Lake Brantley grad owns Maryland lacrosse record
Former Lake Brantley two-sport standout Jared Bernhardt initially intended to leave a stellar college lacrosse career at Maryland behind to play one more year of football in his fifth year of NCAA eligibility.
That plan fell apart when Division II Ferris State of Michigan was forced to cancel its 2020 football season due to the COVID19 outbreak.
That brought Bernhardt back to lacrosse and back to Maryland in January and set the stage for him to break the career goals record for one of the nation’s powerhouse programs.
Bernhardt became Maryland’s all-time goals leader last Saturday when he scored five times to lead the national No. 3 Terps (7-0) to a 17-10 home win against No. 19 Penn State. That upped his total to 159 goals, surpassing a previous standard of 155.
Bernhardt added three assists in the victory to tie a career best with a gamehigh eight points.
“He came back and has been a man on a mission,” Terps coach John Tillman said to The Diamondback, Maryland’s student newspaper. “In that way, he’s really helped us because he’s been so focused, and he’s a guy that is always competing so hard that it raises everybody else’s level.”
Bernhardt earned first team All-Big Ten honors in 2018 and 2019 and received All-America notice in all
three of his previous seasons — including first team honors in 2019 — before the 2020 college season was halted in midstream due to the pandemic.
He was the Orlando Sentinel boys Athlete of the Year for 2015-16 after leading Lake Brantley to an undefeated football regular season and earning high school All-America lacrosse honors.
Both of Bernhardt’s older brothers, Jake and Jesse, were also two-sport standouts for Lake Brantley and accomplished Maryland lacrosse players. Jesse, a first-team college All-American in 2013, is Maryland’s defensive coordinator.
SEC volleyball honor:
Former West Orange and Windermere High standout Taylor Head was named SEC women’s volleyball Freshman of the Year.
She was joined on the league All-Freshman team by two other Orlando area products: defensive specialists Elli McKissock (The First Academy) of Florida and Lilly Gunter (Oviedo) of Mississippi State.
Head is the only Division I freshman ranked in the top 20 for both kills and digs per set. Her 13 double-doubles for those stat categories led the league.
Bishop Moore alum Gracie Ryan also excelled as a junior setter for the Razorbacks (14-8), who finished fourth in the SEC
but fell just short of getting an NCAA Tournament bid. This year’s field was reduced from 64 teams to 48 this year due to the pandemic.
Florida (19-3) earned its 30th consecutive bid and is the No. 8 overall seed for a tournament that begins Wednesday, April 14, with all play being held in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Gators’ setter is Marlie Monserez, a junior out of Bishop Moore.
Water polo pairings: Lake Nona’s undefeated girls team takes on a 15-1 Olympia squad in the marquee matchup of Wednesday’s Orlando area water polo playoff games. The region semifinal game starts at 5 p.m. at the Rosen
Aquatic Center.
Lake Nona topped the Titans 15-12 in their regular season meeting a month ago. The Lions (14-0) are ranked second in the FHSAA power rankings behind Miami Gulliver Prep (14-0). Olympia is No. 3.
The second game of a doubleheader showcases two of the area’s top boys teams, Boone (15-1) and Dr. Phillips (14-2), at 6. The Braves and Panthers did not meet in the regular season.
Winter Park will host a doubleheader with both its boys and girls squads playing at home against Oviedo.
Lake Brantley also hosts a twin bill, with its girls hosting Seminole and its boys team facing Lake Mary. The Patriots edged Lake Mary 15-14 in their regular season boys matchup.
Winners advance to region final games Saturday.
Here are the matchups for area teams:
Girls region semifinals Seminole (10-6) at Lake Brantley (10-4), 7
Oviedo (8-3) at Winter Park (10-5), 6
Olympia (15-1) vs. Lake Nona (14-0), 5*
Boys region semifinals Lake Mary (13-8) at Lake Brantley (16-1), 7
Oviedo (6-5) at Winter Park (8-7), 7:15
Dr. Phillips (14-2) vs. Boone (15-1), 6*
(* at Rosen Aquatic Center, Orlando)