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School is out for the summer, which means it’s the perfect time to look back at some of the accomplishments of the 2025-26 high school sports season.
Spring all-area teams will be released in the coming weeks, but today we’re focusing on the best teams from Escambia and Santa Rosa County in the last school year.
The PNJ selected 17 teams who had outstanding seasons, including ones who won state championships, snapped Final Four droughts or had other postseason breakthroughs.
Instead of just ranking them, we’re letting readers decide. The 17 teams will all be in one poll, then cut down to 8 the following week, then four and then a final two to decide who readers thought was the best high school sports team in the Pensacola area in 2025-26.
Below are the initial 17 nominated teams. Voting for this round ends 11 a.m. Saturday. The eight teams that receive the most votes will advance to the next round.
Vote for who should make the Elite 8 for the PNJ Team of the Year
2025-26 record: 24-3, 5A state champions
The Wildcats set a goal at the beginning of the season to leave Jacksonville with the 5A championship trophy and completed the mission, winning the program’s first state title since 2000.
Booker T. had plenty of talent with Florida state signee Chamiah Francis (PNJ Defensive Player of the Year) and future college guards Jada Clardy (PNJ POTY) and Nylah Brooks leading the way. But they also played tenacious defense, holding every opponent under its season average and had role players step up in big moments.
When Francis went down in the first quarter of the 5A state championship against Blanche Ely, the Wildcats never wavered, fighting off a halftime deficit to edge the Tigers, 56-54.
2025-26 record: 10-6-3, Region 1-5A runnerup
The Wildcats might not have been the dominant squad of previous years but played their best soccer when it mattered most.
After playing one of the toughest schedules in the state, Booker T. won its third straight district title, then won two road state playoff games as the No. 8 seed before falling to eventual state champion Beachside in the Region 1-5A final.
The Wildcats snapped Arnold’s 75-game home unbeaten streak in the regional quarterfinals, then took down local rival Gulf Breeze in the regional semifinals.
2025-26 record: 26-4, Region 1-6A runner-up
The Dolphins remained one of the top volleyball programs in the state despite losing nine players from a state runner-up squad a year ago.
Gulf Breeze captured its seventh straight district title and made another regional finals appearance, falling to eventual 6A state champion Oviedo in a five set thriller. Senior Syd Sutter won PNJ Player of the Year and senior Bella Ciolino won PNJ Defensive Player of the Year and three other seniors signed to play beach volleyball.
2025-26 record: 21-6, 2A state semifinalist
The Dolphins are already making their mark despite just completing their third season as a program.
Gulf Breeze made it back-to-back district titles and Final Four appearances this spring before falling to Belen Jesuit in four sets in the state semifinals.
2025-26 record: 12-8, Region 1-2A runner-up
The Dolphins went from being out of the regional playoff picture when the postseason began to making the deepest playoff run in program history.
Gulf Breeze won its third straight district title, outscoring three opponents by a combined score of 51-9. The Dolphins then beat Jacksonville area squads Nease and Fletcher to advance to its first ever regional final, where it fell to eventual state champion Ponte Vedra.
2025-26 record: 22-5 Rural Region 1 runner-up
The first of two Lady Royals programs who made historic breakthroughs this year. Jay won its first district title since 1995, beating Baker in five sets to snap the Gators’ streak of 22 straight district titles.
The Lady Royals then won their first regional playoff game since 2020 before falling at Chipley in the regional final.
2025-26 record: 25-5, Rural state runner-up
The Lady Royals advanced to their first Final Four since 1998 after losing in the regional finals the previous three seasons. But that wasn’t enough, as Jay beat Hilliard in the state semifinals to advance to the state championship for the first time since 1996.
The Lady Royals lost to Williston in the state championship, but all-area selections Presley Hawthorne and Aubreigh Nelson are slated to return next season to write a different ending.
2025-26 season: Region 1-1A champions
Santa Rosa County has a new burgeoning weightlifting power. The Royals were district runner-up in Olympic and traditional before sweeping both regional titles. Jay then finished third in traditional and eight in Olympic at the 1A state championship, with junior Chase Dooley sweeping the Unlimited state titles and three other Royals winning medals.
2025-26 season: 20-6, Rural Final Four
The Chiefs proved last season’s state runner-up finish wasn’t a fluke, returning to Boombah Soldiers-Creek Park in Longwood.
Northview played a much tougher schedule than last year and beat eventual 5A runner-up Niceville twice. It outscored its district and regional playoff opponents 42-1 before losing in extra innings to Liberty County in the Rural state semifinals.
2025-26 season: 3A state champions
The Patriots put together one of the most dominant seasons in state history. Pace won its fourth straight traditional and third straight Olympic 3A state titles in record-breaking fashion.
In the Olympic classification, they set records for points (54), margin of victory (41) and state champions (5). In traditional, they were one off the overall state record for points and had the biggest margin of victory since 2008.
Maddy Sanderson (101 pounds), Alyssa McMurtrie (169) and Ireland Grimes (183) swept the Olympic and traditional titles in their respective weight classes, while Layah Slaughter (154 Olympic), Kamryn Pierce (199 Olympic) and Mia Woodall (199 traditional) also won state titles.
Pace also won every single individual event at the District 1-3A and Region 1-3A championship.
2025-26 season: 3A Olympic and traditional state champion
Pace reaffirmed its place as the weightlifting capital of Florida after the Patriots boys team swept the 3A Olympic and traditional classifications for the third straight year.
They won the Olympic title by 17 points and the traditional title by nine points.
Kollin Daniels (139) and Ryan Harrigill (154) swept the titles in their respective weight classes, while Grady White (183 Olympic), Alex Gomez (199 traditional) and Jake Box (219 Olympic) won state titles.
2025-26 season: 26-6, Region 1-6A runner-up
The Patriots didn’t have the high-end talent of some of their recent squads, but head coach Jason McBridge got all the pieces clicking to keep the program the best in the Pensacola area.
Pace won its sixth straight district title thanks to a Braiden Cheshire walk-off home run, then fell to Buchholz for the second straight year in the Region 1-6A final. The Patriots were ranked the top team in 6A for much of the season according to the FHSAA rankings, despite having just one senior, Emory Allen, who will play college baseball.
2025-26 season: 27-4, 6A state champions
One year after losing a 1-0 heartbreaker to Doral Academy in the 6A state championship, the Patriots finished the drill and won their second state title in the last three years.
Pace won its sixth straight district title and advanced to its sixth straight Final Four. The Patriots beat Parrish Community 2-1 in the state semifinals, avenging a 12-1 loss to the Bulls on March 7, then beat Bartow 3-1 in the championship.
Pace not only won the 6A state title, but finished the season as the top ranked softball team in Florida, according to MaxPreps.
Junior pitcher Hannah DeMarcus was named MaxPreps Florida Player of the Year, while DeMarcus and head coach Lexi Alexander were named the Florida Dairy Farmers 6A Player and Coach of the Year, respectively.
2025-26 season: 11-2, Region 1-2A runner-up
Despite losing 31 players to graduation or transfer, the Crusaders made the area’s deepest playoff run under first-year head coach Bobby Clayton. Catholic won the District 1-2A title and advanced to the Region 1-2A final, where it lost to Bolles.
Junior Jayden Coleman was named the PNJ’s Defensive Newcomer of the Year and was one of 20 Crusaders to garner all-area honors.
2025-26 season: 21-10, 3A state semifinals
The Crusaders advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 2015, going on a revenge tour to get back to Winter Haven.
Catholic won at Florida High in the Region 1-3A semifinals after the Seminoles ended their season in Pensacola on the same round a year ago. The Crusaders then pulled off a reverse sweep at North Bay Haven in the Region 1-3A final after losing to the Buccaneers in the District 1-3A final.
Freshman Ava Bradley was named the PNJ Newcomer of the Year and was one of five Catholic players named to the PNJ All-Area team.
2025-26 season: 15-3-3, 3A state semifinals
Just like the school’s volleyball team, the Crusaders snapped a decade plus Final Four streak and avenged postseason losses from a year ago.
Catholic advanced to its first Final Four since 2013, beating South Walton in the District 1-3A and Region 1-3A semifinals on the road after the Seahawks did the same to the Crusaders the previous year.
Head coach Jon Guidroz was named PNJ Coach of the Year for the second year in a row, while seven Catholic players were named to the PNJ All-Area team.
2025-26 season: Boys 1A state runner-up, girls 3rd
The Warriors went out with a bang in Scott Cochran’s final season. The boys finished state runner-up, winning their first state hardware since 1998. The girls finished in third place, and seniors Jaimee Tutton (7th) and Reagan Smith (11th) were individual medalists.
Both teams swept the district titles for the sixth straight season, and finished as regional runner-up. Senior Jaimee Tutton and junior Isaiah Manderson were named the PNJ Girls and Boys Runner of the Year, respectively.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Vote for the best Pensacola area high school team
Continue reading...
Spring all-area teams will be released in the coming weeks, but today we’re focusing on the best teams from Escambia and Santa Rosa County in the last school year.
The PNJ selected 17 teams who had outstanding seasons, including ones who won state championships, snapped Final Four droughts or had other postseason breakthroughs.
Instead of just ranking them, we’re letting readers decide. The 17 teams will all be in one poll, then cut down to 8 the following week, then four and then a final two to decide who readers thought was the best high school sports team in the Pensacola area in 2025-26.
Below are the initial 17 nominated teams. Voting for this round ends 11 a.m. Saturday. The eight teams that receive the most votes will advance to the next round.
Vote for who should make the Elite 8 for the PNJ Team of the Year
Booker T. Washington girls basketball
2025-26 record: 24-3, 5A state champions
The Wildcats set a goal at the beginning of the season to leave Jacksonville with the 5A championship trophy and completed the mission, winning the program’s first state title since 2000.
Booker T. had plenty of talent with Florida state signee Chamiah Francis (PNJ Defensive Player of the Year) and future college guards Jada Clardy (PNJ POTY) and Nylah Brooks leading the way. But they also played tenacious defense, holding every opponent under its season average and had role players step up in big moments.
When Francis went down in the first quarter of the 5A state championship against Blanche Ely, the Wildcats never wavered, fighting off a halftime deficit to edge the Tigers, 56-54.
Booker T. Washington boys soccer
2025-26 record: 10-6-3, Region 1-5A runnerup
The Wildcats might not have been the dominant squad of previous years but played their best soccer when it mattered most.
After playing one of the toughest schedules in the state, Booker T. won its third straight district title, then won two road state playoff games as the No. 8 seed before falling to eventual state champion Beachside in the Region 1-5A final.
The Wildcats snapped Arnold’s 75-game home unbeaten streak in the regional quarterfinals, then took down local rival Gulf Breeze in the regional semifinals.
Gulf Breeze girls volleyball
2025-26 record: 26-4, Region 1-6A runner-up
The Dolphins remained one of the top volleyball programs in the state despite losing nine players from a state runner-up squad a year ago.
Gulf Breeze captured its seventh straight district title and made another regional finals appearance, falling to eventual 6A state champion Oviedo in a five set thriller. Senior Syd Sutter won PNJ Player of the Year and senior Bella Ciolino won PNJ Defensive Player of the Year and three other seniors signed to play beach volleyball.
Gulf Breeze boys volleyball
2025-26 record: 21-6, 2A state semifinalist
The Dolphins are already making their mark despite just completing their third season as a program.
Gulf Breeze made it back-to-back district titles and Final Four appearances this spring before falling to Belen Jesuit in four sets in the state semifinals.
Gulf Breeze boys lacrosse
2025-26 record: 12-8, Region 1-2A runner-up
The Dolphins went from being out of the regional playoff picture when the postseason began to making the deepest playoff run in program history.
Gulf Breeze won its third straight district title, outscoring three opponents by a combined score of 51-9. The Dolphins then beat Jacksonville area squads Nease and Fletcher to advance to its first ever regional final, where it fell to eventual state champion Ponte Vedra.
Jay volleyball
2025-26 record: 22-5 Rural Region 1 runner-up
The first of two Lady Royals programs who made historic breakthroughs this year. Jay won its first district title since 1995, beating Baker in five sets to snap the Gators’ streak of 22 straight district titles.
The Lady Royals then won their first regional playoff game since 2020 before falling at Chipley in the regional final.
Jay girls basketball
2025-26 record: 25-5, Rural state runner-up
The Lady Royals advanced to their first Final Four since 1998 after losing in the regional finals the previous three seasons. But that wasn’t enough, as Jay beat Hilliard in the state semifinals to advance to the state championship for the first time since 1996.
The Lady Royals lost to Williston in the state championship, but all-area selections Presley Hawthorne and Aubreigh Nelson are slated to return next season to write a different ending.
Jay boys weightlifting
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2025-26 season: Region 1-1A champions
Santa Rosa County has a new burgeoning weightlifting power. The Royals were district runner-up in Olympic and traditional before sweeping both regional titles. Jay then finished third in traditional and eight in Olympic at the 1A state championship, with junior Chase Dooley sweeping the Unlimited state titles and three other Royals winning medals.
Northview softball
2025-26 season: 20-6, Rural Final Four
The Chiefs proved last season’s state runner-up finish wasn’t a fluke, returning to Boombah Soldiers-Creek Park in Longwood.
Northview played a much tougher schedule than last year and beat eventual 5A runner-up Niceville twice. It outscored its district and regional playoff opponents 42-1 before losing in extra innings to Liberty County in the Rural state semifinals.
Pace girls weightlifting
2025-26 season: 3A state champions
The Patriots put together one of the most dominant seasons in state history. Pace won its fourth straight traditional and third straight Olympic 3A state titles in record-breaking fashion.
In the Olympic classification, they set records for points (54), margin of victory (41) and state champions (5). In traditional, they were one off the overall state record for points and had the biggest margin of victory since 2008.
Maddy Sanderson (101 pounds), Alyssa McMurtrie (169) and Ireland Grimes (183) swept the Olympic and traditional titles in their respective weight classes, while Layah Slaughter (154 Olympic), Kamryn Pierce (199 Olympic) and Mia Woodall (199 traditional) also won state titles.
Pace also won every single individual event at the District 1-3A and Region 1-3A championship.
Pace boys weightlifting
2025-26 season: 3A Olympic and traditional state champion
Pace reaffirmed its place as the weightlifting capital of Florida after the Patriots boys team swept the 3A Olympic and traditional classifications for the third straight year.
They won the Olympic title by 17 points and the traditional title by nine points.
Kollin Daniels (139) and Ryan Harrigill (154) swept the titles in their respective weight classes, while Grady White (183 Olympic), Alex Gomez (199 traditional) and Jake Box (219 Olympic) won state titles.
Pace baseball
2025-26 season: 26-6, Region 1-6A runner-up
The Patriots didn’t have the high-end talent of some of their recent squads, but head coach Jason McBridge got all the pieces clicking to keep the program the best in the Pensacola area.
Pace won its sixth straight district title thanks to a Braiden Cheshire walk-off home run, then fell to Buchholz for the second straight year in the Region 1-6A final. The Patriots were ranked the top team in 6A for much of the season according to the FHSAA rankings, despite having just one senior, Emory Allen, who will play college baseball.
Pace softball
2025-26 season: 27-4, 6A state champions
One year after losing a 1-0 heartbreaker to Doral Academy in the 6A state championship, the Patriots finished the drill and won their second state title in the last three years.
Pace won its sixth straight district title and advanced to its sixth straight Final Four. The Patriots beat Parrish Community 2-1 in the state semifinals, avenging a 12-1 loss to the Bulls on March 7, then beat Bartow 3-1 in the championship.
Pace not only won the 6A state title, but finished the season as the top ranked softball team in Florida, according to MaxPreps.
Junior pitcher Hannah DeMarcus was named MaxPreps Florida Player of the Year, while DeMarcus and head coach Lexi Alexander were named the Florida Dairy Farmers 6A Player and Coach of the Year, respectively.
Pensacola Catholic football
2025-26 season: 11-2, Region 1-2A runner-up
Despite losing 31 players to graduation or transfer, the Crusaders made the area’s deepest playoff run under first-year head coach Bobby Clayton. Catholic won the District 1-2A title and advanced to the Region 1-2A final, where it lost to Bolles.
Junior Jayden Coleman was named the PNJ’s Defensive Newcomer of the Year and was one of 20 Crusaders to garner all-area honors.
Pensacola Catholic volleyball
2025-26 season: 21-10, 3A state semifinals
The Crusaders advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 2015, going on a revenge tour to get back to Winter Haven.
Catholic won at Florida High in the Region 1-3A semifinals after the Seminoles ended their season in Pensacola on the same round a year ago. The Crusaders then pulled off a reverse sweep at North Bay Haven in the Region 1-3A final after losing to the Buccaneers in the District 1-3A final.
Freshman Ava Bradley was named the PNJ Newcomer of the Year and was one of five Catholic players named to the PNJ All-Area team.
Pensacola Catholic girls soccer
2025-26 season: 15-3-3, 3A state semifinals
Just like the school’s volleyball team, the Crusaders snapped a decade plus Final Four streak and avenged postseason losses from a year ago.
Catholic advanced to its first Final Four since 2013, beating South Walton in the District 1-3A and Region 1-3A semifinals on the road after the Seahawks did the same to the Crusaders the previous year.
Head coach Jon Guidroz was named PNJ Coach of the Year for the second year in a row, while seven Catholic players were named to the PNJ All-Area team.
Pensacola Christian cross country
2025-26 season: Boys 1A state runner-up, girls 3rd
The Warriors went out with a bang in Scott Cochran’s final season. The boys finished state runner-up, winning their first state hardware since 1998. The girls finished in third place, and seniors Jaimee Tutton (7th) and Reagan Smith (11th) were individual medalists.
Both teams swept the district titles for the sixth straight season, and finished as regional runner-up. Senior Jaimee Tutton and junior Isaiah Manderson were named the PNJ Girls and Boys Runner of the Year, respectively.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Vote for the best Pensacola area high school team
Continue reading...
