Dr. Phillips’ Valdes wins Orlando golf qualifier
VARSITY REPORT
Dr. Phillips High boys golf standout Brendan Valdes shot rounds of 70 and 68 for a 6-under-par total of 138 at Mission Inn to win Tuesday in the Orlando qualifier for this fall’s Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship.
Valdes, a rising senior committed to Auburn, added the title to his long resume of juniors golf success. He placed fifth in the FHSAA high school state tournament last fall. He was 10th as a freshman and 11th as a sophomore in Class 3A.
Caden Burr of Windermere High shot 70-69—139 to tie for second in the tournament. Winter Park rising senior Michael Mays rallied on the second day to place fourth at 74-67—141 and also punched his ticket to the national event that is scheduled for Nov. 15-17 in Kinder, Louisiana.
Joshua Stewart of Oviedo High and Orlando resident Grant Gobezie tied for fifth at 142 and just missed the cutoff.
Lake Nona rising senior Caroline Nemes made a hole-inone Monday and was the firstday co-leader. She finished third in the girls 13-18 competition with a 69-76—145 scorecard. Only the top two qualified for nationals. Winter Park’s Emily McLatchey shot 73-74—147 to tie for fourth.
AAU volleyball: The topseeded Orlando Tampa Volleyball Academy 17 Open Felix team went 3-0 on Wednesday and 2-0 Thursday in the opening two rounds of pool play for the AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships at the Orange County Convention
Center.
Only one of those best-ofthree matches went to a third set and that was a Thursday victory over another OTVA squad.
Group play continues Friday leading to bracket play on Saturday.
Tavares coronavirus cases: WFTV Channel 9 reported Wednesday that two Tavares players tested positive for COVID-19 and coaches and players who were participating in summer workouts were asked to quarantine themselves and not return to campus until next week at the earliest.
That adds the Lake County school to at least a handful of Central Florida schools that have had to shut down football offseason programs for a period of time due to coronavirus concerns or positive tests. The Sentinel reported earlier this week that Seminole High and Lyman had stoppages for that reason but have resumed workouts.
The Sentinel was unable to reach Tavares administrators or first-year Bulldogs head coach Tim Kraemer for comment on Thursday. School principal Jacob Stein was scheduled to be out of the office until Monday.
Kraemer was the Tavares defensive coordinator last season.
Most Orlando area schools were permitted in either June or July to start summer conditioning workouts with social distancing, temperature checks and other cautionary measures in place.
Choosing coaches: Winter Springs announced this week that former Oviedo standout Shawn Witherspoon (1998-2002) is its new head boys basketball coach.
The Lions’ career scoring leader played college ball at Murray State. He was a Winter Springs assistant for the past five years.
Lake Howell has named Eric Martinez, the brother of Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez, as its new head baseball coach. Both played ball for the Silver Hawks. Eric was previously head coach for two Ocala schools: St. John Lutheran in 2018 and West Port for the past two seasons.
Windermere Prep’s new girls basketball coach, Radhika Miller, won 197 games and six district titles over the past nine seasons at Cumberland County High School in Crossville, Tenn. The Lady Jets were 155-13 in a six-year stretch (2013-19) that included play in Windermere Prep’s Rock Holiday Classic tournament.
Former East Ridge assistant Adam Taylor is the new Windermere Prep baseball coach.
COVID changes: Foundation Academy lost a football opponent when Admiral Farragut, a St. Petersburg boarding school, canceled its 2020 season due to the coronavirus. Foundation filled its Week 11 opening with a home game against another St. Pete school, Keswick Christian.
There is no certainty regarding schedules at this point in time with the Florida High School Athletic Association slated to again discuss possible changes in the fall sports season in a Monday board of directors meeting.