Deltona High School grad Blake Hinson, who just finished his final year as a basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh, has been honored once again by being the 23rd Pitt basketball player to be selected as a member of Pitt’s Varsity Walk. He also received the 2024 Panther Award, and gained All-ACC Conference honors two years in a row.
Hinson only played two seasons at Pitt, while becoming the fourth-fastest player in Pitt history to score 1,000 points. He did it in two seasons or 61 games, scoring a total of 1,159 points in those two seasons, while averaging 16.8 per game. He also pulled down 363 rebounds, and scored 207 3-point field goals.
Hinson now ranks 30th in career scoring while at Pitt, seventh in making 3-point shots and sixth in 3-point percentage. He set a school record for three per game, with 3.0. He is currently participating in the G-League Elite Camp, which places him in front of many NBA scouts prior to the NBA draft in June.
Pitt’s Varsity Walk is a tradition that celebrates the achievements and dedication of the student-athlete, with engraved stones commemorating the names and achievements of athletes receiving the Blue/Gold Award or Panther Award.
The Panther Award is presented to the male or female senior student-athlete who has promoted Pittsburgh athletics through his or her outstanding athletic achievement.
Graduation has taken place in Volusia County, and each of the graduating classes had certain statistics reported by Volusia County Schools. All of the West Volusia data was available at this writing, except for Deltona High, which will be noted later.
DeLand High had 623 graduates, with 88 of these being Scholar Designates, while 393 gained Industry Scholar Designations. There were 31 gold seals and six silver seals for the Florida Seal of Biliteracy. Twenty-seven had earned an AA or AS degree through dual enrollment, while one earned a bachelor’s degree. DHS students earned 41,916 community-service hours, while $4.5 million was earned in scholarships as of this date. Nineteen students will be entering military service.
Pine Ridge High in Deltona had 354 graduates, with 42 earning Scholar Designations and 183 earning Industry Scholar Designations. Four students earned the Florida Seal of Biliteracy. Thirteen students will be entering the military, while the class earned 15,237 community-service hours.
Taylor Middle-High in Pierson had 156 graduates, with 19 gaining Scholar Designations and 75 getting Industry Scholar Designations, with 12 earning Florida Seal of Biliteracy. Five earned either an AA or AS degree through dual enrollment, with another three entering the military.
University High in Orange City had 541 graduates, with 226 gaining Scholar Designation and 241 gaining Industry Scholar Designation. Twenty-eight earned the Florida Seal of Literacy, with 18 receiving an AA or AS degree through dual enrollment. Nine students will enter the military, while the class received $3,952,500 in scholarships. The class contributed 28,707 community-service hours.
Volusia Online Learning had 55 graduates, with 11 receiving Scholar Designations and 38 Industry Scholar Designations, along with one gold seal and two silver seal Florida Seal of Biliteracy. Two gained either an AA or AS certificate through dual enrollment, while one will enter the military. Two thousand one hundred community-service hours were earned.
Volusia Pines Elementary School
Volusia Pines Elementary School in Lake Helen offers congratulations to Jessica Minor for being named the Mentor of the Year. She has worked with her present mentee for three years, and when she noticed him struggling after leaving her class, she took the initiative to become his mentor.
All-Area nominees
The Daytona Beach News-Journal nominates student-athletes toward becoming the Outstanding Athlete in Volusia and Flagler counties in numerous sports. The most recent West Volusia nominees in track are Kylie Neira of DeLand High in the pole vault, Nyrania Barr-Miller of University High in 100 high hurdles, and Elijah Thompson of Pine Ridge in sprinting.
The recent nominees for softball are Addison Pertler of University High as a catcher, Sophie Strempel of Deltona High as an infielder, Zoe Cleveland of Deltona High as an outfielder, and Amya Ramos of Taylor Middle-High as a utility player.
The West Volusia baseball nominees are Luke Hoffmann of DeLand as an infielder, Alek Rentas of Pine Ridge as an outfielder, and Kenny Capria of Pine Ridge as a utility player.
Volusia County Schools
Certain additions have been made to Volusia County schools to upgrade certain areas of education. The digital video-technology program has new computer labs and top-notch equipment at DeLand High, Deltona High and University High. Advanced agr-technology has been introduced to Taylor Middle-High, while University High has gained game and simulation programs with new computer labs.
DeLand High School football
DeLand High School played two teams during the Spring Jamboree period. The young Bulldogs lost to Edgewater, 16-0, and to Osceola, 14-0. The DeLand football team will face Eustis in the Kickoff Classic at 7 p.m. Aug. 16, at Spec Martin Memorial Stadium. They then face Madison County for their season-opener at home at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23.
Stetson University
Stetson University students prepared 285 federal tax returns for free this spring to help local families in need through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. The students worked with Stetson faculty, staff and others to file the tax returns with the IRS, saving families on the cost of tax preparation, while also gaining hands-on experience in finance and accounting. The program is sponsored by United Way of Volusia-Flagler Counties and Stetson’s VITA program.
Stetson University Athletics
The Stetson University Hatters baseball team earned the title of Co-Champion of the ASUN regular season with a matching, 20-10, game tally with Austin Peay and Florida Gulf Coast. The team then went on to win the ASUN Post-Season Tournament, earning the right to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Hats defeated Kennesaw State, 5-3, to win the crown. MVP honors went to Stetson’s Lorenzo Meola.
The ASUN has named Lyle Miller-Green of Austin Peay as Player of the Year for the regular season. Stetson’s Kyle Jones was named as the Freshman of the Year for the conference, as well as being a unanimous selection to the All-Freshman Team, to which Zane Coppersmith and Logan Hughes were named. Coppersmith and Yohann Dessureault were named to the Second Team All-ASUN, while Anthony DeFabbia and Kyle Jones were named to the Third Team.
College honors
Brooks Chandler, of DeLand, has been named to the spring 2024 dean’s list for exemplary academic performance at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. Chandler is a senior.
Mark Leavitt, of DeLand, has been named to the dean’s list for the spring 2024 semester at Nazareth University in Rochester, New York.
Alina Jones, of Deltona, an integrated art and design major, has been named to the dean’s list for the spring 2024 semester at the University of Pennsylvania in East Stroudsburg.
