- September 15, 2024
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It's only fair to spread the love.
Last week, to commemorate the start of the college football season, Prose and Kohn was dedicated to Sarasota's gridiron stars playing at the next level. There are so many of them now that, for the first time in years of writing the season-starting piece, I could not give a shout-out to everyone who deserved one, though I wish I could have.
Even more unfair, however, would be to ignore all of the other area alums in all of the other NCAA fall sports. Football may be king when it comes to ratings, but when athletes in indoor volleyball, soccer and cross-country work as hard as they do, they deserve to have that work acknowledged — especially when they are competing at some of the biggest and best programs in the country.
Here are five non-football athletes who should make a large impact on their programs this fall.
Ekes, a Cardinal Mooney High graduate, spent three seasons at Florida State University before transferring to Mercer for her senior season. A 6-foot-1 outside hitter, Ekes played in 177 sets for the Seminoles over her three years, but saw her playing time decrease each season — though she still finished 2023 with 75 kills.
At Mercer, Ekes is in the midst of a full-blow Cougars reunion. Mercer is led by former Cardinal Mooney High Head Coach Chad Sutton, who guided the Cougars to a Florida High School Athletic Association state title in 2019 before heading to the college ranks. Sutton added former Mooney volleyball player Sophia Hritz, a Davidson College graduate, to his coaching staff for the 2024 season; both Hritz and Ekes were on Mooney's 2019 championship team.
As of Sept. 3, Mercer is 3-0, and Ekes is leading the team with 42 kills and is third with eight blocks. If the Bears are a contender in the Southern Conference, it will be because Mooney legends led them there.
Miller, a Sarasota High graduate, was a state runner-up at the FHSAA Class 4A state cross-country meet in 2022. He was also the silver medalist in the 1,600-meter run at the FHSAA track state meet that same year.
He's competing in both sports at the University of Florida, where he is now a redshirt freshman. It is cross-country where he hopes to make a mark this fall. The Gators opened their season with the UCF Invitational in Orlando on Aug. 30. Miller placed 27th in that race (16:02), good for seventh on the team. Former Sailors teammate Orlando Cicilioni, a Gators senior, was right behind him in 28th (16:06). The Gators finished second as a team.
Speaking of cross-country stars, Dempsey was named the 2023-2204 Gatorade Florida Girls Cross-Country Runner of the Year as a senior at Cardinal Mooney High. Dempsey won eight of her 12 races as a senior, finishing third at the FHSAA Class 2A state meet (18:01). Dempsey also won the 3,200-meter run at the 2024 FHSAA track championships (10:36).
Unlike Miller, Dempsey will not compete in both sports for the University of Miami, opting to stick with cross-country. Dempsey did not compete in the Hurricanes' season-opening meet at the FAU Invitational on Aug. 30, but it should only be a matter of time until Dempsey, who developed her love of running in Dubai, gets to do her thing for the Hurricanes.
Though Malkin attended Bradenton's IMG Academy, she is Sarasota born and raised, transferring to the Ascenders from Riverview High in an attempt to take her game to the next level.
With the Ascenders, Malkin learned that the right play is usually the unselfish play. That attitude has earned her early playing time with the Gators. Malkin, a sophomore, has seen action in four of the team's five games in 2024, getting more than 30 minutes in a 2-0 win over Western Carolina University and in ties against the University of Central Florida and Towson University. Though Malkin has yet to earn an offensive point, her playing indicates she has earned the trust of her coaches.
It seems uncontroversial to say that Byrd, a two-time Gatorade Florida Volleyball Player of the Year while at Cardinal Mooney High, is the greatest volleyball player in school history and one of the greatest in Florida high school history. The powerful 6-foot-4 outside hitter parlayed her high school and club volleyball domination into a spot on the Texas Longhorns, the current back-to-back NCAA Division I National Champions.
Byrd redshirted the 2023 season, but will likely see action at some point this season, particularly against lesser opponents, before moving into a more prominent role for her final three season. After all, you can only keep talent like Byrd's on the bench for so long before you are compelled to let it loose. Texas, ranked No. 1 to begin the season, has started 1-1, beating No. 3 Wisconsin 3-1 but falling 3-2 to No. 18 Minnesota.
