Winter Park High School athletic director Charlie Battaglini said the city of Winter Park, with a proud link to its schools, has always played a big role in the Wildcats’ record-setting stack of state all-sports championships.
Read more FHSAA state champ East River girls ride national success to 2026
That collection grew this week when the Florida High School Athletic Association announced that Winter Park and Bishop Moore were among eight schools that won Floyd E. Lay Sunshine Cup All-Sports awards for overall program excellence in the 2025-265 school year. The Class 7A title for Winter Park marks its 13th Sunshine Cup since 2000 and third in a row. No other Orlando area school has won more than five or won three in a row.
“I think our community plays a pretty big role in our success,” Battaglini said. “It’s a very unique environment where our athletes are connected to something bigger than themselves.”
The same could be said for Bishop Moore, the Orlando Catholic high school that has a tight bond with its community. For the first time since 2007, the Hornets — perennial contenders — are all-sports champs, for the 4A class, in a points formula that rewards schools for playoff success in all 32 of the FHSAA’s sanctioned sports.
“We like to think our athletic programs, from top to bottom, male and female, are successful here,” Bishop Moore A.D. Joe Forney said. “To be recognized on this stage definitely validates that. We’re very excited about it.”
Bishop Moore is the fourth area school to claim three Sunshine Cups. Oviedo has won five, the most recent in 2020; and Dr. Phillips four, most recently in 2013.
This is the first time two Orlando-area schools have won state all-sports honors in a school year since 2019-20, when Oviedo and Lake Highland Prep were champs.
Winter Park won a repeat state title in girls volleyball and added a competitive cheer championship while totaling 134 points to finish ahead of runner-up Lake Mary (125.5), a two-time Sunshine champ (1998 and 2005). Hagerty (105) finished fourth and Sanford Seminole (75.75) was 10th.
Bishop Moore won state championships in both boys golf and soccer while piling up 160 points to win 4A. The Hornets were state runners-up in baseball and girls basketball.
Lake Highland Prep (126.5) was second and Montverde Academy (114.5) third in 3A behind all-sports powerhouse Bolles (204.5) of Jacksonville.
Oviedo (108.5) placed fourth in 6A, which was won by juggernaut St. Thomas Aquinas (306.25) of Fort Lauderdale.
Read more Five questions: Will Knights show improvement in Year 2 under Scott Frost?
The First Academy scored 68.75 for fifth in 2A.
Mount Dora Christian (25) was seventh and Orlando Christian Prep (24) ninth in 1A.
The other class winners were Ponte Vedra (177) in 5A, Benjamin (140) of Palm Beach Gardens in 2A, Victory Christian (48) of Lakeland in 1A, and Willison (85.5) in Rural.
Cross country
Lake Nona’s Arabella Duffell, who made a big splash as a ninth grader by winning the 1,600-meter run in the FHSAA Class 4A state track & field meet in May, opened her junior cross country season with a runaway win at the Cecil Field Summer Classic in Jacksonville. She coasted early and finished strong to win by 20 seconds with a 17-minute, 53-second time for 5,000 meters.
Lake Minneola’s Quentin Thompson opened his junior season with a huge personal best time of 15:16 at the Cecil Field meet. That was good for second place behind Belen Jesuit (Miami) senior Armando Cruz, who clocked a 15:06 time that is Florida’s best so far. Lake Minneola placed third in the team race.
“He put on a show,” Lake Minneola coach Corey Isom said of Thompson’s performance. “He gravitated more towards the weight room this year. He’s added muscle and strength.”
The strong field saw the Cecil Field meet generate 12 of the 13 best times in the state to date. That includes a 15:47 effort by East Ridge senior Alex Sallault, which ranks No. 6.
Timber Creek’s boys and girls won at the Ocoee Kickstart Classic. Lake Brantley had the individual winners with Avalyn Thompson running 19:04.75 in the girls’ race and Daniel Georgiev finishing first in the boys’ meet at 16:42.0.
The Tavares girls won at the Jim Ryun FCA Invitational.
Saturday’s schedule includes the Kowboys Invitational at Osceola, where Duffell is scheduled to run, and the Trinity Prep Invitational.
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at [email protected].
Read more Less Space Coast launches in store as SpaceX pulls back on Falcon 9