Poll: Who’s your Miami-Dade high school Player of the Week? (May 21)
Southwest players celebrate holding the state championship trophy after beating Cardinal Gibbons in four games in the state final on Saturday night at Polk State College in Winter Haven, Fla.
Bill Kemp/Special to the Miami Herald
Miami-Dade County’s top athletes won state and regional titles this week as they began to wrap up the 2022-23 high school sports season.
This week, we continue a weekly feature where we ask you to vote for the best performer of the week in Miami-Dade County high school sports.
Below is a look at the five candidates from last week’s action. Take our poll below to cast your vote. The poll will be open until Thursday, May 25, around 10 p.m.
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You may vote as often as you like until then.
Here are the candidates from last week’s events:
▪ Johan Hidalgo, Sunset, baseball: Hidalgo paced the Knights, pitching 6 ⅓ innings, allowing one unearned run and striking out eight with only one walk as they upset top-seeded Key West on the road, 2-1, and clinched their first ever trip to the state final four.
▪ Luca Mendez, Gulliver, baseball: Mendez threw six innings, giving up just three hits and striking out four, and hit a key double, which led to the Raiders’ only runs in a 2-0 win over Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian in the Region 4-3A final. Mendez also had a two-run single in Gulliver’s heartbreaking 5-4 loss at state to North Broward Prep.
▪ Juanmarco Diaz, Southwest, boys’ volleyball: Diaz totaled 30 kills, 19 digs and seven blocks to lead the Eagles to convincing wins over Hialeah Gardens, Kings Academy and Cardinal Gibbons and secure their first state championship since 2008.
▪ Sara Breaux, Doral Academy, softball: Breaux hit the eventual game-winning two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to lift the Firebirds to a 2-0 win over Fort Lauderdale in the Region 4-6A final and lead them to their fourth consecutive appearance at state.
▪ Cynteria James, Southridge, girls’ track and field: James, a Kentucky commit, won the 400-meter dash, added top-three finishes in the 100 and 200 and anchored the victorious 4×400 relay team to lead the Spartans to their first state title since 2017.
▪ Shakynah Tresvant, Northwestern, girls’ track and field: Tresvant won the 400-meter hurdles and finished third in the triple jump to lead the Bulls to their state-record 19th state title overall and 14th in a row.
