It was another huge year for high school sports in 2024.

Once again, it was difficult narrowing my list down to a top 10 of the greatest moments (I had 12 last year), so I tried to include team state championships and team state runner up finishes versus individual state titles as the main part of my criteria.

Technically, I had 12 again, but I grouped a pair of schools to give me a top 10.

That said, I wanted to single out some great accomplishments that just missed my top 10.

Never before has a Florida school had back-to-back Florida Dairy Famers Mr. Football winners since the award was implemented in 1992, but Buchholz came very close.

Two years ago, Bobcats quarterback Creed Whittemore became the first Mr. Football winner from Alachua County to win the award.

Then, this past January, University of Florida signee Myles Graham, the Class 4S Player of the Year, finished second in the voting behind Cocoa’s Jayvan Boggs.

That streak came to an end earlier this week as Buchholz’s Justin Williams finished runner up for the Class 6A Player of the Year. However, the junior will have a great chance to take home Mr. Football in 2025.

In February, the Buchholz boys basketball team won its first playoff game since 2009.

Other big achievements included Countryside Christian softball’s first postseason appearance in seven years, St. Francis Catholic Academy baseball made the playoffs for the first time since 2015, Williston native Quinyon Mitchell getting drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft, Keystone Heights’ Trey Jeffries won a pair of individual weightlifting state titles, and Trenton baseball’s first final four since 2018.

It was an incredible spring as indicated in my spring wrap.

Newberry football deserves an honorable mention because when the Panthers defeated Bradford (Starke) to win the Class 2A-District 5 title, it marked the Panthers’ first district title since winning the 2B-District 4 title in 2007, when the Panthers were state runners-up.

The Eastside boys swimming team got a nod for their fourth-place finish at the FHSAA Class 2A state championships.

Buchholz football also just missed my top 10. The Bobcats advanced to their fourth straight state semifinal but lost to Osceola (Kissimmee) in the 6A state semifinals, falling one game shy of a state championship game appearance.

Plus, countless athletes signed throughout the year to compete collegiately.

My top 10 is listed chronologically and begins with the P.K. Yonge girls soccer team.

Although they didn’t finish first or second, the third time was the charm for the Lady Blue Wave, who defeated Episcopal (Jacksonville), 2-1, in the FHSAA Class 3A-Region 1 Final to advance to their first final four in program history.

P.K. Yonge (16-4-3) lost 3-0 to nationally ranked Montverde Academy in the 3A state semifinals, but head coach Rebecca Schackow’s team finally broke through and will seek a return trip in 2025.

In March, we had a pair of basketball teams repeat.

The Hawthorne girls won their second straight Class 1A state title.

Junior De’Mya Adams scored 15 of her game-high 17 points in the second half as the Lady Hornets (22-3) rallied past Graceville, 43-40, to repeat.

It was their third state title in program history, including a 1A state championship in 2020.

The Williston boys also went back-to-back.

The Red Devils went on an 8-0 run midway through the fourth quarter and held on from there for a 61-53 win over Hilliard in the 1A state championship game at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

The Hawthorne girls and the Williston boys joined a special group. The Lady Hornets became the first area team to win consecutive state titles since Keystone Heights almost 30 years ago, while the Red Devils became the first area boys hoops team to win back-to-back since Gainesville High did it almost 25 years ago (1999 and 2000).

My biggest moments of the spring were Buchholz boys track and their top five finish at the FHSAA Class 4A state championships, Buchholz baseball and GHS softball making it to the final game in their respective classification and ending the 2023-24 school year with a state title by the Trenton softball team.

If not for an injury to Riley Smith in April, the Bobcats would have likely finished third in the state at the FHSAA Class 4A Track & Field state championships in May.

However, senior Evan Fleming scored 20 points on his own by winning the 800-meter run (1:54 minute, 50 seconds) and 1600-meter races (4:14.96). His win in the 1600 was the first for a Buchholz boys’ athlete since 1983 and the 800 win was the first for a Buchholz boy since 1977.

Fleming’s two state titles earned him the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 4A Track Athlete of the Year.

Eastside just missed my top 10 with a sixth-place finish, which was highlighted by FAMU signee Kennith Martin’s state title in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.57 and a state runner-up finish in the 200 (20.99).

After a heartbreaking loss in last year’s regional final, the Buchholz baseball team finally broke through and advanced to their first state semifinal in program history with a 1-0 win against Hagerty (Oviedo) in the 6A-Region 1 Final.

The Bobcats crushed Bloomingdale (Valrico), 12-0, in the 6A semifinals and finished as state runners-up with a 10-3 loss to Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens) in the 6A state title game.

“Seeing them (Dwyer) pile on the field really gives us the hunger to come back and not have this feeling again,” Buchholz coach Ron Brooks said in the press conference at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers. “We think we have established our program as one of the best in the state and we want to continue to have that tradition about us.”

GHS softball advanced to its first state semifinal since winning the 7A state title eight years ago.

The Lady Hurricanes knocked off Archbishop McCarthy (Southwest Ranches), 5-2, in the 5A state semifinals in Clermont and had their own heartbreaker in a 3-2 loss in eight innings to defending state champion Parrish Community in the championship game.

GHS, which only won six games last season, finished 24-5 and state runners-up.

One of the last softball state championship games of the year was certainly one of the best.

Following a 3-2 walk-off win against Holmes County (Bonifay) in the Class 1A state semifinals, the Trenton Lady Tigers (23-2) had a miracle comeback against Branford (24-7), which lost its second straight state championship game.

The Lady Tigers, who were down to their final out and trailing 4-0, rallied for four runs to tie it and then won it, 6-5, in extra innings to win their third state softball title since 2019.

I grouped the Branford softball team with the Branford volleyball team.

Both had state runner-up finishes, as the Lady Bucs volleyball team (27-4) defeated defending state champion Baker in the FHSAA Volleyball Class 1A state semifinals but lost to Liberty County (Bristol) in the state title game, finishing second in back-to-back seasons.

I also grouped the Buchholz boys and girls cross country teams together, which was highlighted by the boys first state title in 30 years.

The Buchholz boys won the Class 4A state title, their first since 1994, and after three consecutive state titles, the Lady Bobcats finished second in the state.

The Bobcat teams flipped places from last year when the girls team finished first and the boys earned second.

In December, the two-time defending state champion Hawthorne football team’s title run came to an end with a one-score loss to Madison County in the FHSAA Rural state championship game.

It was the fifth straight year that the Hornets (10-2) played in the state championship game, finishing as state runners-up for the third time in the last five years.

“I felt like we overachieved,” said Hawthorne football coach Cornelius Ingram. “We dealt with some injuries early on in the year, even going into the game we had some key injuries right away that kind of threw off some personnel stuff that we wanted to do, but I felt like we were in the game the whole entire time and that’s what it’s about.”

Phew, what a year!