The PNJ recounts some of our favorite sports moments from the past year.
Milton 4-star safety Kaiden Hall signs with Florida
Milton football’s Kaiden Hall made it official on Friday, announcing he would continue his career at the University of Florida.
- The year 2025 saw numerous local teams and athletes in Escambia and Santa Rosa County achieve significant milestones.
- Pace High School’s girls weightlifting team secured its third consecutive state title, while its softball team reached the state championship game.
- Booker T. Washington High School’s boys and girls basketball teams both won district championships.
- Several local athletes committed to play sports at the U.S. Naval Academy, and Pace graduate Brandon Sproat made his MLB debut with the New York Mets.
- Gulf Breeze teenager West Fowler helped Team USA win a gold medal at the World Trampoline Gymnastics Championships.
2025 is almost over, and what a year it was for sports in Escambia and Santa Rosa County.
There were state championships, history making performances, and local athletes making their professional debuts.
There was also change within the sports department too, as I took over as sports reporter in September after Ben Grieco stepped aside in August.
It’s been a whirlwind last three months, but a time I’ve worked tirelessly to continue to provide the coverage the Pensacola area deserves. Something I couldn’t have done without the information Ben gave me to hit the ground running, as well as Bill Vilona, who held down the fort in between Ben’s departure and my arrival and is an invaluable resource due to his decades of experience in the local sports scene.
Even if I haven’t been here long, this area still deserves to look back on the best moments from 2025. Some of this will be moments that stood out for me since I’ve moved here, along with other notable accomplishments Ben recommmended.
Here’s to a great 2026 and even more incredible moments to cover.
Pace girls weightlifting 3peats
Santa Rosa County is no stranger to girls weightlifting dynasties.
Navarre won four 2A state titles in a row from 2015-18, then went back-to-back in 3A from 2021-22.
Pace has taken over the mantle since, including a third straight 3A state title in February. Ireland Grimes swept the 169-pound Olympic and traditional titles, while Alyssa McMurtrie won the 154-pound traditional title and Layah Slaughter the 154-pound Olympic title. McMurtrie was named the top traditional weightlifter across any classification.
Grimes, McMurtrie and Slaughter, along with seven other Patriots who finished in top six in their respective event, are back this year to help Pace try to make it four straight state championships.
Booker T basketball sweeps district titles
Booker T. Washington was the Pensacola area basketball capital in 2025.
The Wildcats girls team won its second straight district title and advanced to the Region 1-5A final even with Florida State signee Chamiah Francis missing the entire postseason with a torn ACL. The Booker T. boys team won its first district title in over a decade, outlasting Pine Forest in overtime before beating Choctawhatchee to win the regional title. Four of the Wildcats top five scorers were freshmen and sophomores.
Both teams look poised to compete for district titles and make deep playoff runs again this season. Francis is working her way back from injury, but sophomore Jada Clardy and junior Nylah Brooks have stepped up. The boys, led by sophomore Jaden Clardy, are a year older and spent all offseason continuing to work and build off last year’s success.
Pace, Northview softball make runs to state title games
The Patriots remained one of the top teams in the state, while the Chiefs made history.
Pace won its fifth straight regional title before falling to Doral Academy in the 6A state championship game. Sophomore Hannah DeMarcus, who recorded an 0.32 ERA and 418 strikeouts in 175 innings pitched, was named Florida Gatorade Player of the Year and Prep Softball National Player of the Year.
She committed to Auburn in September and should keep Pace in the title hunt over her final two seasons.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs won their first ever regional title, then beat Branford in the rural semifinals before falling to Trenton in the state championship. Northview did it with just one senior and nine regular varsity players, meaning they should be aiming for a return trip to the state semifinals in 2026.
Pensacola to Navy athletics pipeline
As the home of the Blue Angels, Pensacola is already known as a military town.
But in 2025, four local athletes decided just being admitted to the United States Naval Academy wasn’t enough. They wanted to be Navy athletes too.
Jake Hooten (Gulf Breeze baseball) and Hudson Mitchell (Pensacola Catholic boys golf) both signed to be Midshipmen. Mitchell played in 14 rounds for Navy this fall, and his average 18-hole score of 76.07 ranked third on the squad. Hooten is listed as a freshman on Navy’s baseball roster.
Julia Frosch (Pensacola Catholic girls lacrosse) successfully walked on to the Navy women’s lacrosse team. Arman Truitt (West Florida track and field) is spending the year at Naval Academy Prep School before arriving in Annapolis this summer.
Pace graduate makes MLB debut
The 2019 Pace alum Brandon Sproat got the call every baseball player dreams of on Sept. 4, being promoted to the New York Mets.
He made his first ever MLB start on Sept. 7, allowing three runs on three hits and four walks while striking out seven in a 3-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Sproat made four starts in the seasons final month, going 0-2 with a 4.79 ERA in 20 2/3 innings pitched.
He should be in contention for a spot in the Mets starting rotation in 2026.
Florida Friday Night Lights wows new reporter
When I took this job, I was excited to get to cover high school football in a state obsessed with it.
I’d seen glimpses of the south’s love for football in my first full-time journalism job deep in the mountains of western North Carolina, but Friday Night Lights weren’t the same at my previous job in Idaho.
When I pulled into the parking lot at Tate High School to watch the Aggies host West Florida on Sept. 19, I knew things were different in a good way. Cars were backed up well outside the gate waiting to get a spot. fans of all ages made their way to Carl Madison Field at Pete Gindl Stadium, before filling up the cavernous rows on the home team side or filling out the visiting team bleachers.
There was a pregame hype video before Tate took the field with cheerleaders holding flags to spell out “THS.” Then I almost got run over by a West Florida cheerleader as the Jaguars took the field.
At halftime, there was a classic small town homecoming ceremony.
Yes, I may still be finding my place here, but that was a good early sign. I saw a community that cared deeply about local sports and couldn’t wait to dive in.
West Fowler leaps onto world stage
It started with an email in mid-October from Blaine Fowler, who runs Panhandle Perfection Gymnastics. His son, West Fowler was preparing to compete as the youngest member of Team USA at the World Trampoline Gymnastics Championships, and had previously competed internationally at the junior level.
So less than two weeks later I went with photographer Gregg Pachowski to interview Fowler in the gym behind Hartsell Arena at Pensacola State Community College. We talked in a backroom as kids of all ages attended class to improve their skills, then asked West if he could show us some of his skills.
He happily obliged, clearing out a runway to get some passes in. Skills that looked hard to the naked eye, but ones his dad called “baby passes.”
Gulf Breeze native West Fowler set for Trampoline World Championships
Meet Gulf Breeze native West Fowler, who will be the youngest member of Team USA at the Trampoline World Championships.
Clearly he was saving his best skills for the competition, helping Team USA win gold in the team double mini, a silver in team tumbling and a bronze in the individual double mini. Keep an eye on this Gulf Breeze teenager as we get closer to LA 2028.
Makael Williams has big night against Milton, but Panthers band steals show
Halloween night at Patriots Stadium sticks out for two reasons.
First, is Makael Williams dominant performance on the field. Pace’s junior running back ran for 173 yards and five touchdowns, threw a 25-yard touchdown to quarterback (yes, that’s correct) Brooks Washington and took a short pass 36 yards in the Patriots 49-7 win. He was later named the PNJ Offensive Player of the Year.
Makael Williams totals 6 touchdowns in Pace football’s win over Milton
Makael Williams had a monster night, running for five touchdowns and throwing another in Pace’s 49-7 win over Milton.
But Milton’s marching band brought it’s A-game too. The Mighty Black & Gold Band performed in Halloween costumes, staying on beat even in a dinosaur suit or a Winnie the Pooh onesie.
Gregg was feeling under the weather and planning to leave at halftime to wrap up the final assignment after a long day of shooting. But seeing the Milton band enter the field in costumes, he couldn’t resist sticking around to get some pictures, creating my favorite gallery from a game so far in the process.
SEC soccer tournament comes down to the last shot, literally
No Friday night football in early November meant some time for a different kind of football, with the SEC soccer tournament returning to Ashton Brosnaham Park.
The championship between Vanderbilt and LSU was a doozy. The Tigers struck first in the first half, sending a crowd dressed mostly in purple into a frenzy. The Commodores answered in the 70th minute before the game went into penalty kicks.
LSU led 3-2 in the shootout and needed one more goal to win it. Vanderbilt goalie Sarah Wojdelko made one huge save in the fourth round of PKs, then another in the fifth. The shootout lasted five more rounds before Wojdelko made one final save to seal a tournament title with daylight fading fast.
Vanderbilt soccer beats LSU for first SEC Tournament title since 2020
Vanderbilt outlasted LSU 8-7 in penalties kicks to win its first SEC Tournament title since 2020.
The two teams met 15 days later in Nashville in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, with the Commodores winning 1-0 to advance to their first ever Elite Eight. Wojdelko saved another penalty kick in that one in the 73rd minute.
Signing day decisions make national news
When I took this job, I heard about the talent in this part of the panhandle. Famous names like Emmitt Smith and Roy Jones Jr., and even more recent names like Devon Witherspoon, who is a now a three-time Pro Bowl defensive back for the Seattle Seahawks.
Plenty of eyes around the south and nationally were on the region in early December as some of the area’s best high school football players made their decisions of where to play at the next level.
On Dec. 5, I ventured into the gym at Pine Forest, where four-star defensive end Trenton Henderson reaffirmed his commitment to LSU. I posted the news on X, which eventually got reposted by Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin.
I then ventured to Milton that afternoon, where four-star safety Kaiden Hall announced he was signing with Florida. What few people in the auditorium that afternoon knew was that Hall actually signed Wednesday, but got the Gators to not announce his signing until right before the ceremony.
Yes, high school recruiting isn’t as noteworthy with teams able to sign older players from the transfer portal. But being able to see kids choose their next destination when they have the world at their fingertips is still exciting to see.
