Michelle Acosta is a forward on the MIA Varsity Girls Soccer team! She has three years of experience on the field, and Michelle has become an amazing, key part, of the squad. Her favorite soccer memory is when Lily scored the first goal of last season during a home game. Michelle remembers running to hug her with pride for her big accomplishment.

Michelle is really grateful for the people who have supported her through soccer journey. She would like to give a shout out to Lily for peer pressuring her into joining the team during sophomore year, a decision Michelle is thankful she made. She also appreciates her captions, Helen and Mary, for their encouragement and support, and her bench buddy, Kacie, for always keeping her company during games.

Before every game, Michelle and Annie’s signature handshake gets her in the zone for the game. To her teammates, her advice is simple but meaningful: “Have fun and cheer as loud as possible!”

Zack Antaramian is a two year member of MIA’s Varsity Soccer team. Zack plays the role of right centerback. Although Zack calls himself a “D1 Benchwarmer”, he is a key asset to this very young team. Zack shows up to every game, and brings joy to the bench. 

Zack’s favorite memory of his soccer career is when his friend Colin Cherr got “bodied” by junior Gracie Johnson in a scrimmage. He also adores the moment when former goalie, Ryan Sweeney, scored in their mercied matchup against Village School his junior year.

Zack would like to shoutout his teammates. He would like to thank freshman, Evan Shean for being a great goalie, Weslyn for being his #1 cheerleader, and Andres for being an amazing striker. Zack’s advice to underclassmen is to “Not laugh when Senor is yapping.”

Karina Baldwin is a senior at MIA and a second time Varsity Cheer captain. Karina mainly plays the role of a main base. This is her second winter cheer season. Although Karina is newer to the cheer scene, she has been involved in dance and theater since she was a kid.

One of Karina’s favorite memories from the team was last years tree lighting. After all of the festivities,the team went out and grabbed ice cream together. This is one of her fondest memories because it bonded her and her teammates together.

As for pre game rituals before each stunt she and the other members of her stunt group do a special handshake. She thinks it ensures good luck and safety in the following stunt. 

Karina would like to thank her parents and her coaches for supporting her in every way possible. Finally, Karina would like to thank her stunt group for consistently making practices fun and entertaining.

A piece of advice Karina wants to share to her younger teammates would be to “trust your teammates and believe in your own capabilities”. If you are nervous a stunt will fail, the nerves will get to you, but if you are confident you can accomplish anything!

Janie Cartwright is in her 4th and final year on the MIA Varsity Girls Soccer team, as a left wing. After a long, but rewarding 4 years, one specific memory sticks out for Janie. In her freshman year, she scored on her sister Jillian’s senior night. She wholeheartedly dedicated this goal to her sister. 

Janie wants to first thank her coaches, Jax and Alex, for never giving up on the team and giving constant encouragement and support. She also could not have made it through the season without her team, for they always make practices and games and fun an enjoyable experience. Janie’s two sisters, Jillian and Julia, and her cousins, Ava and Haily have also inspired her to be a great teammate and a great player. Most importantly, Janie would like to thank and shout out her mom for always being her number supporter, never missing a single game, taking pictures, and also dedicating her time to make every year’s senior night special. 

After a long 4 years of being on the team, Janie has learned quite a lot. For upcoming players and current teammates, Janie says, “to always be your best and enjoy the moments of being around each other.”

Adyson Clemons has been a part of the competitive cheer scene for many years, but decided to take a break to join MIA’s Varsity Winter Cheer season her senior year. Adyson is a flier, base, and tumbler for the team. She has added a very exciting element to the team this season.

Her favorite memory from the season was performing at the tree lighting and at the Christmas parade. Adyson showcased her amazing tumbling skills in both, and blew the crowd away everytime.

If Adyson were to give advice to someone, she would tell them to “Just do it, don’t overthink it and go with your gut.”

Adyson would like to shout out her boyfriend Veleon, and her friends Naia, and Addison O for always being there for her through everything. She would also like to thank Ms. Gutty for being a huge help when it comes to cheer and her busy schedule, and in English class.

Celeste Forester, also known as “Celly”, has been a part of MIA’s Varsity Cheer team for 3 years. On the team, she plays the role of both a main base and a backspot. She is a very versatile and key part of the team. 

One of Celeste’s favorite memories from the cheer team is creating the Christmas tree lighting dance at Coach Joy’s house. The dance is fully choreographed by the senior girls, and is showcased at Marco Island’s yearly tree lighting and parade. 

Before each game Celeste enjoys taking a ride to Dunkin Donuts and being able to debrief about life with her teammate Alyssa. 

Celeste would like to give a special shout out to longtime cheer coach, Joy Zaben. Coach Joy has helped Celeste express herself, and stick with the sport for three years. Celeste would also like to thank all of her friends and teammate Alyssa Polanco for putting a smile on her face, and inviting her back to the sport with open arms.  Lastly, Celeste would like to shout out her Mom for making her come back to the best sport she has ever been a part of!

Before Celeste’s final cheer season comes to a close, she wants to leave the underclassmen with some advice, “Don’t be scared to be yourself!”

Veronica Fernandes is a 4 year veteran of the MIA Varsity Cheer team. With a vast background in dancing and performing, Veronica decided to join the sport to pursue those skills in a new way. Veronica was a team leader for two years, and was recently appointed to captain this past Fall season. 

Veronica’s pregame ritual is to hydrate and eat a nice meal with her sister Bianca. Veronica’s favorite memory from the past four years is annoying Coach Gutty and creating the dances that are showcased in the parade and tree lighting. 

Veronica would like to thank her teammates, especially Collette Combs and Cassie Letendre, for their kindness and motivation in the past years. She would also like to thank her family for coming to her games and taking her to the doctor for any injury she had each year.

Lincoln Labutte is a senior shooting guard on the MIA Varsity Boys Basketball team. This is his fourth year playing basketball as a Manta Ray. Lincoln would like to give a special shoutout to his entire family, all his teammates and coaches, but most notably, his mother for always pressuring him to be the best player. Lincoln would also like to thank Coach Watt for helping him become the player he is. 

One of Lincoln’s favorite memories was the team traveling to Atlanta, going to an aquarium and then seeing a live NBA game with the entire team. He describes the day as “one to remember” and a moment that inspired him. Pre game, Lincoln likes to listen to music to get his head in the game.

A piece of advice that Lincoln would like to give to his fellow teammates is “Never give up and always try your best.”

Cassie Letendre, nicknamed “Cass” or “Cassandra” as her former teammate Esha Blanc called her, has been an advid part of the MIA Varsity Cheer team for three seasons now. After three years of strong leadership, she was awarded with her captaincy at the start of the season. 

Cassie’s favorite memory from her three years on the winter team, is creating the Christmas dance at Coach Joy’s house. The dance is showcased at the yearly tree lighting, parade, and all December basketball games. 

Cassie’s pre-game rituals are to eat something delicious, and drive with the windows down. Her song of choice is Fashion Killa by ASAP Rocky or any Jackson 5 song.

Cassie’s advice for underclassmen interested in the sport is to “Just do it, you’ll never know how much fun you will have until you try. That goes for anything in life.”

Mary Montgomery, or as her teammates and Grandma call her, Mary Clare, is a senior at MIA. It is her 4th year on the Varsity Soccer team, however, she has been playing the sport since she was 5 years old. On the team, she takes the position of a centerback, center defensive mid, and is one of two team captains. She is the top scorer, and a force to be recond with.

One of her favorite memories from being on the team was taking drives with her teammate, Janie. On their rides to the game, they would talk about all the lowerclassmen drama and rant about her own, those are her favorite memories. Another favorite memory of hers was also making the first goal of the season on the homefield. 

Mary would specifically like to give a special shout out to her teammate Gracie, for always making her laugh during team stretches as she makes funny comments. She would also like to thank Janie for offering her a ride to games and putting up with her. Lastly, she would like to shout out Helen, her centerback twin and co-captain, and her coaches for helping her improve her soccer skills.

Some advice Mary would like to give to current and future teammates of the team is that “Team chemistry is everything. It doesn’t matter how good of a soccer player you are, you need to be a good teammate first and work well with others.”

Maddox Mourning is a senior on the MIA Varsity Basketball team. His position on the basketball team is Center, and he enjoys being a part of the action of the game.

This is Maddox’s second year on the basketball team and considers basketball one of his “favorite sports”. His favorite basketball team is the Toronto Raptors and he was ecstatic when they won the NBA Championship in 2019. His favorite basketball player is a former Toronto Raptor and NBA Champion Kyle Lowry. 

His favorite memory as a member of the MIA basketball team is when they got their first win last season. He had never felt more proud.

Being able to play basketball the two previous seasons with MIA has been fantastic, and he wants to thank Coach Watt and his teammates for the opportunity.

Emma Nash has been a part of the MIA Varsity Girls Soccer team for one year, but it was one of the best decisions of her life. After doing competitive swim for many years, Emma decided to go back to her roots. Emma played travel soccer when she was younger and decided to give the school team a try her senior year. She mainly plays striker. 

Emma’s favorite pre game rituals are drinking energy drinks and listening to the artist Drake.  Emma’s favorite memories have been practices after school and post game victory dinners with the team. 

Emma would like to thank her parents, her grandparents, and her little sister Katie for always supporting her while she is on the field. Additionally, she would like to thank all of her best friends for being the best teammates and always cheering her on. 

Some advice that Emma would like to share with her fellow teammates is to never give up on yourself. Emma says, “If you keep working hard, you will eventually see all of the hard work pay off.” 

Ella Nelson has been on the MIA Varsity Winter Cheer team since her sophomore year, and is in her last year here at MIA. She is going to miss jumpscaring Skylar, one of her teammates, before every practice. She will also miss her coaches and her friends for always being there and never making a dull moment. 

Her favorite memory from cheerleading at MIA was during her sophomore year. At an away football game, the game got rained out and she got to sing and dance to the music in the auditorium with her friends. They got to practice with the other team’s band in their gym and “the floor was shaking” she said. “It was a lot of fun!” She is going to make this year count as she will have a bright future here soon!

She likes to tell everyone “Never say you can’t” as she has learned from this. She would like to thank her family, friends, boyfriend Jordan, and her coaches for making her come back to her high school passion one last time.

Alyssa Polanco has been apart of the MIA Varsity Cheer team for 4 years. Alyssa has mainly been a flier, but has picked up basing in her senior year. Alyssa’s favorite part of the sport is performing at the tree lighting and creating dances with her teammates to perform at these events.

Before games Alyssa likes to go for a Dunkin Donuts run with Celeste. Alyssa credits Mrs. Gutwerk and Coach Joy for always pushing her to do her best as well as her parents for always supporting her. Alyssa is very thankful for Celeste for building up her confidence and always making her laugh. 

Alyssa’s advice for younger classmates who may want to join cheer is “Always say you can and never say you can’t,” as well as to always “have faith in yourself”.

Christian Ramos is a senior on the MIA Varsity Basketball team. Christian has been a guard for the basketball team through all four years of his high school tenure. His nickname in both basketball and school is “C-Ram”, you can often hear the cheerleaders screaming him on during games.

Christian has played basketball since 8th grade and he considers the sport as one of his favorite sports along with lacrosse. His favorite memory as a part of the basketball team is going on a trip with the team to Atlanta and watching an NBA game there. He plans on this being his final season playing basketball, but he will still shoot around for fun.

He wants to thank his teammates for making the high school basketball experience unforgettable. He also wants to thank Coach Watt for giving him a chance to play basketball in 8th grade where it all started.

Enrique Ramirez-Gildardo is a senior captain on the MIA Varsity Boys Soccer team. His position on the soccer team is a defender, and was awarded his captaincy this year..

Enrique loves the sport of soccer and considers it his “favorite sport”. Enrique has played soccer since he was very young, and has played all four years of highschool. Enrique’s favorite team is Real Madrid. Enrique’s favorite player is former Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. 

His favorite memory as a member of the MIA soccer team is scoring a goal in the first game of the year, which he described as a “banger”.

Enrique wanted to thank his teammates and coaches, mainly Señor Higuera, at MIA for making his soccer tenure a successful and pleasant one.

Skylar Siems has been a part of the MIA Varsity Cheer team for the past three years. Following an incident involving a misspelled water bottle during the previous season, Layla Platt gave Skylar, also known as “Syklar,” her nickname that is a well known joke to the whole team. 

Skylar plays the position of a backspot in cheer, and also brings so much spirit and constant determination to the team and representing the school. Skylar is so loved on the team and always will be by her coaches and fellow teammates, she is the puzzle piece that holds the whole team together.

Skylar’s favorite memory from playing this MIA sport is from her sophomore year when she enjoyed driving up to the away games as a team all together. Skylar’s best pregame ritual is listening to music on the drives to games, and being surrounded by her closest friends on the team to get hyped up and ready. 

She would like to thank her coaches, her parents and also her friends of course for being her biggest supporters 24/7. Even if they can’t always be there physically, she always feels cheered on. Some words of advice she would share is “to give your all and not care about the judgment that you might face from those around you”. 

Kacie Swanson is a senior at Marco Island Academy and has been playing soccer for four years. Kacies position on the field is as a winger. Throughout the four years of playing soccer for Marco Island Academy, Kacie has made many memorable memories, but her favorite is during junior year when they beat Donahue with only PK’s for their district game. 

Kacie would like to shout out Michelle Acosta for always being her biggest cheerleader when she’s on the field. Her support for Kacie has never gone unseen. She would also like to thank Helen Totten for always redirecting her and Mary Montgomery for always positively guiding her on the field. 

One pregame ritual that Kacie does is pray for patience throughout the game. Finally, Kacies advice for all underclassmen is to just try out whether they have ever played or not. Kacie encourages others to play because she admits, “soccer will be the best part of the school year.”

Lily Tessarzik is a Senior at MIA and a committed member of the MIA Varsity Girls Soccer team, as she has been playing since Freshman year. Lily plays Striker and has scored over 20 goals as a Manta Ray. This could be due to her tradition of getting Starbucks the morning of game day and drinking a raspberry peach Celsius before each and every game. 

Lily recalls one of her favorite memories of scoring a hat trick against the Village School. She loved feeling the support from her teammates and the crowd. She additionally had lots of fun at all of the team dinners. 

Lily wants to shout out her teachers Mr. Swope and Mr. Wolfe for always being her biggest cheerleaders. She also wants to thank Mrs. Koch and Ms. Scott for their constant support. Lily also wants to thank her close teammate, Mary Montgomery, for always being the first to celebrate with her after a goal. Lily would like to extend a special thank you to Michelle Acosta, her close friend, teammate, and best supporter, for always riding with her to away games and cheering the loudest for her no matter what.

Lily has been a starter since freshman year and continues to grow each and every year. She would like to share her learned knowledge with her teammates and express to not be like her and “put in the work preseason, or you will be out of shape and exhausted.” 

Jacob Watt, normally known as “Jake” or “Jakey” Watt, has been a part of the MIA Varsity Boys Basketball team for the past 4 years. Jake plays point guard and shooting guard, and is a very versitle player for our boys team. 

Throughout his four years of being part of the basketball team Jake has made a number of memories, but there is one in particular that sticks out to him most. His favorite memory is when the basketball team took their yearly trip, and they went to Atlanta to see a basketball game. In the hotel teammates, Mekyle Nazarko and Christian Ramos wrestled Veleon Nazarko. 

For Jake, basketball has been very special to him. Jake claims that having his father as the coach has given him an experience he says he will “cherish forever”. He has enjoyed his time at MIA and will be missed by the Ray family.