The first week of November brought a jammed pack week of postseason fall sports and the beginning of some winter sports.Pace, Pensacola Catholic and Pine Forest football will all host regional quarterfinal games this week, while Jay will host Geneva in the Independent League B North quarterfinals and Booker T. Washington will travel to Land O’Lakes for the opening round of the 4A-6A Florida Invitational tournament.3A swimmers and divers competed at the state championship on Nov. 6 in Ocala, with Pace senior Donovan Lawrence finishing second in boys 1-meter diving for the second straight year. The 1A state championship will be Nov. 13, while the 2A state championship will be Nov. 14, with both in Ocala.Gulf Breeze boys golf won its first regional title since 2016 by bringing home the Region 1-2A championship, while Tate sophomore Brycen Massey earned an at-large berth to the 3A state championship. The 2A state championship will be Nov. 10-11 at Mission Resort + Club at Howey-in-the-Hills, while the 3A state championship will be Nov. 13-14 at the same location.Cross country took the first step in its postseason with district championships last week, with Pensacola Christian and Pensacola Catholic bringing home district titles. Region 1-2A and Region 1-3A meets will be Nov. 13 at Cecil Field Golf Course in Jacksonville, while the Region 1-1A meet will be Nov. 14 at West End Park in Gainesville.Soccer kicked off its season this week as well, with basketball tipping off next week.That means plenty of choices for this week’s Florida Power & Light PNJ Boys Athlete of the Week. Jay football’s Jaylen Youngblood won last week’s award with 56.4% of the vote.Now it’s time to make your voice heard again. Voting closes at 11 a.m Saturday, and the winners will be announced each Monday after the poll closes. Each weekly winner will be awarded a PNJ Athlete of the Week shirt provided by BSN SPORTS. With winter sports now underway, please note that an athlete can only win one time per sports season.Nominees will be accepted via phone or email, but the poll is decided by PNJ staff. Send nominations by Sunday night.
