BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Keystone Heights High School’s football team is a Florida High School Athletic Association Academic Champion for the third time in four years with a cumulative team GPA of 3.191.
“I think it says a lot about the students and the parents that we have in this community,” KHHS Head Coach Steve Reynolds said. “I think it says a lot about the commitment our coaching staff and our athletic department have for academics.”
The Indians were number one in Class 2S, finishing ahead of Pensacola Catholic, which had a team GPA of 3.094.
Reynolds said the accomplishment speaks to the effort of the players, who are juggling schoolwork with practices and games. He said it also speaks to the fact they have future goals they’re striving to meet.
“The kids know what the priorities are to set themselves up academically for their job path or education path after high school,” Reynolds said. “They take that seriously.
“We’ve had a valedictorian (Caleb Moncrief, Class of 2022) who was a football team member. We’ve got another one next year — he’s looking like he may be the valedictorian.”
Keystone will receive a commemorative plaque from the FHSAA in recognition of being an academic champion.
Academic Champions are named for each sport in each classification. A team with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on an unweighted scale of 4.0 can be nominated by its athletic director.
The KHHS football team was Academic Champion of its class in 2020 and 2022 as well. The Indians were fifth in their class in 2019 and fourth in 2021.
Keystone’s volleyball team had the sixth-highest team GPA in Class 4A at 3.533. The Indians placed behind Fort Lauderdale’s Pine Crest (3.825), Pompano Beach (3.74), Lakeland’s McKeel (3.705), Pensacola (3.638) and Englewood’s Lemon Bay (3.557).
In 1A boys golf, Keystone’s team GPA was 3.523, which was 16th. Pine Crest topped the class with a team GPA of 3.896.
Keystone’s boys cross country team had the 21st-higest GPA in Class 2A at 3.439. Fort Lauderdale’s NSU University School had a GPA of 3.932, which was the best in the class.
