Lely coaches and athletes rake in year-end honors

Lely High School shined as county end-of-the-year sports honors for coaches and players were announced.

Long-time friends and Lely coaches, Mark McGarrity and Nick Young, each won 2006 State Farm Good Neighbor Coaches Sportsmanship Awards on May 31, taking two of the three honors.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE, Marco Eagle

Lely High School coaches Nick Young, left and Mark McGarrity each won 2006 State Farm Good Neighbor Coaches Sportsmanship Awards as two of the three outstanding coaches in the 2005-2006 season. Jeff Rosa of Gulf Coast was the third.

The other was Jeff Rosa, Gulf Coast baseball coach.

Athletic directors at all Collier County schools, including private high schools, submitted nominees for fall, winter and spring seasons, then collectively picked the top coaches.

McGarrity, Lely cross country and boys track coach, won for the fall. Young, Lely girls basketball and girls track coach, won for winter and Rosa for spring. In all, 26 coaches were nominated.

Young also was nominated last year for basketball.

"At the time I think I was nominated because everyone thought I was a good sport while coaching a team that went 0 and 25," he said. "This year I was selected because I had girls who played hard, it wasn't me."

In 2006 his varsity team went 10-12 and made it to the quarterfinals in regional tournament play.

Graduating senior Alex Seekings, a member of the basketball team, presented Young with his award. She spoke of Young's positive and hard-working attitude, saying Young helped them through the tough times. Even through the no-win season Young kept the team focused and was such an inspiration that they even wanted to practice no matter if they won, she said.

Using his favorite word, McGarrity described the award as "awesome."

Ana Segura, now running cross country for the University of Florida, presented McGarrity his award. Segura said that when she steps up to the starting line she remembers the experiences with McGarrity and her Lely teammates.

Photo by TRISTAN SPINSKI, Daily News

Marco Island's Keith Embree was named Boys Tennis Player of the Year in recognition of his winning the state Class 2A championship this spring.

"It is really nice to be recognized by the athletic directors. My focus (in 12 years at Lely) is to support the kids in doing their best," McGarrity said.

Boys Tennis Player of Year

Marco Island's Keith Embree capped off a sensational season by being named the Boys Tennis Player of the Year. It followed his winning the Class 2A State Tennis Championship and leading his team to a second-place state finish and a team win at county and regional levels. He is going to the University of South Florida on a tennis scholarship.

County All-Conference

Several Lely athletes drew coaches' attentions as they selected stars from each spring sport.

In baseball Scott McConnell made All-Conference, with Marco's Mark Feola receiving Honorable Mention.

In softball Lely landed three on the All-Conference team.

Kristine Bayer, Rebecca Mysels and Kiley Stoll made All-Conference while Jennifer Garner received Honorable Mention.

In girls tennis Lauren Embree was All-Conference.

In boys tennis Lely saw Marco's Embree, David Rivers and Travis Murray make All-Conference, while Marco's Sam Ahlstrom was Honorable Mention.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE, Marco Eagle

Christina Octavien won second place in state discus competition.

In girls track Manolitha Joseph made All-Conference, with Marco's Amber Imm an Honorable Mention.

In boys track Jameson Jean Giles made All-Conference and Moise Vancol was Honorable Mention. Giles also was a runner-up for the 17th annual Winged Foot Scholar-Athlete Award, won by Lee Campbell of Gulf Coast.

All-Area Team

Lely's Scott McConnell made the All-Area Baseball team, while Mark Feola was an Honorable Mention.

Joey Irigoyen of Marco Island made the team while playing for Palmetto Ridge.

Second at State

Lely's Christina Octavien won second place in the 3A State Track and Field Championships with a last-chance throw of 124-feet-7 inches in discus. A senior next fall, her goal is to throw at least 3 to 5 feet further.

Because of their talents, Octavien, Victoria Howard and Manolitha Joseph represented Lely in the South Florida Elite High School Track Meet in Tampa on June 3. Howard competed in the long jump, while Joseph ran in the 100 meters.