By Tracy McDonald
THE SCOREBOARD
| Team | Sport | Opponent | Date | Result |
| Coral Shores | Volleyball | LaSalle | 8/30 | L, 3-0 |
| Coral Shores | Volleyball | Marathon | 9/1 | W, 3-0 |
| Coral Shores | Football | Palmer Trinity | 9/2 | L, 19-14 |
| Marathon | Volleyball | Horeb Christian | 8/30 | W, 3-1 |
| Marathon | Volleyball | Coral Shores | 9/1 | L, 3-0 |
| Marathon | Football | Miami Country Day | 9/1 | W, 35-13 |
| Key West | Volleyball | Gulf Coast | 9/3 | L, 3-0 |
| Key West | Football | Boca Raton | 9/2 | L, 37-0 |
THIS WEEK IN KEYS SPORTS
| 9/8 | |||||
| Key West | Volleyball | vs. | Marathon | @Marathon | 5:30 p.m. |
| Marathon | Football | vs. | University School | @University School | 6 p.m. |
| Coral Shores | Swimming | vs. | Doctor’s Charter | @Founder’s Park | 4 p.m. |
| 9/9 | |||||
| Coral Shores | Football | vs. | Palm Glades Prep | @Coral Shores | 7 p.m. |
| Key West | Volleyball | vs. | Tournament | @Jensen Beach | TBD |
| Marathon | Volleyball | vs. | Colonial Christian | @Marathon | 4 p.m. |
| Key West | Football | vs. | TRU Prep Academy | @Key West | 7 p.m. |
| 9/10 | |||||
| Key West | Volleyball | vs. | Tournament | @Jensen Beach | TBD |
| Key West | Swimming | vs. | Archbishop McCarthy | @CFK Pool | 12 p.m. |
| 9/12 | |||||
| Marathon | Volleyball | vs. | Posnack | @Posnack | 4 p.m. |
| Marathon | Golf | vs. | CSHS & KW | @Marathon | 4 p.m. |
| 9/13 | |||||
| Coral Shores | Volleyball | vs. | Key West | @Coral Shores | 5:30 p.m. |
| Marathon | Volleyball | vs. | Archimedean | @Archimedean | 6 p.m. |
| Coral Shores | Golf | vs. | St Brendan | @Melreese CC | 3 p.m. |
| 9/14 | |||||
| Coral Shores | Swimming | vs. | Key West | @Founder’s Park | 4 p.m. |
| Coral Shores | XC | vs. | Ransom | @Kennedy Park | 3:30 p.m. |
| 9/15 | vs. | ||||
| Marathon | Volleyball | vs. | Palm Glades Prep | @Palm Glades | 4 p.m. |
| Coral Shores | Golf | vs. | KW & Marathon | @Ocean Reef CC | 2:30 p.m. |
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
MALACHI HAWKINS
Senior, Marathon
Tailback, Defensive End
Just two games into the season, Marathon senior Malachi Hawkins has four touchdowns in the books for the Dolphins. Add to that a pair of two point conversions, and his stats look incredible. But Hawkins’ numbers don’t stop there. He has amassed 454 rushing yards – 223 against Pompano Beach and 231 against Miami Country Day – and threw for seven yards against MCD, giving him 461 total yards. He is currently leading not just his team, not the county or district, but the entire state of Florida in rushing yards.
But wait, there’s more.
Hawkins plays both sides of the ball, and on defense he has a pair of solo tackles, an assisted tackle and a sack to his credit. Not bad for a player who never played organized football prior to his freshman year and started as a backup offensive lineman. Hawkins built the machine he is today one rep at a time, using sheer will and determination, much like the way he runs the ball in games. One man isn’t bringing Hawkins down; he refuses to stop his relentless forward motion until, oftentimes, there is a wall of opponents on top of him. For his impressive stats and onfield leadership, Malachi Hawkins is this week’s Keys Weekly Athlete of the Week.
“The other teams know what is coming but have not been able to stop him.” – Lance Martin, athletic director, Marathon High School
Keys Cross Country off to a Strong Season
Two Keys cross country teams took their marks this week and started their official seasons.
Key West traveled to Larry & Penny Thompson Park in Miami on Aug. 26 for their first race of the season. The Lady Conchs were led by Laira Anaya, who ran the 5K course in 24:23. Caylaa Makimaa, Briana Nodal, Naima Thomas and Gianna Marchant rounded out the top five for Key West. The weather did not cooperate for the Conchs, and the boys’ race was canceled due to lightning.
On Sept. 2, both teams were able to compete at the King of the Hill race held each year at Tropical Park. This time around it was Caylaa Makimaa finishing first for Key West with a time of 23:58 on the tough course. Laira Anaya was second for the Conchs, with Gianna Marchant, Valeria Juarez, Deanna Mercier and Zoe Basham following.
The boys stormed the hill for the first time this season with junior Colbin Hill leading the way, finishing in 20:38. Freshman Daniel Roy was second for the Conchs with a time of 21:35. Jerven Luis, Edward Baker, Sebastian Jaroszewicz and Owen Fisher took third through sixth places for Key West.
Marathon’s cross country team traveled to the Miami Country Day Open on Aug. 30 to race the best of South Florida at Greynolds Park. The Fins charted some impressive times for their first meet of the season and proved that Marathon continues to be a dominant force in the 5K race.
Vaclav “Vance” Bursa, just a sophomore, blazed to first place overall with a time of 17:40, beating out a field of nearly 100 runners from 10 different schools. Junior Jakub Bursa cracked the top 10, finishing ninth with a time of 19:18. Junior Mason Buxton and 7th grader Antonin Bursa took the next two spots for Marathon, separated by a tenth of a second, and Dillon Shelar rounded out the top scoring slots for Marathon. The Fins took 2nd place as a team with an average time of 19:47.
Sixth grader Emmett Merryman represented Marathon in the middle school division, which completes a two-mile course. Emmett took 8th place overall in a time of 14:55. Competing for the girls in the middle school division was his cousin, Rebecca Merryman, also a sixth grader. Rebecca took 10th place, recording a time of 16:28.
The varsity girls finished in third place, led by junior Mikkel Ross, back this season after a knee injury. Mikkel finished in 10th place overall with a time of 24:22. Next for the Lady Fins were a pair of eighth graders, Maeve Merryman (24:48) and Madelyn Thornton (25:15). Sophomore Ella Dunn completed the 3.1 miles in 25:18 and eighth grader Sara Robinson rounded out the top five running 25:37.
Teams earned mixed results as they look to realize their potential
Key West poised to make midseason run
Key West had a quiet week on the court, playing just one game, but it was a big one. The division 4A Conchs took on Gulf Coast High School, an as-yet undefeated 7A powerhouse from Naples. Key West lost in three sets to the Sharks, bringing their record to 0-3. The Conchs’ challenges didn’t end with their large-school opponent; they were down two starters, and those who did manage to take the court were not feeling 100%.
Coach Sara Eckert felt her team played as well as it could considering the circumstances.
“I wish we could have seen them when we were at full force,” she said. “I think the outcome could have been very different.”
Despite the early-season struggles, Key West is a team whose record does not reflect its potential. The Conchs served with surgical precision in the preseason, and they continue to work to make their serves even more accurate.
“We’ve been working on serve and serve receive, and those areas showed tremendous improvement,” explained Eckert. “We minimized service errors and had consistent serve receive passing against aggressive serves.”
Defensively, the Conchs “did a great job putting in the work” against Gulf Coast, work which will no doubt pay off in the coming weeks as Key West heads into a stretch of games with familiar opponents. They play Marathon on Thursday, Sept. 8, Coral Shores on Tuesday, Sept. 13 and both teams the following weekend. Peppered in is the East Coast Challenge, a higher-level tournament for which the Conchs hope to be back at 100%.
Lady Fins pick up a win on the road
Marathon went 1-1 last week, picking up a win in Hialeah against Horeb Christian on Aug. 30. The Dolphins allowed just 10 points in the first set, giving coach Kelley Cruz the chance to test out a new rotation and give some younger players a bit of experience in the second. Horeb won that set, but Marathon took the final two with its regular starters, winning 3-1.
Two nights later, Marathon hosted Coral Shores but lost to the ’Canes in three sets. Despite the loss, Cruz saw more positives in the game against the Hurricanes than in the win earlier that week.
“The team showed confidence,” she said, explaining that Marathon held its own in the first set, scoring 19 points to Coral Shores’ 25. The second set did not go so well for the Lady Fins, but instead of giving up, Cruz said the team “found their way back” and did not go down without a fight. She expressed optimism in the improvement shown in the team’s middle and backside areas with better mobility and quickness, strengths the team will need to capitalize on in order to experience success against some of the higher-level teams they will face in the coming weeks.
The Lady Fins have a 1-3 record through the early part of the season. The Dolphins face some tough opponents who will test their grit this week, including Palm Glades Prep and Key West.
Hurricanes defeat Marathon for first win of the season
Coral Shores split a set of matches this past week to bring their season record to 1-2. On Aug. 30, the ’Canes lost to the Royal Lions of LaSalle in three sets. The match was close, with Coral Shores scoring 19 points to LaSalle’s 25 in the first two sets. Undeterred, the ’Canes took a short trip down U.S. 1 on Sept. 1 to make short work of Marathon in three sets, bringing home the road win.
The ’Canes put up big numbers against Marathon, with libero Kailee Reinoso dealing seven aces to the Fins. Grace Leffler added six kills. Reinoso and Brooke Mandozzi buried the Fins’ offense with 10 digs apiece. Marathon did give Coral Shores a battle in the first set, forcing the ’Canes to regroup, but with numbers like those, the Lady ’Canes were able to put their first win of the season in the books.
Coral Shores will face a variety of competition in the coming weeks, including two district games with Keys Gate and Palmer Trinity. The team will also look for redemption against Key West, a team it played well against in the preseason and will face on Wednesday, Sept. 13 in Tavernier. The team will have another shot at LaSalle on Thursday, Sept. 28, this time in front of a home crowd.
