The following is a look at the high school varsity teams and individuals that won championships at the district, regional or state levels, earned medals in state competition or that qualified to participate in regional and state competitions in 2024. Any omissions are unintentional.
BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Keystone Heights High School wasn’t able to win a team state championship in boys weightlifting for the fourth straight year, but the Indians were runners-up in the traditional event and produced the program’s first-ever two-time individual state champ in Trey Jeffries.
Leading up to state, Keystone won the team titles in both traditional and Olympic at the District 7-1A meet. The Indians had a traditional score of 115 — 63 points ahead of runner-up Palatka — and an Olympic score of 115 — 60 points ahead of runner-up Palatka.
Seven individuals won their weight classes in both traditional and Olympic: Tyson Baxter (119 class), who had a school-record bench-press record in his class at 205, Wyatt Van Zant (139), Davin Adams (154), Ben Ulsch (169), Zane Leger (199), Jayden Goodman (219) and Jeffries (238).
Colton Hollingsworth won the 129-class traditional championship, while Tyler Duncan won the unlimited Olympic title.
Seven earned second-place finishes in traditional: Duncan, Jed Tisdale (129), Declan Shine (139), Kyle Perkins (183), Trace Wooden (199), Bryson Wester (219) and Brayden Hall (238).
Another five placed third in traditional: Andrew Ulsch (119), Damien Dunlap (154), Layton Wright (169), Clayton Shaw (183) and Brayden Wester (unlimited).
The Olympic event saw Keystone with seven runners-up: Tisdale, Perkins, Wooden, Andrew Bryson Wester, Andrew Ulsch, Jackson Parmeter (154), and Jackson Herman (238).
As in traditional, five placed third in Olympic: Hollingsworth, Shine, Wright, Shaw and Brayden Wester.
Keystone earned two team runner-up trophies at the Region 2 meet, placing second to Suwannee in traditional by a score of 59-40 and placing second to Suwannee again in Olympic by a score of 83-40.
Jeffries won his class in both events, while the Indians also had individual champs in Van Zant (Olympic) and Ben Ulsch (traditional).
The individual champs automatically qualified for state.
Receiving at-large state berths in traditional were second-place finishers Van Zant and Goodman, third-place finishers Tisdale and Bryson Wester, fourth-place finishers Baxter and Adams, fifth-place finisher Duncan, seventh-place finishers Hollingsworth and Brayden Wester, eighth-place finisher Hall and ninth-place finisher Shine.
At-large qualifiers in Olympic were second-place finishers Ben Ulsch, third-place finishers Goodman and Duncan, fourth-place finishers Tisdale, Adams and Herman, fifth-place finishers Baxter and Perkins, seventh-place finishers Bryson Wester and Brayden Wester and ninth-place finisher Shine.
The state meet saw Keystone finish with a second-place team score of 30 to Suwannee’s 43. The Indians were third in Olympic with a score of 21.
Jeffries won his classes in both events, with an overall total of 730 pounds in traditional and a total of 585 in Olympic.
Van Zant was a runner-up in traditional with a 490 total. His 405 Olympic total earned him third place.
Ben Ulsch took third in both events with a 605 traditional total and a 505 Olympic total.
Duncan had a third-place total of 505 in traditional and a fifth-place total of 505 in Olympic.
Baxter placed third in traditional with a 365 total and ninth in Olympic with a 275 total.
Goodman earned two fifth-place medals with a 620 traditional total and a 520 Olympic total.
Also earning medals for top-six finishes were Hollingsworth, who had a fifth-place traditional total of 425, Tisdale, who had a sixth-place traditional total of 415, and Bryson Wester, who had a fourth-place traditional total of 635.
Tisdale also had a seventh-place Olympic total of 350, while Bryson Wester had a 14th-place Olympic total of 445.
Keystone had the following results as well: Adams 405 (ninth Olympic), 465 (12th traditional); Shine 440 (ninth traditional), 350 (12th Olympic); Herman 480 (10th Olympic); Perkins 415 (12th Olympic); Brayden Wester 585 (14th traditional), 435 (14th Olympic); and Hall 560 (17th traditional).
Girls lifters win 2 team district titles
The girls weightlifting team won two district titles, with Chloe Still eventually qualifying for the state finals.
Keystone had a score of 57 to win the District 6-1A Olympic championship by two points over Baldwin. The two schools shared the traditional championship with 42 points each.
Still won the traditional title in the 139 class and was the Olympic runner-up, while Paige Harrington won both titles for the 183 class.
The Indians had 12 receive Olympic at-large bids to the Region 2 meet: Still and fellow second-place finishers Cadie Bowles (101 class), Kourtney Marsh (119), Ashlyn Brown (154) and Lily Mitchell (183), third-place finishers Alivia Richardson (101), Madison Sapp (110), Kenly Chitty (154) and Morgan Wilson (169), fourth-place finisher Raegan Lee (169), fifth-place finisher Ava Herman (unlimited) and sixth-place finisher Bella Parmeter (119).
Those earning traditional at-large berths were second-place finisher Mitchell, third-place finishers Bowles and Chitty, fourth-place finishers Richardson, Brown and Wilson, fifth-place finishers Marsh and Herman and sixth-place finisher Lee.
At the Region 2 meet, Still earned an at-large berth in the state finals with a runner-up total of 285 in the traditional event.
Still finished tied for 14th at state with a 280 total.
Boys golf team wins 1st-time event and qualifies for region
Before competing in the Florida High School Athletic Association postseason and claiming the District 5-1A runner-up trophy, the Keystone boys golf team won the inaugural Florida 1A Public School Golf Championship, coming out on top in a field of eight teams.
The Indians were the sixth seed heading into the event, but finished tied with Frostproof, with each team posting an 18-hole score of 324. That set up a playoff round, which Keystone won when Hunter Sheppard sank a putt from approximately 17 feet from the hole.
Ty Mitzell earned a top-five medallion for his third-place score of 74.
Beach finished seventh with a score of 76, while Sheppard had a 22nd-place score of 85.
Nate Bardier and Will Begue were 33rd and 35th, respectively, with scores of 89 and 94.
At the District 5 match, the Indians had a team score of 357, which left them trailing only Oak Hall, which had a score of 339.
Mitzel had a sixth-place score of 83, while Beach was 10th with a score of 88.
The rest of the team had the following scores: Sheppard 90 (14th), Begue 96 (24th) and Bardier 105 (32nd).
Keystone’s season came to an end with a 12th-place finish at the Region 2 finals. Mitzel was the team’s leading player with a 59th-place score of 87.
Every team but Keystone in the 12-team field was a private school.
Turner wins district title in track, field
The only sport other than boys and girls weightlifting in which Keystone won a district championship occurred in boys track and field, with Jamari Turner winning the 400m hurdles at the District 3-2A meet with a time of 1:07.
Tyler Griffin, Ryder Thomas, Ryeland Wahl and Hunter Sheppard teamed up in the boys 4x800m relay to run a runner-up (and school-record) time of 9:04.
Cali Chamberlain was a runner-up for the girls team with a time of 1:20 in the 400m hurdles.
Jaden Park was third in the boys javelin with a distance of 125-10, which was a school record.
The boys 4x400m relay team of Griffin, Park, Wahl and Tyler Sapp ran a fourth-place time of 3:46.
Two girls relay teams earned fourth-place finishes. Kaylee Park, Laila Briseno, Christine Djavaheri and Kenslee Phillips teamed up to run 57.04 in the 4x100m, while the 4x400m team of Chamberlain, Djavaheri, Phillips and Olivia Griffin had a time of 4:54.
Those athletes all advanced to the Region 1 finals, where the boys 4x800m team and the girls 4x400m teams had the highest finishes, with each placing 12th. The 4x800m team broke its own school record for the third time, finishing at 8:55.65.
KHHS is 2nd in district in baseball, softball, girls soccer
The Indians had district runner-up teams in baseball, softball and girls soccer.
Keystone won two matches in the District 4-3A girls soccer tournament to reach the championship match, defeating Fort White 7-0 in the quarterfinals and Williston 3-2 in the semifinals.
Kiersten Shaw scored five goals in the win over Fort White, with Ella Hutchins and Alyssa Townsend each scoring one. Kayle Buchanan and Shaw led the team in assists with three and two, respectively. Hutchins and Ashly McCarthy each had one assist.
Goalie Aspen Korhn made four saves.
In the semifinal win over Williston, Keystone got one goal each from Buchanan, Hutchins and Alee Horton. Shaw had one assist, while Krohn made 10 saves.
The Indians, who were the tournament’s second seed, lost to top seed P.K. Yonge 5-0 in the championship match. Krohn made 17 saves, while Xana Briley made four.
Keystone earned the eighth seed in the Region 1 playoffs and had to play P.K. Yonge again, losing 8-0 to finish its season with a 12-7-1 record.
The baseball team had a 20-7 record before losing to The Villages in the District 4-3A championship game and then to Pensacola Catholic in the Region 1 quarterfinals.
Keystone began the district tournament with a 12-0, five-inning win over Pierson Taylor. The Indians got solo home runs from Connor Guy and Austin Musgrove and a two-run shot from Alex Addington.
Guy finished with two RBI. Joining Addington and Musgrove with one RBI each were Tallon Campbell, Ty Mitzel, Aiden Screen, Andru Siemer and Austin Smith
The starting pitcher was Guy, who pitched a no-hitter and gave up one walk through three innings, striking out four. Addington gave up one hit and one walk in two innings.
Keystone faced P.K. Yonge in the semifinals, with Smith hitting a three-run homer to end the game early, giving the Indians a 12-0, five-inning win.
Smith finished with four RBI, while Guy, who was 3 for 3, had three.
Campbell also drove in a run.
Gage Barry pitched a complete game, allowing one hit and two walks, while striking out six.
Keystone advanced to the district-title game, losing 5-3 to The Villages.
The Indians finished with just four hits, getting one RBI each from Addington and Brady Kerlin.
Musgrove pitched a complete game, allowing eight hits and two walks, while striking out five.
Keystone earned the eighth seed in the Region 1 playoffs and traveled to play top seed Pensacola Catholic in a quarterfinal game, losing 5-2.
The Indians squandered a bases-loaded opportunity with no outs in the third and left a total of six runners stranded in the first three innings.
Keystone took a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Guy ground into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded, which allowed Mitzel and Siemer to score.
It was a 2-1 game when Pensacola Catholic hit a three-run homer in the fifth.
Mitzel and Addington finished 3 for 3 and 3 for 4, respectively, while Guy went 2 for 3.
Barry pitched, giving up six hits and two walks, while striking out six.
In softball, Keystone snapped a two-game losing streak to end the regular season by defeating Pierson Taylor 7-1 in the semifinals of the District 3-3A tournament, but the Indians then lost two straight, ending their season in the Region 1 quarterfinals.
Bella Cumbo finished with two RBI in the win over Pierson Taylor, while Alaina Kinsall and Kadence Massey each had one.
Riley Shuford and Amber Wagner each went 2 for 3, while Abbie Roach went 2 for 4 with two doubles.
In the circle, Massey gave up no walks and struck out six.
Keystone fell behind 9-1 to Palatka in the district-championship game and eventually lost 12-7.
Delia Johnson and Ashley Nugent each drove in two runs, with Nugent’s two RBI coming off a two-homer in the bottom of the sixth.
Massey had one RBI.
The Indians earned the seventh seed in the Region 1 playoffs, which put them on the road for a quarterfinal game against second seed Episcopal. Keystone lost 10-0 to end its season with a 12-13 record.
Keystone had just one hit, with batters striking out 11 times.
3 make regionals in cross country
Olivia Griffin, Ryder Thomas and Noah Yara earned Region 1-2A berths in cross country with their performances at the District 2 meet.
The top four individuals not on regional-qualifying teams earned the right to advance. Thomas was the top runner in the boys field not on one of those teams, placing 20th out of 159 overall with a time of 17:44. Yara, who ran a 31st-place time of 18:04, was the third-highest individual not on a regional-qualifying team.
In the girls race, Griffin was the top runner not on a team advancing, placing 35th out 136 overall with a time of 21:22.
Thomas had the highest finish of the three at the region meet, placing 25th out of 114 with a time of 17:27. Yara was 47th with a time of 17:54.
Griffin’s time of 23:09 placed her 66th out of 108.
