landed him in 28th place. Coming in at 34 was sophomore Johnathan Ancrum who ran 23:22.
North Marion and Lake Weir didn't earn team score but did have a pair of top 50 runners between them. The Colts top runner junior Allanhirschrick Rojas finished in 22:38 that placed him in 29th place. The Hurricanes' freshman Sahir Encarnacion Pacheco ran a 31:01 for 56th place.
Boys Cross Country
Monday, Oct. 10
Saints Run 2022
Redeemer Christian won the overall meet with three of its runners finishing in the top 5. Freshman Benjamin DiBlasi paced the Lions with a time of 21:05:76. St. John Lutheran freshman Aiden Mann finished in first place with a 20:03.64. The Saints finished second in the event. Meadowbrook Academy didn't qualify for a team score. A pair of freshmen, Gracen Guerra and Hector Guerra, placed 14th and 15th, respectively.
Tuesday, Oct. 11
MCIAC Cross Country Meet
The MCIAC title stays with Vanguard for the 20th year in a row. Six Vanguard runners placed in the top 10. Senior Rhema Taylor took first place in a time of 20:58. Freshman Ruby Scott joined her teammate of the podium with a third place finish in 21:41. Junior Audrey Taylor finished fifth with her crossing the finished line in 23:13.
West Port took second place as a team with 6 runners placing in the top 25 and two in the top 10. Senior Mia White ran a 21:25 earning her second place. In eighth place stood sophomore Natalie Nelson who ran a 23:23. Freshman Ximena Diaz finished in 17th place with a time of 25:36.
Forest claimed third place with nine runners finishing in the top 35. Lillian Ledy ran a 25:01 that earned her 14th place. Coming in two spots later is teammate junior Taylor Smith who ran a 25:26. Sophomore Ryan Steffey was the the 19th runner to cross the finish line in a time of 25:42.
Belleview earned fourth placed with a pair of top 10 runners. Junior Kiley Sumerlin placed fourth with a time of 22:10. Junior Christina Seecharan ran a 23:55 to take ninth place. Junior Caely Mullinix ran a 37:12 to take 41st place.
Dunnellon's four top 35 runners earned the Tigers fifth place. Freshman Taylor Alvard ran a team best 24:40 that landed her in 11th place. Junior Rachel Hill took 15th place with a time of 25:17. Sophomore Emma Hatcher ran a 26:21 for 23rd place.
North Marion and Lake Weir had three runners between the two. Though the Colts didn't qualify for a team placement freshman Chloe Fields ran a 24:53 to place 13th. The Hurricane's top runner senior Arely Rodriguez Landaverde placed 40th with a time of 36:12.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Marion County High School sports postseason starts next week
