Varsity Weekly: Seminole lands new AD; Florida Dairy Farmers’ winners; FHSAA rankings

Woody Cox realized his dream of becoming a head football coach more than a year ago when he landed that position at Colonial High School .

On Monday, he returns to Sanford Seminole as the school’s new athletic director.

“You dream for so long of becoming a head coach, and you get that dream, but then all of a sudden this pops up,” Cox told the Orlando Sentinel. “It fits more in line with what’s going on with my family.”

Cox steps in for Lakisya Killingsworth , who became an assistant principal at Lake Nona earlier this month. Killingsworth replaced Mike Kintz as ‘Noles athletic director in July 2020.

“Mr. Cox brings a deep understanding of the entire SHS athletics program, fluency regarding FHSAA rules and regulations, and the culture of Seminole success,” Seminole principal Michael Pfeiffer stated in a media release. “Most importantly, Mr. Cox embraces the honor given to him to lead [Seminole nickname] Bokey and to continue our legacy of championships.”

A coach the past 17 years, Cox served in numerous roles at Seminole before moving on to Colonial, where he went 1-9 with the Grenadiers in 2023.

Cox was an assistant on Seminole’s undefeated football state championship team in 2020 and also coached boys lacrosse, boys and girls bowling, and track and field at the school following stints at Lyman, Olympia and Edgewater.

“It’s home for me,” Cox said of Seminole. “This job doesn’t — and shouldn’t — come open very often. it’s one of the premier schools in the state for all sports.”

Dairy Farmers

Several Orlando area players and coaches nabbed Florida Dairy Farmers’ honors last week following the winter basketball and soccer seasons.

Dr. Phillips senior Trinity Turner and head coach Anthony Jones are finalists for overall girls basketball player and coach-of-the-year awards after being named Class 7A winners. The Panthers won their third consecutive state championship on March 9.

Lake Highland Prep’s Al Honor, the 4A coach of the year, is also a finalist. The Highlanders won their fifth state title in a row last month. Senior Jada Eads, the Orlando Sentinel Varsity player of the year, finished second in 4A voting behind winner Tatiana Mathews of Dunnellon.

Sentinel boys basketball player of the year Jamier Jones of Oak Ridge placed third in 7A voting, as did Edgewater’s Donovan Williams in 6A. Orlando Christian Prep’s Ameer Ramadan finished second in 2A.

Windermere High’s Jose Moyetones and Cayla Jackson of Clermont East Ridge were the finalists for overall soccer awards as 7A Dairy Farmers’ winners. Both were previously named Sentinel soccer players of the year.

Jackson finished third in overall Miss Soccer voting behind winner Ryleigh Acosta of Miramar and K.J. Straub of Lakeland Christian.

Bishop Moore senior Amelia Miller and coach Amy Geltz came away as 4A winners. Montverde Academy’s Estefania Gonzalez is the 3A player of the year.

FHSAA rankings

The Florida High School Athletic Association debuted its spring playoff power rankings Tuesday for baseball, beach volleyball, boys volleyball, girls flag football, softball and boys and girls lacrosse.

Lake Mary (13-1) is No. 1 in Class 2A boys lacrosse rankings. Lake Highland Prep (11-1) ranks No. 4 and Bishop Moore (13-3) is No. 5 in 1A.

In girls lacrosse, Lake Highland (13-3) ranks No. 2 in 1A and Hagerty (12-2) is No. 2 in 2A. Hagerty opened the season with a 9-6 win vs. the Highlanders on Feb. 12.

Lake Howell (8-1), one of five area teams in the Top 10, ranks No. 2 overall in boys volleyball. The other Top 10 teams include No. 6 Timber Creek (7-2), No. 7 Lake Mary (8-1), No. 9 Winter Park (4-0) and No. 10 Freedom (5-1).

Montverde Academy (7-1) and Winter Park (5-1) are Top 10 teams in beach volleyball. Montverde is No. 7, followed by the Wildcats at No. 8. Those programs are not scheduled to play during the regular season.

Harmony (8-1) is the area’s top-ranked flag-football team at No. 10 overall and No. 7 in 2A.

Undefeated Eustis (10-0) paces local softball teams at No. 5 in the state and No. 1 in 4A. Hagerty (12-2) is No. 7 overall and No. 6 in 6A.

Windermere High (10-3) ranks No. 7 and Lake Brantley (11-2) is No. 9 in 7A baseball rankings. Hagerty (10-2) is No. 8 in 6A.

AAU volleyball

More than 2,500 athletes converge on Orlando this Saturday and Sunday to take part in the annual AAU Volleyball Classic at the Orange County Convention Center.

Winners from each of the nine age groups (10-and-under through 18U) earn “a free or discounted entry” to the AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships in June.

Among the 172 teams slated to participate, Florida will be represented by 157 teams alongside others from Alabama, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, Canada, Mexico, the Virgin Islands and Peru.

This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com . Email J.C. Carnahan at jcarnahan@orlandosentinel.com .