Suwannee regains lead in Victory Cup standings

Published 6:00 am Friday, March 4, 2011

corey.davis@gaflnews.com

A strong winter season has pushed Suwannee back in front of the inaugural Victory Cup standings.

Through 15 of 22 events, Suwannee now leads with 280 points, with Lafayette in second with 240, Branford in third with 75, Hamilton County in fourth with 50 and Melody Christian in fifth with zero points.

Suwannee leads the boys competition with 135, Lafayette is in second with 120, Branford and Hamilton are tied for third with 50 and Melody is in last with zero.

In the girls competition, Suwannee leads with 145, Lafayette is second with 120, Branford is third with 25, while Hamilton and Melody are tied for fourth with zero points.   

A district title in boys soccer, a top 16 finish statewide in wrestling and a winning season in boys basketball pushed Suwannee back in the lead. Girls Soccer (16-4-1) lost 7-0 to Trinity Catholic in the first round of the playoffs, boys soccer (17-5-2) fell to Trinity Catholic 4-2 in the first round of the playoffs, girls basketball (18-8) fell to South Sumter in the first round of the playoffs, boys basketball (17-9) fell in the District 5-3A semifinals and wrestling finished tied for 16th at the Class 1A state meet.

Lafayette remained in contention as boys soccer (9-5-2) won its first ever district title and lost to P.K. Yonge 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs and girls basketball (17-12) fell to Sagemont in the Class 2A Final Four last week.

Branford overtook Hamilton County for third behind its girls basketball team finishing 13-12 overall, to earn 25 points.

The award will be given annually to the athletic program with the most points earned at the conclusion of spring sports. The school with the best male and female athletic programs will be announced, with the overall winner taking home the Victory Cup.

Points will be tabulated by this reporter, with updates published several times a year, including at the conclusion of the fall, winter and spring seasons.

Suwannee, Branford, Hamilton, Lafayette and Melody Christian athletic programs will be competing for the award.

The award is a model of the NCAA Directors Cup and the FHSAA Floyd E. Lay Awards. Other papers around the state like the Pensacola News Journal, Orlando Sentinel and the Miami Herald have similar awards.  

Among the sports in which the schools can gain points in the fall are football, volleyball, boys cross country, girls cross country, bowling, boys swimming, girls swimming, boys golf and girls golf.

In the winter, boys basketball, girls basketball, boys soccer, girls soccer, wrestling and girls weightlifting will be up for grabs, while in the spring, baseball, softball, boys track, girls track, boys tennis, girls tennis and boys weightlifting will count.

Since no area schools have boys or girls lacrosse, boys or girls water polo, girls flag football or boys volleyball, those sports won’t be included in the standings.

In the event of a a tie, the program with the fewest number of sports will win the award.

Points will be awarded for football, volleyball, bowling, boys basketball, girls basketball, boys soccer, girls soccer, baseball and softball, based on how teams finish in the state playoffs.

The maximum number of points a team can earn is 100 for winning a state championship, 90 for being a state runner up, 80 for a Final Four appearance, 70 for an Elite 8 appearance, 60 for a Sweet 16 appearance, 50 for a district championship, 40 for district runner up and 25 for having a winning record.

In individual sports like swimming, wrestling, weightlifting, golf, track and cross country points will be awarded to the best team finish with 100 points rewarded for winning a state championship. A state runner up finish will earn 90 points, third place finish 85, top five finish 80, top 10 finish 70, top 32 finish 50 and 25 for winning districts.