BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Keystone Heights High School collected a lot of trophies and medals in 2022, thanks to its boys weightlifting team, which won the Class 1A state championship for the second straight year in the traditional event (bench press and clean and jerk) as well as the state title in the newly created snatch event.
The Indians won six team championships and 25 individual championships at the district, region and state levels. At state, individuals won 23 medals for top-six finishes.
Keystone’s quest to win state again began at the District 7 finals. The Indians won the traditional-event championship with a score of 95 (51 points ahead of runner-up Palatka) and the snatch championship with a score of 97 (51 points ahead of runner-up Palatka).
Five individuals won their weight classes in the traditional event: Ulysses Freed (154 class) with a 500 total, Logan Williams (169) with a 590 total, Trey Jeffries (219) with a 630 total, Caleb Moncrief (238) with a 615 total and Mason Dicks (unlimited) with a 645 total.
The top six lifters in each class earned the right to advance to the Region 2 finals.
Placing second were: Wyatt Van Zant (129) with a 410 total, Landon Hovsepian (154) with a 480 total, Nathan Tisdale (169) with a 575 total, Tyler Jenkins (183) with a 545 total, Jayden Goodman (199) with a 530 total, Tyler Anthony-Rozier (219) with a 630 total and Luke Snider (unlimited) with a 625 total.
Five lifters placed third: Reid Begue (129) with a 365 total, Davin Adams (139) with a 325 total, Clayton Kicklighter (183) with a 530 total, Bryson Wester (199) with a 515 total and Brayden Wester (238) with a 485 total.
Declan Shine (119) and Jed Tisdale (119) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, with 305 and 275 totals.
Seven won their weight classes in the snatch event: Adams with a 120 total, Freed with a 185 total, Bryar Schenck (183) with a 185 total, Goodman with a 185 total, Jeffries with a 195 total, Moncrief with a 175 total and Dicks
with a 195 total.
Finishing as runners-up were Van Zant with a 135 total, Nathan Tisdale with a 185 total and Snider with a 195 total.
Seven earned third-place finishes: Begue with a 135 total, Sam Ulsch (154) with a 150 total, Ben Ulsch (169) with a 175 total, Jenkins with a 175 total, Jacob Andrews (199) with a 150 total, Anthony-Rozier with a 170 total and Jackson Herman (238) with a 155 total.
Shine and Jed Tisdale placed fourth and fifth, respectively, with totals of 95 and 85.
At the Region 2 finals, the Indians took the traditional event trophy with 72 points, which put them 41 points ahead of West Nassau.
Four won their classes to earn automatic state berths: Freed with a 535 total, Williams with a 600 total, Moncrief with a 640 total and Dicks with a 700 total.
An additional 11 lifters in the traditional event earned at-large state berths: Van Zant with a second-place total of 415, Hovsepian with a second-place total of 535, Nathan Tisdale with a second-place total of 580, Jenkins with a second-place total of 590, Jeffries with a second-place total of 650, Kicklighter with a third-place total of 520, Anthony-Rozier with a third-place total of 625, Begue with a fourth-place total of 400, Bryson Wester with a fourth-place total of 525, Snider with a fourth-place total of 625 and Shine with a fifth-place total of 315.
The Indians had a team score of 81 in the snatch event, finishing 58 points ahead of runner-up West Nassau.
Individual champions were Freed with a 170 total, Schenck with a 185 total, Jeffries with a 205 total and Moncrief with a 195 total.
Earning at-large state berths were Van Zant with a second-place total of 145, Sam Ulsch with a second-place total of 150, Nathan Tisdale with a second-place total of 205, Herman with a second-place total of 170, Dicks with a second-place total of 205, Begue with a third-place total of 135, Ben Ulsch with a third-place total of 185, Jenkins with a third-place total of 185, Goodman with a third-place total of 165, Shine with a fourth-place total of 95, Snider with a fourth-place total of 185 and Adams with a fifth-place total of 120.
Keystone won the state title in the traditional event with a score of 55, which was 38 points more than runner-up West Nassau. Three individuals won their classes: Freed with a 540 total, Williams with a 600 total and Dicks with a 730 total.
Finishing as runners-up were Tisdale with a 580 total, Jenkins with a 600 total, Jeffries with a 635 total and Moncrief with a 650 total.
Points (and medals) were also earned by the following: Hovsepian with a third-place total of 515 total, Anthony-Rozier with a third-place total of 620, Van Zant with a fourth-place total of 415, Kicklighter with a fifth-place total of 540 and Begue with a sixth-place total of 405.
The Indians won the snatch team trophy with 44 points, which put them ahead of runner-up South Sumter by 24 points.
Individual winners were Freed with a 200 total and Schenck with a 205 total, while the following were runners-up: Jenkins with a 195 total and Jeffries with a 210 total.
Also earning points (and medals) were Goodman with a third-place total of 195, Moncrief with a third-place total of 205, Van Zant with a fourth-place total of 145, Ben Ulsch with a fourth-place total of 185, Dicks with a fourth-place total of 215 and Herman with a sixth-place total of 185.
Track and field teams produce 4 district and region titles, 1 state medal
Kendall Gagnon and Caleb Moncrief won championships in track and field, with Moncrief also earning a medal at the Class 2A state finals.
Moncrief won the District 3 championships in the discus with a distance of 144-8 and the shot put with a distance of 48-4.5. Kendall Gagnon won the javelin with a distance of 90-9.
At the Region 1 finals, Moncrief won the discus with a distance of 149-8, automatically qualifying him for state. He earned an at-large state berth in the shot put with a fifth-place distance of 47-4.5.
Moncrief placed seventh in the discus at state with a throw of 142-4, which earned him a medal.
Girls weightlifting team produces 1 state medalist, 2 district champs
Kaylee Wright became the first girls weightlifter to earn a state medal for KHHS in nine years, placing sixth in the 183-pound class at the Class 1A finals with a 315 total.
Wright was the runner-up in her class at the District 5 finals and was third at the Region 2 finals with a 305 total.
Ariel King (129 class) and Grace Wagner (139) won their classes at the District 5 finals. King had a 235 total, while Wagner had a 260 total.
Wagner earned an at-large state berth after placing fifth at the Region 2 finals with a 255 total. She placed 10th at state with a 275 total.
Indians win district title in softball
Keystone won the District 3-3A championship and advanced to the Region 1 finals before losing 3-2 to Baldwin and finishing its season with a 19-10 record.
The Indians advanced to the District 3 championship game by defeating Interlachen 15-0 in the semifinals. Then, they faced Santa Fe for the title, getting a grand slam from Abbie Roach in a 12-2, five-inning win.
Roach’s grand slam was part of a seven-run third inning, which also featured a solo homer by Kinley Carlton.
Carlton, who was 2 for 3, and Kiley Channell each drove in two runs. Alaina Kinsal, who was 3 for 4, Madi Mitzel and Emma Rogel each had one RBI.
Mitzel pitched all five innings, giving up five hits.
Keystone defeated West Nassau 7-4 in the Region 1 quarterfinals and Providence 3-1 in the semifinals. Delia Johnson had three RBI against West Nassau, while Channell and Roach each had one against Providence.
Mitzel gave up a combined 15 hits in the two games.
In the Region 1 championship game, Keystone got solo home runs from Johnson and Kinsal, but they weren’t enough in the one-run loss.
Kinsal and Roach went 2 for 3 and 2 for 4, respectively.
Golf teams win district trophies
Keystone captured the District 3-1A championships in boys and girls golf, with girls team member Candace Jackson winning an individual district title for the second straight year.
The girls team, which earned its seventh title in eight years, had an 18-hole score of 411, which put the Indians 91 strokes ahead of runner-up Branford.
Jackson finished in first by four strokes with a score of 77. M.J. Rivera and Mia Rivera placed fourth and fifth, respectively, with scores of 98 and 107. Rebecca Binet and Rexi Lewis placed 10th and 12th, respectively, with scores of 129 and 134.
The boys team won its second straight district title with a score of 323, which was 23 strokes ahead of runner-up Lafayette.
Alex Addington was the individual runner-up with a score of 78. Connor Guy and Nic Binet each shot a 79 to tie for third. Ty Mitzel tied for seventh with a score of 87. Shepherd Rozier shot a 101 to finish in a tie for 20th.
Other highlights
—Keystone was the District 4-3A runner-up in girls soccer after an 8-0 loss to P.K. Yonge. The Indians advanced to the title match off an 11-0 quarterfinal win over Interlachen and a 5-3 semifinal win over Trinity Catholic.
—The girls basketball team was the runner-up in District 4-4A after a 58-46 loss to Dunnellon. Keystone defeated Santa Fe 48-23 and North Marion 52-35 to reach the title game. The Indians earned an at-large playoff berth, but ended their season with a 19-6 record after an 81-23 loss to Bishop Kenny in the Region 1 quarterfinals.
—Keystone had three others besides Gagnon and Moncrief advance to the Region 1-2A track and field finals. Kirsten Shaw qualified in three events, placing second in the high jump, third in the long jump and third in the 100m hurdles at the District 3 finals. Tyler Griffin qualified in two events, placing second in the 1600m and third in the 800m. Ella Hutchins qualified in the 400m with a fourth-place finish.
—The Indians had eight besides King, Wagner and Wright qualify for the Region 2-1A girls weightlifting finals. At the District 5 finals, Abbigail Anthony-Rozier (110) placed second, Heidi Knapp (119) placed third, Kathryn Brossette (129) and Harmony Geiger (169) and Lillian Mitchell (183) placed fourth, Schiley Starling (119) placed fifth, and Chloe Still (139) and Kenly Chitty (154) placed sixth.
— Saige Dennis and Stamatia Papainannou earned Region 1-1A berths in girls wrestling. At the District 3 finals, Dennis placed third in the 145 class, while Papainannou placed fourth in the 140 class.
—Three qualified for the Region 1-1A finals in boys wrestling. At the District 4 finals, Jason Bowden placed fourth in the 126 class, Alyx Nichols placed fourth in the 160 class and Matthew Delano placed fifth in the 220.
—In cross country, the boys team placed eighth at the District 2-2A finals to qualify for region competition for the eighth time in nine years, while girls team member Olivia Griffin also earned the right to advance by having the third-best time among individuals not on region-qualifying teams. Tyler Griffin’s 19th-place finish led the boys team, which also consisted of Ryder Thomas, Shepherd Rozier, Jaden Park, Josiah Durrenberger, Anthony Peak and Liam Callahan.
—The volleyball team lost in the semifinals of the District 4-4A tournament, but still earned an at-large bid to the Region 1 playoffs. Keystone finished the season with a 17-8 record after a 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-13) loss to South Walton in the Region 1 quarterfinals.
