Athletics

Spring Signing Day

On February 1, 2023, St. Johns celebrated Signing Day while two seniors signed National Letters of Intent to play baseball in college. Jeffrey Henry committed to play at Maryville University and Paul Janeczko committed to Rollins College.

“I couldn’t be prouder of these two athletes as they sign their Letters of Intent today,” said Director of Athletics Traci Livingston ’90. “Your Spartan family is behind you and will always be rooting for you as you take this next step in your journey.”

Girls Basketball Clinches Chick-Fil-A Tournament

In December, Girls Varsity Basketball was crowned tournament champions at the Chickfil-A tournament in Bradenton. Senior Taliah Scott was named the Most Valuable Player and broke four tournament records and Junior Mary Kate Kent played outstanding games and was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Scott Named McDonald’s All American

On January 24, Taliah Scott ’23 (committed to Arkansas) learned that she’d been named to the McDonald’s All American Games. Over 700 student-athletes were nominated for just 48 slots (24 boys and 24 girls) on this listing of the best high school basketball players in the nation.

Scott is one of only 4 girls from the First Coast ever to have been named, and the first of those not at Ribault High School. She hit the 2,000 career points mark back in December, and her average per game tops 37 points.

“I was totally not expecting this,” said Scott. “I was watching the announcement on ESPN with my dad and my brother, and when my name came up, I just started crying. It was so amazing.”

“Providing a national platform to elevate and honor these players is what the McDonald’s All American Games is all about,” said Joe Wootten, McDonald’s All American Games Selection Committee Chairman. “We’ve been doing this

for over four decades and have seen some truly amazing kids come through this iconic pro gram. That’s why this moment is so special… the history, prestige and all that comes with it. These players are joining a long list of icons to be named nominees to the Games and it’s something that will never be taken away.”

Scott received her McDonald’s All American jersey in a ceremony held at St. Johns on March 1, 2023 and the game will be played March 28 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

In addition to McDonald’s All Amer ican, Taliah has also been named Divi sion 2A Player of the Year, Gatorade Player of the Year for Florida, Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Basketball, and Florida Times-Union’s All-First Coast Player of the Year in girls basketball. She is also the two-time state scoring champion.

Senior Nights

In January, Girls Basketball celebrated their seniors (above), Juliet Moody, Taliah Scott, and Semaj Williams. Then, on February 1, Boys Basketball took their turn to celebrate senior player Andrew Hightower and team managers Cookie Myers and Lily Weldon (below). Coaches took the opportunity to thank all the players, managers, and their families for all their hard work and team effort over the years and celebrated their successes and contributions to the teams.

Girls Weightlifting

Addison Frisbee ’24 placed 3rd at the FHSAA State Championships in Olympic Weightlifting. In its 3rd season, the girls weightlifting team is holding its own against competitors and defeating some of the biggest schools in our area. The team placed well at districts and had three district champions and two runners-up with seven girls advancing to Regionals. Frisbee was crowned Regional Champion and advanced to the State tournament where she placed 3rd overall.

Boys Weightlifting

This year, St. Johns launched a Boys Weightlifting team with two students—Seniors Hunter Noble and Thomas Pounds—competing for St. Johns.

Tennis

Spartan Tennis finished another strong season with big wins against Providence, Trinity, and Bishop Snyder and had a great appearance at the district tournament with the girls finishing as the 2022 District Runner-Up. Singles district champion Stella Hyatt ’23 competed at the State Championships where she won her first match and line 1 doubles district champions Stella and Calli Berrang ’26 took their game to the State Semifinals.

Softball

Spartan Softball had a great season with top wins against district opponents. The team was seeded first in districts and charged into the Regional Championship in May.

Baseball

After a stellar season, the top-rated Spartans had a tough-fought Championship game in Ft. Myers in May and ended up 2A Regional Semi-Finalists. Eight Spartans were named to the All First Coast teams, including Kody Daneault ’24, homeschooled athlete Kyle Boylston, Trevor Bradley ’24, Jacob Thomas ’23, Seth Alford ’24, Shawn Andrade ’23, Jeffrey Henry ’23, and Isaiah Mamea ’23.

Soccer

Under direction of Mike Pickett, Spartan women’s soccer finished its season with a 20-2-1 record. Throughout the season, the team was recognized as one of the top areas in North Florida and six Spartans were named to the All First Coast Team including Lauryn Mateo ’23 and Sydney Schmidt ’26 (First Team), Avery Raimondo ’23 (Second Team), and Madi Erwin ’23, Cece Nowicki ’25, and homeschooled athlete Sophia Pontieri (Honorable Mention). The Spartans finished the season FHSAA State Runner-Up.

Track & Field

At the FHSAA Track & Field District Champi onships in April, 14 athletes qualified for the Regional competition, including:

„ Ashlyn Rose ’24 shot put and discus (Dis trict Champion)

„ Thomas Pounds ’23 discus, shot put (District Runner-Up), and javelin (District Champion)

„ Tripp Vogt ’23 javelin

„ Owen Johnston ’23 shot put

„ Meg Fackler ’23 high jump

„ Becca Stratton ’25 1600m (District Champion)

„ Ava Johnson ’23 400m Hurdles (District Champion), 100m hurdles

„ Sofia Conde ’24 400 hurdles

„ Girls 4X100 (Sofia Conde ’24, Sarah Robinson ’24, Matilda Morris ’29, and Becca Stratton ’25)

„ Isa Johnson ’28 and Sarah Robinson ’24400m

„ Matilda Morris ’29 - 800m

„ Kate Staten ’29, Olivia Morris ’29, Becca Stratton ’25 - 3200m

The Girls team was the overall District Runner Up, and Ava Johnson ’23 went on to compete at both Regional and State competitions in hurdles. Congratulations, Spartans!