Girls Volleyball
By Hunter Fuehrer
Heading into week 5 Oviedo’s girls varsity volleyball team was 13-5 riding high on 4 straight wins in the Endless Summer Invitational in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Finishing 4th in Virginia gave the Lions meaningful experience which they hoped to leverage in the postseason.
Week 5 saw Oviedo face off against the 10-2 Bishop Moore, Hornets, in a non-conference home game. Despite this the Lions were undefeated at home and Bishop Moore hadn’t won a single away game.
However the match would see the return of rising star Rylee Yarborough. The junior outside suffered a concussion which caused her to miss several games. The team would need Yarborough and the rest of the Lions offense heading into the game against the Hornets.
The first set was competitive with both teams slugging it out with hard hits and big digs from both sides. Bishop Moore would edge out the Lions in the final points of the first set taking it 25-22. Oviedo would come out strong in the second, preventing the Hornets from building up momentum, ultimately taking it 25-15.
Bishop Moore would start off strong in the third with Oviedo fighting back to try and take a lead. The Lions lost the 3rd 25-21, unable to make up the lost points. Oviedo started off strong in the fourth, rekindling their fight from the previous set. The fourth saw the Lions take the win 25-15 in the same dominant fashion they won the second.
With the fifth set being to 15 points, there was no room for error. The game went back and forth with no team able to take a lead. The tension broke at 8-8 when the Hornets took the lead from the Lions. From there the Lions were unable to make up the lost points, falling to Hornets 15-12 in the fifth set.
The loss would be Oviedo’s first loss at home and was Bishop Moores first win away. Next week the Lions play the Lake Howell Silver Hawks, on Tuesday September 26, and then the Winter Springs Bears, on Thursday September 28.
Football
By Merrick DiCarolis
Last week the Oviedo Lions faced the Timber Creek Wolves in what once was a very exciting matchup, but just a couple weeks before the season,Timber Creek was absolutely decimated by transfers leaving their once extremely talented squad barren and filled with holes. 4 of Timber Creek’s 5 pre-season captains transferred out including Oviedo’s own star defensive back Alejandro Bello who has helped rejuvenate Oviedo’s secondary and special teams.
The Lions were in the spotlight this week because the Wolves-Lions matchup was selected as central Florida’s game of the week, and the Lions put on a show.
Star Quarterback Jackson Latour flashed his massive potential against the Wolves, throwing for 330 yards and 4 touchdowns in just one half. Latours highlights included a massive 45 yard touchdown he found Marquet Williams on while being pressured by star defensive lineman Trace Scott, and a 70 yard touchdown to Emiliano Galarza who he found wide open down the middle of the field. Latour also found Senior Receiver Alex McCoy 4 times throughout the game, resulting in 105 yards and 1 touchdown.
While the offense dominated the game, the Lions defense quietly had their best game of the season, only allowing 7 points while forcing 2 turnovers against the broken Wolves offense. Top performances came from Senior Linebacker Bryson Blanford who forced his first interception of the season, and Sophmore Defensive Tackle Laron Hargrave, who was the Lions defensive player of the week in only his second start.
The final score of 35-7 doesn’t tell the whole story of the Lions Wolves matchup, as the Lions were leading 35-0 at halftime and pulled all their starters after the first half. Sophomore RB/QB Brock Joyce nearly had his first touchdown in a varsity uniform but fumbled at the 1 yard line, causing the Lions only turnover of the game.
The Lions faced one of the hardest non-district schedules in the entire state of Florida, facing 3 top 50 schools in the state of Florida including state title favorite Lake Mary, who remains undefeated 4 games in. The Lions upcoming district schedule is extremely light, as their next 4 opponents have a combined record of 6-13 and an average state ranking of 375th, compared to the Lions first 5 games who had an average ranking of 94th in the state.
Next week the Lions play at East River who are 1-4 on the season.
Cross Country
By Merrick DiCarolis
Last week the Oviedo Lions boys and girls lacrosse teams raced at the West Orange Invitational where they continued their early season success.
The lions girls team came in 4th place and were led by Maya Cabal who for a second straight placed in the top 10 with a 20:08.50 5km. The Lions other leaders were Courtney Calhoun, who came in 15th place with a 20:47.70 and Hannah Atwell who ran a 21:32.20 and came in 26th place. The Jv girl team had a great day as Audrey Wood placed 2nd in the competition with a 22:33.30 and Tristan Brunette placed 12th with a 25:18.20.
The Lions boys team had another great day finishing 2nd place and were led by Myles Egerton. Myles placed 10th in the competition with a 16:59.00 5km. The lions made up 5 of the first 20 finishers, dominating the competition. Aiden Aysun, one of three triplets on the team finished in 11th with a 17:07.30 and his brother finished just 7 seconds behind with a 17:14.40 which was good enough for 14th in the competition. The JV boys did not have any top 10 finishers but still had a good day with 3 in top 20. The best JV runner was Nathanial Watson, who finished in 11th with a 20:17.30.
Next week the Lions have their biggest tournament of the regular season at Florida State where they will hope to replicate their early season success.
Swim and Dive
By Merrick DiCarolis
This week the Oviedo Lions girls and boys swim team swam at Oviedo against Master Academy Lyman and Winter Springs. The girls swim team won by 160 points, one of their best meets of the season. The boys won as well, dominating the competition by 149 points.
The girls were led by Sophomore Addie Barowsky who won the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:39.06 . Freshman Natasha Goodwin also had a great meet, winning the 100 freestyle with a time of 57.75 . Next week the girls swim at Lake Brantley against Lake Brantley where they will hope to replicate their success from this week.
The boys were led by Senior Thomas Youngblood who won the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.07. Senior Ryan Walker also swam well, winning the 100 fly with an incredible time of 54.20. The Lions will also face Lake Brantley next week at Brantley.
Golf
By Hunter Fuehrer
Week 5 saw the Oviedo Lions golf team play in the Winter Springs Invitational before playing the Seminole high school, Seminoles. The Lions had amassed a 4-3-1 record after going 1-1 the week prior after beating Lake Brantley, but losing to Hagerty.
The Lions played in the Winter Springs Invitational this past Monday at Tuscawilla Country Club. The invitational featured some of the top golf programs in central Florida including The First Academy (3rd), Trinity Prep (7th), Spruce Creek (5th), Lake Nona (4th), Hagerty (11th), Lake Mary (4th), Dr. Phillips (3rd), Lake Brantley (13th), Oviedo (14th), Windermere Prep (5th) and Timber Creek (12th).
Oviedo finished 7th with a team score of 317. The team was led by sophomore Tyler Adamczyk who scored 75. It was a strong performance from a young lions team that is still finding its place amongst the best in the state.
“I don’t like ‘moral’ victories as a coach”, Coach Howell stated, “but this was an OK finish. I have been telling the kids since day one that we can be as good as anyone. That all of them are capable of going low on any day. Today we got real close. If each player whose score counted cut one stroke off their score, we move up to 5th. If they cut two strokes, we move up to 3rd place.”
Following the Invitational Oviedo faced off against Seminole on Wednesday September 20th. Oviedo was looking to find some rhythm after the Winter Springs Invitational. The Lions were led by Caleb Anderson with a score of 37.
“I didn’t hit the ball very well today,” Anderson remarked, “but my putting was good and it saved me on several holes.”
The Lions took the match 156 to Seminoles 164 bringing their record 5-3-1. Next week Oviedo looks to take down Orange City on September 26th, and Timber Creek on September 28th.
Bowling
By Josh Sabbia
The Oviedo Bowling team first went against Hagerty high school on monday, the score ended up being 2,607-2,143 for the boys. Freshman Alex Coghill had a high game of 227, and senior Zach Horrobin of 204 +201=405 pins. The Oviedo boys ended up losing the game, but definitely learned a lot from the loss.
This loss led them to beat Lake Howell on wednesday. The score ended 2,270-1,744 to Oviedo which now makes the boys team record 6-3. Junior Om Telang had a high game of 233, and then later had a high series of a total of 437 pins. This really brought back the spirits of the Oviedo lions team by the end of the week.
The Oviedo girls team had also a similar week with going against Hagerty first and losing 1,713-1,483. Junior Tayler Hennessy had a high series of 271, and following that was junior Natalie Harvey who had a high series of 260 pins. This loss propelled them to do great against their next opponent Lake Howell. Oviedo beat Lake Howell 1535-1379. This makes the girls record now 5-4. Senior Natalie Harvey had a high series of 287. The girls end their baker game as well with 334 pins.
Both teams will go against Lyman High School next week on Monday.
