Sports Archive

With school being canceled Tuesday because of the colder weather and the potential for hazardous road conditions, the postseason schedule for two of Navarre’s teams has changed.

The Raider girls basketball team and the Raider girls soccer team have had their games moved from Tuesday to Wednesday.

They sat in a circle in one corner of the gymnasium waiting for the official crowning of a state champion. All the while the anticipation was building.

Seconds after their name was called, the Navarre Raiders erupted in jubilation, wearing smiles, sharing hugs and savoring the reality of a moment they had worked so hard to earn during a challenging season.

School history has never been sweeter for Navarre’s girls basketball team.

In their biggest moment of the season, the Raiders embraced it, making school history and a statement with a 71-42 win over Columbia Lake City Thursday night in a Region 1-6A quarterfinal. 

Navarre soccer players Zyler Beckman and Nathan Green made their signing with Belhaven official Feb. 7 during a ceremony at the NYSA Soccer Complex.

Beckman and Green played integral roles for the Raiders this past season and are thrilled about the opportunities to continue their soccer careers at the college level.

Elijah Melendez left a hint of suspense to his decision on where he was going to play college football.

When the banner unraveled Wednesday afternoon at Bennett C. Russell Stadium, it showed Valdosta State as his choice.

Each night during a challenging season played amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Navarre’s boys basketball team played hard.

That was evident again Tuesday night in a District 1-6A quarterfinal against Tate. The Raiders tried to keep pace with the Aggies but simply could not do it despite cutting the lead to single digits early in the fourth quarter before falling 61-49.

Bailey Huston lost his grip on the bar as he prepared to lift it during Navarre’s season opening weightlifting meet last Monday at Pace.

Rather than get discouraged, Huston settled in for a second attempt. He even added more weight to the bar prior to it.

That “mental Goliath” Navarre first-year boys soccer coach James Baccarini refers to as Niceville wasn’t slayed on a rainy and chilly Friday night at the Ashton Brosnaham Complex in Pensacola.

Navarre had an opportunity to do it. It struck first against the Eagles in a District 1-6A semifinal but couldn’t hold on as it went on to fall 2-1 and see its 2020-21 season come to an end.

The names change and the accomplishments vary but what has remained consistent through it all is a run of success that is seemingly unbreakable.

Navarre’s girls weightlifting team is headed to state this weekend. Again. Those words have become as much of a guarantee as death and taxes.

Ariel Michel is headed to the girls state weightlifting meet for the first time. She wasn’t sure if the moment would ever happen.

Michel lifted as a freshman and again as a junior. But her senior season has been one to remember, winning district and regional titles in the 139-pound weight class, an effort that has helped put Navarre on the brink of a state championship for the sixth time in program history.