LIVESTOCK-JUDGING — Volusia County 4-H recently brought home state championship honors from the 2024 Florida 4-H State Livestock Judging Contest April 13 in Gainesville. Team members, from left, are Garrett Hebert, Hayden Fowler and team coach Lori Smith, all of DeLand; Hayley Luznar of New Smyrna Beach and Luke Lunsford of DeLand. For their accomplishment, the team will now represent Florida at the national-level contest this November in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Volusia County 4-H is always a very active group, and there is no exception to that this year. The Volusia County livestock-judging team has brought home the state championship this spring and will be going to the national championships representing Florida in November in Louisville, Kentucky.
Those on the team representing DeLand include Garrett Hebert, Hayden Fowler and Luke Lunsford, who teamed up with Hayley Luznar of New Smyrna Beach to claim the state title. The group is coached by Lori Smith, also of DeLand.
Two reserve state champions in the Florida 4-H State Poultry Judging Contest hailed from Volusia County. Those on the two teams were Kayden Duncan of DeLeon Springs, Justin “Ty” Davis of Pierson, Sallie Baker and Olivia Bordner of Osteen, Jase Berry of Edgewater and MyKaelah Johnston of DeBary. These teams were coached by Abby Marion of DeLand, who is the co-leader of the Volusia Show Pride 4-H.
POULTRY-JUDGING — Two teams from Volusia County 4-H were named as reserve state champions in the 2024 Florida 4-H State Poultry Judging Contest Feb. 16 in Tampa. Team members, from left, include Jase Berry of Edgewater; Kayden Duncan of DeLeon Springs; Justin “Ty” Davis of Pierson; Sallie Baker of Osteen; Olivia Bordner of Osteen; MyKaelah Johnston of DeBary and team coach Abby Marion of DeLand.
FUTURES Foundation for Volusia County Schools hosted its annual Cruisin’ to the Caribbean Party, which is the group’s major fundraiser.
This year’s party, which is presented by Brown & Brown, raised more than $93,000 through the generosity of the sponsors, attendees, auction donors, winning bidders and Take Stock in Children scholarship donors.
Proceeds from the party benefit all of FUTURES Foundation’s programs.
World Languages Festival winners
Students who took first place in the Volusia County World Languages Festival who are in the classes of Katheushka Rentas at DeLand High School are Masio Kinard, Chloe Brockschmidt, Selena Chen, Lilly Darlington, Ansley Foster, Jacob Gomez, Madison Haynes, Rici Hendrix, Alexandra Herrera, Jayla Huntley, Jason Johnson, Rachel Kelso, Arden Martinez, Alexis Martinez, Isis McPherron, Kimberly Nguyen, Amelia Rizzo, Kandra Ronzairo, Abigail Sanchez, Ava Siegmeister, Owen Smith, Xavier Soto-Colon, Jagen Stanger, Adam Tandia, Miguel Vazquez and Sara Visconti.
Pine Ridge High School
The seniors of Pine Ridge High School in Deltona will have their prom Friday, May 3. Senior Week will be Monday-Friday, May 6-10. The Senior Baccalaureate will take place Monday, May 6, and the Senior Dinner will be Friday, May 10, with both starting at 6 p.m.
West Volusia boys weightlifting
The FHSAA State Boys Weightlifting Championships took place during the weekend of April 20. Results were not available at this writing.
The following is a list of those who participated in the championships from West Volusia: Vincent Chen and Dante Mascio from DeLand High; Carlito Betancourt, Nick Cleavenger, Ethan Fournier, Ethan Hemke, Francis Hipolito, Austin Rosser, Nathan Thomas and Liam Valle from University High in Orange City; Thomas Berrios from Deltona High; Billy Faulk and Rylan Shroyer from Pine Ridge High in Deltona; Alex Gomez, Francisco Perez and Cooper Smith from Taylor Middle-High in Pierson; and Chandler Shacklette from Trinity Christian Academy in Deltona.
West Volusia high-school track
The regular season closed out for high-school track April 19. There were two meets that some of the West Volusia schools competed in during the closing days of the season.
Deltona High had an abbreviated meet, with six schools competing only in the 100, the 400 and the mile, along with the long jump and shot put. Athletes were allowed to only compete in one running event and one field event.
At this meet, all seniors from competing schools were recognized. Seabreeze won the boys division, with University taking second and Deltona third.
On the girls side, University won the meet, with Deltona taking fifth. Those winning events from University were Cato Stuart in the 100 meters at 11.57, Ryan McDonough in the 400 at 57.82 and Nyrania Barr-Miller in the 100 at 12.45, while Carlos Cerrud won the mile for Deltona at 4:42.22.
The other meet took place at Mount Dora Christian Academy, with 15 schools competing. The only team from West Volusia was Deltona Trinity Christian, which placed 13th in the boys division and 10th in the girls division.
Those placing in the top 8 at this meet for the Deltona Trinity Christian Eagles were Trenton Newton, Joseph Brittain, Kristofer Medeiros, Jaden Rodriguez, Jilmar Uran, Gideon Romero, Alex Cajigas, Ricardo Rodriguez, Malia Marrow, Andrea Sutton, Lauryn Easter (2), La’Shyla Easter (2), Kate Chivington (2), Emilee McMillan (2), Kylie Chivington (20) and Maci Bacon.
DeLand High School Athletics
The DeLand High School Bulldog baseball team topped Merritt Island, 5-3, lost to Pine Ridge, 7-5, and beat Spruce Creek, 2-0.
Both the boys and girls tennis teams competed in the FHSAA District Tournament, with the boys placing seventh and the girls fifth.
The Lady Bulldog softball team was stopped by Flagler Palm Coast, 10-0, with Payton Mathis getting the only hit for DeLand, with a double.
The beach volleyball team defeated Atlantic, 5-0.
The DeLand flag-football team lost in the first round of the FHSAA tournament to Orlando Boone, 12-0. Kenna Harkness passed for 56 yards, while Kayla Hill caught three for 45 yards, with Mari Howell grabbing three for 24 yards.
Most of the spring sports are now in the state elimination process for the state championships. Check with each team as to whether they are still in the elimination process and as to where and when they are playing.
Stetson University
Stetson University Homecoming for the upcoming year will be Oct. 25-27. Visit stetson.edu/homecoming for more information as it is formed.
Stetson students Abigail Radisky and Alex Faulkner have been accepted into the Expanding Diversity in Economics Summer Institute. Nearly 1,000 applied, with only 45 being accepted. This is a program offered by the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at The University of Chicago in collaboration with the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution.
Stetson has reported that the Stetson University College of Law for the second year in a row has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report. The Trial Advocacy Program has earned the No. 1 ranking, while the Legal Writing Program has maintained its No. 3 position.
Kyle C. Longest, Ph.D., has been selected as the next dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He is currently the associate academic dean and a professor of sociology at Furman University. He will be on campus as the dean July 15.
The Stetson University Concert Choir is out on its Spring Tour. They will be at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando Saturday and Sunday, May 11-12; in Minnesota Tuesday, May 14; in Iowa Wednesday, May 15; Illinois Thursday May 16; in Kentucky Friday, May 17; in Maryland Sunday, May 19; and in New York Monday, May 20. Earlier this year, they sang at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach and in the Lee Chapel in Elizabeth Hall on Stetson’s DeLand campus.
Stetson University Athletics
Stetson University tennis players Tim Gennes and Eder Blanco have been named to the Second-Team All-ASUN tennis team. The men’s tennis team also announced the signing of Kartik Mandla from Collierville, Tennessee, to the Hatter program.
The Hatter baseball team lost to FGCU, 8-3, with Daniel Labrador hitting a home run. The team then lost to Bethune-Cookman, 8-7, with Landon Moran homering for the Hats.
In the first game with North Alabama, the Hats won, 8-4, with Logan Hughes and Yohann Dessureault hitting four-baggers, while Anthony DeFabbia was the winning pitcher. The Hats had 11 hits and five stolen bases in this game.
In the Saturday game, North Alabama bounced back with a 5-4 win.
On Friday-Sunday, May 3-5, the team greets Austin Peay at 6:30 p.m. for the first two games, and at 1 p.m. for the final date.
On Tuesday, May 7, the Hats host Bethune-Cookman at 6:30 p.m.
The softball team lost to Jacksonville, 3-2, and to FGCU, 4-1 and 5-4. They face North Florida at home at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. May 3, and at 4 p.m. May 4, to close out their regular season.
The Lady Hatter lacrosse team lost to Queens, 21-12, with Katie Kornacki getting four goals.
The beach volleyball team lost to FIU, 3-2, beat Tulane, 3-2, beat FAU, 4-1, and lost to North Florida, 3-2.
The Stetson women’s golf team placed fifth out of 12 teams in the ASUN Championship, which saw Kennesaw State claim the title, followed by Lipscomb, North Florida and Austin Peay. Julieta Oviedo placed fourth overall for Stetson with a 1 under score for the tournament.
The men’s tennis team won its first round in the ASUN Tournament, 4-0, against Eastern Kentucky, which is being played at FGCU.
The Lady Hatter tennis team won its first round of the ASUN Tournament, which is being played in DeLand. The team topped Austin Peay, 4-1.
