Martin Fernandez (left) of the Doral Academy boys’ cross-country team.
(Photo Courtesy Doral Academy Cross-Country)
This week, we continue the 2026-27 school year feature where we ask you to vote for a top high school varsity performer of the week (in Broward and Miami-Dade counties).
Nominees this week are from high school bowling, cross-country, football, golf, swimming and volleyball.
Take our poll below to cast your vote. The poll will be open until Thursday, September 17 til around 10 p.m. You can vote as often as you like until then.
NOTE: You should see a Miami Herald box underneath this note for you to type Yes and click Submit. That will ignite the actual poll to vote.
Here are the nominees.
Santiago Fernandez-Arce, Coral Gables swimming: the freshman won the boys’ 200 individual medley to help the Cavaliers defeat Cutler Bay.
Petra Compton, Carrollton golf: the senior set a school record by shooting a 5-under par 30 (five birdies and four pars) en route to medalist honors in a girls’ team win over Ransom Everglades and Lourdes in a 9-hole girls’ varsity golf match at the Biltmore Golf Course in Coral Gables..
Petra Compton of the Carrollton girls’ golf team. (Photo Courtesy Carrollton Golf)
Brandon Escoto, Coral Park bowling: the sophomore had the high game (235) and high series (637) in a boys’ win over TERRA and had a high game (217) in a win over Ferguson.
Martin Fernandez, Doral Academy cross-country: the senior was ninth of 544 runners, covering 3.1-miles in 16 minutes 1 second at the 13th annual Florida Horse Park Invitational in Ocala. He led the Firebirds to fifth of 66 teams in the boys’ division.
Dylan Galadza, Archbishop Carroll football: the junior rushed for 96 yards and made 3 tackles to help on offense and defense as the visiting Bulldogs defeated Coral Gables 14-7.
James Lefrancois, Pompano Beach football: the junior tight end/defensive end had 5 reception for 109 yards and 5 rushes for 51 yards in a close 21-18 setback to Lake Worth John I. Leonard. Playing both ways, he also recorded 5 tackles with 1 tackle-for-loss on defense.
Marcelo Mantecon, Belen Jesuit cross-country: at the 13th annual Florida Horse Park Invitational in Ocala, the senior bested 543 runners to win the 3.1-mile race in 15 minutes 22 seconds in his first cross-country competition of the 2026 season. He led the Wolverines to another major team title.
Nalah Picchetti, Ransom Everglades volleyball: the freshman had 17 assists, 5 digs, 3 aces, 1 kill in a win over St. Brendan and 17 assists, 5 digs, 2 aces in a win over Florida Christian as the Raiders improved to 7-2.
This story was originally published September 11, 2026 at 3:09 PM.
Miami Herald
Jim Varsallone writes a high school sports column twice a week, featuring top performers in all varsity sports (boys and girls) in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. He also covers pro wrestling, something he’s done since his college days in the late 1980s. Now in his fifth decade of coverage, he currently follows WWE (Raw, SmackDown and NXT), AEW, Ring of Honor, TNA Impact Wrestling, MLW, WOW, NWA, and the South Florida indies, mainly CCW. He writes MMA, too — mostly profile stories and video interviews with American Top Team and Sanford MMA fighters in South Florida. As for pro wrestling, he writes feature stories and profile pieces, updates upcoming show schedules in South Florida, photographs the action and interviews talent (audio and video) — sharing the content here and via social media on his Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channel: jim varsallone (jimmyv3 channel).
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