With the 2015-16 school year about to end and all athletic events in the rearview mirror, a look back shows that Nature Coast has to carve out considerable space in its trophy case.
Across the three sports seasons, the Sharks loaded up on district championships, and in some cases even greater accolades.
Of course football grabs the biggest headlines, and Nature Coast’s 2015 campaign was one of the finest the county has ever seen. The Sharks started off 12-0, becoming the second county team to ever advance to a regional final, where they fell at Green Cove Springs-Clay, 40-28.
Senior running back DeShawn Smith turned in an All-American performance throughout the season, leading the nation with 3,715 rushing yards and a new state record of 66 touchdowns.
In boys basketball, the Sharks won their fifth consecutive district title and the sixth in seven years. They would end up advancing to the Sweet 16.
The girls weightlifting team not only won its district, but ended up second in the state with a pair of individual champions, senior Ashley Gentz (129 pounds) and junior Samantha Traudt (139).
District crowns were also collected in baseball, boys golf, girls golf, softball, boys tennis, as well as both boys and girls track and field. The girls track squad added a regional championship, the first in team history, while softball made it to the Elite Eight after never having previously garnered a regional victory.
Nature Coast additionally went to regionals in boys soccer, finishing as a district runner-up, and both cross country squads qualified for regionals.
Each of the other county schools had some postseason success of their own, particularly Springstead where baseball, softball, boys swimming and boys tennis claimed district titles. For swimming, it was the county’s first championship of its kind, and the girls added a district runner-up finish.
Meanwhile, softball went 27-2, reaching the Elite Eight for the second time, losing just 1-0 to Land O’ Lakes. The girls basketball team had its first winning season since 1992-93, going a school-best 16-9 and participating in regionals for the first time, as the district runner-up.
Weeki Wachee had its own district championship – the first by any team in the school – and run to a regional final in volleyball, and later made more school history by winning districts in wrestling. Meanwhile the baseball team was a surprise district runner-up, marking its initial trip to regionals.
Central’s girls soccer team won a district for the first time since 1998, and the boys weightlifting squad was a district runner-up.
Hernando, which hadn’t notched a district title since 2006, ended that streak and wound up making states. The Leopards’ best distance runner-up, sophomore Trevor Foley, took the state championship in the 1,600 meter in track. In baseball, the Leopards were a district runner-up, and they were a regional runner-up in boys weightlifting.
Finally, Hernando Christian Academy snagged its first district championship in girls basketball, and made it to the Elite Eight.
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.