GAINESVILLE (March 21) – Ochiel Swaby of Miami Country Day School has been named the 2019 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 second for Swaby, who led his squad to a 26-1 record and a record-setting sixth consecutive state championship. In addition, Miami Country Day finished the season ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA TODAY. In 15 years at MCDS, Swaby has posted a 337-92 record.
Swaby, who was earlier named the Class 4A Coach-of-the-Year, tallied 124 points to finish ahead of Class 7A COY Marcia Pinder of Ft. Lauderdale Dillard (104). Class 8A COY Reggie Lawrence of Tampa Bay Tech finished third with 66 points followed by Class 9A COY Tommie Butts of Wekiva (53) and Class 5A COY Tracey Wolfe of Oxbridge Academy (49). Rounding out the voting were Class 6A COY Greg Farias of Plantation American Heritage (29), Class 1A COY Bryant Frye of Trenton (26), Class 3A COY Henry McNabb of Somerset Prep (12) and Class 2A COY E.J. Murray of Florida Prep (10).
The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers’ commitment to the state’s youth. This is the 27th 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.
2018 FINAL VOTING RESULTS (area winners in bold)
Player Total Points 1st-place Votes
Ochiel Swaby 124 8
Marcia Pinder 104 6
Reggie Lawrence 66 3
Tommie Butts 53 2
Tracy Wolfe 49 0
Greg Farias 29 0
Bryant Frye 26 0
Henry McNabb 12 0
E.J. Murray 10 0
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
2017 – Ochiel Swaby, Miami Country Day
2018 – Johnnie Lawson, Winter Haven
