All-American honors have been bestowed upon DeLand High School pole vaulter Kylie Neira. Neira was recently informed that she had been named as an All-American by the National High School Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association.
Neira is the reigning FHSAA State 4A state champion, which she has been for the past two years. She may be the first pole vaulter to hold the title for consecutive years.
The DHS junior just claimed the runner-up position at the regional AAU track meet, which covers several states. Her personal best vault is 3.97 meters, or just over 13 feet.
The Florida High School Athletic Association yearly honors academic team championships. A team must have a team academic average of 3.0 GPA on an unweighted 4.0 scale to be honored. The team with the highest average for that sport receives 10 points, with points reduced by one through the top 10 places.
This past year for the 7A classification, Tampa’s Plant High School claimed the championship with 128 points, while DeLand High totaled 22 points.
In the 5A classification, Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach claimed the title with 114 points, with Deltona High earning 10.
DeLand High and Deltona High were the only West Volusia schools to accumulate highs toward the championship. However, the teams of West Volusia did have GPAs above the 3.0 GPA needed to be listed.
The teams representing DeLand High during the winter-sports season making the list were boys basketball with a 3.025 GPA; boys soccer – 3.458; girls soccer – 3.4487; girls weightlifting – 3.442; competitive cheering – 3.231; boys wrestling – 3.119; and girls wrestling – 3.217. The DeLand boys soccer team was fifth overall.
Deltona High had the following team score points during the winter season: boys basketball – 3.185; girls basketball – 3.148; girls soccer – 3.284; girls weightlifting – 3.620; competitive cheering – 3.326; and boys wrestling – 3.188. The girls weightlifting team placed second.
Pine Ridge High School in Deltona placed the girls soccer team at 3.417; girls weightlifting – 3.384; and competitive cheering – 3.138; while Taylor Middle-High School in Pierson placed the girls soccer team on the list at 3.27 and the girls weightlifting team at 3.398.
Stetson University Athletics
Kristin McWilliams has been hired to be the head coach of the Stetson University Hatter cross-country teams. She comes to DeLand from Winter Park High School, where her teams, boys and girls, have won numerous state and individual titles and honors. She is a two-time national high-school coach of the year.
The Stetson Athletic Department has also hired Sue Murphy to lead the women’s lacrosse program. She holds a 151-142 career record, and has served as head coach at Boston University and Richmond, with both teams earning top 10 national honors.
Stetson also has three Lady Hatter golfers who have been named to the 2023-24 Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar Team. These three are Elizabeth Eberle, Lisa Colee and Filippa Jansson. Colee has earned the honor three times, while Jansson has gained it twice. To be considered, a female golfer must have a 3.5 GPA and play in 50 percent of the school’s regularly scheduled competitive rounds during the year.
College honors
Christian Bernabe, of Deltona, graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock during the spring 2024 semester. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in applied communication studies.
