GAINESVILLE (March 10) – Ochiel Swaby of Miami Country Day School has been named the 2017 Florida Dairy Farmers Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school coaches and media representatives.
The overall coach-of-the-year award was the first for Swaby, who led the Spartans to a 28-1 record and their fourth consecutive state championship. The four straight state titles ranks second in Florida prep history to the record five straight won by Ribault from 1999-2003. In 13 years at MCDS, Swaby has posted a 288-81 record.
Swaby tallied 154 points to finish ahead of Class 6A COY Sheila Seymore-Pennick (142), who was last year’s state Coach-of-the-Year. Class 8A COY Johnnie Lawson of Winter Haven (119) finished third followed by Class 5A COY Robert Moultrie of Jones (102) and Class 7A COY Chad Terrell of Ft. Myers (92). Rounding out the voting were Class 9A COY Nhu Nguyen of Boca Raton (89), Class 3A COY Ericka Cromartie of Tallahassee FAMU (68), Class 2A COY Ian Clarke of Grandview Prep (57) and Class 1A COY Richard Hampton of Wildwood (51).
The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers’ commitment to the state’s youth. This is the 25th year of these unique awards as we honor the state’s top athletes and coaches in all 30 FHSAA sanctioned and recognized sports. The program also emphasizes to young people the importance of keeping dairy products a primary part of their diet in their overall nutrition plan.
2017 FINAL VOTING RESULTS (Note: Points awarded on a 10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis) – Area winners in bold
Coach 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Ochiel Swaby 7 7 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 154
Sheila Seymore-Pennick 6 4 2 3 2 2 0 0 0 142
Johnnie Lawson 4 2 3 3 2 1 2 2 0 119
Robert Moultrie 1 3 2 2 5 2 2 1 1 102
Chad Terrell 0 1 5 2 3 3 1 3 1 92
Nhu Nguyen 1 1 3 2 1 5 3 1 2 89
Ericka Cromartie 0 0 2 2 3 2 3 3 4 68
Ian Clarke 0 0 1 2 1 2 4 4 5 57
Richard Hampton 0 1 0 1 1 1 4 5 6 51
Past Girls’ Basketball Coaching Winners:
1993 – Ronnie Bond, Pensacola Washington
1994 – Al Austin, Jacksonville Ribault
1995 – Reginald Davis, Tallahassee Godby
1996 – Harry Elifson, St. Petersburg Boca Ciega
1997 – Al Austin, Jacksonville Ribault
1998 – Dave Horner, Ocala Forest
1999 – Al Austin, Jacksonville Ribault
2000 – Ronnie Bond, Pensacola Washington
2001 – Ronnie Bond, Pensacola Washington
2002 – Al Austin, Jacksonville Ribault
2003 – Abby Ward, South Broward
2004 – Ronnalee Terry, The Benjamin School
2005 – Carl Brown, Lake Mary
2006 – Greg Hostetler, Titusville Astronaut
2007 – LeDawn Gibson, Winter Haven
2008 – Mike Hamburger, Naples Barron Collier
2009 – Carla Harris-Curry, Miami Norland
2010 – Marcia Pinder, Fort Lauderdale Dillard
2011 – Marcia Pinder, Fort Lauderdale Dillard
2012 – Marcia Pinder, Fort Lauderdale Dillard
2013 – Marcia Pinder, Fort Lauderdale Dillard
2014 – John Harder, Bradenton Southeast
2015 – Marcia Pinder, Fort Lauderdale Dillard
2016 – Sheila Seymore-Pennick, Jacksonville Ribault
