Jesuit has long been known as a school with a sterling academic reputation. Of the 200 in this year’s graduating class, 82 are summa cum laude, 40 are magna cum laude and 23 are cum laude.

Another thing people should know by now is that Jesuit also has become a jock juggernaut.

During the fall and winter of this past school year, the Tigers finished as district champion or runnerup in all six sports sanctioned by the Florida High School Athletic Association. Better still, the all-boys private school won state titles in soccer and wrestling (dual-meet), finished third in the state in swimming and reached the state semifinals in football. 

The feat is quite an accomplishment considering the FHSAA did not factor in spring sports because their seasons were cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic. For example, Jesuit’s baseball team was ranked No. 1 in the national by several media outlets and favored to win its second straight state title. .

So it is no wonder the Tigers’ combined excellence on the playing fields lifted it to the FHSAA’s Floyd E. Lay Sunshine Cup, a statewide all-sports award ranking for school’s boys and girls athletic programs. Jesuit won the boys title for the second straight year, finishing with 101 points, 21.5 more than runnerup Orlando Lake Highland Prep.

Steinbrenner finished tops among boys programs in Class 7A with 49.75 points and Seffner Christian was the 3A state leader with 40.75 points. 

No area girls program finished among the top two in any classification. 

Here are the state leaders in each category.