On Wednesday, June 5, the most talented high school student-athletes in Palm Beach County were honored at the Palm Beach County High School Sports Awards, sponsored by Baptist Health Orthopedic Care and the Cognizant Classic, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach.
That evening, the top male and female student athletes in Palm Beach County in all the high school varsity sports were announced and honored. Of the 37 awards given to top athletes, teams and coaches, four were presented to students from high schools in the western communities — three students from Wellington High School and one from the King’s Academy.
The three student-athletes from WHS were Keelin Coleman (flag football), Sam Marvel (boys wrestling) and Cade Kendall (boys golf). The student-athlete from TKA was Avery Fronrath (girls cross country). Coleman, Marvel and Fronrath were named as Player of the Year for their respective sports, while Kendall was presented with the Courage Award.
Coleman, a senior, led the WHS flag football team to the Florida High School Athletic Association’s flag football state championships in Tampa held May 10-11, where Wellington lost, 7-0, to Lennard High School in the state semifinals. In her four-year high school career at WHS, Coleman threw for 3,662 yards and 52 touchdowns. She will play collegiate (NAIA) flag football next year at Thomas University in Thomasville, Georgia.
Marvel, a senior, competed in two different wrestling weight classes this year. According to WHS head wrestling coach Travis Gray, Marvel started the year competing in the 126-pound weight class and then moved up to the 132-pound weight class as the season progressed. Marvel won the 132-pound weight class in both the FHSAA district and regional tournaments this season before finishing the season with a third-place medal at the FHSAA state wrestling finals held in early March in Kissimmee.
“Sam barely lost his state semifinal match in overtime. Then, the wrestler who beat him in the semifinal won the state title in his next match,” Gray said. “Sam was that close to being a state champion.”
Marvel finished third in the state in the 126-pound weight class last year as a junior.
Fronrath, a senior, was the fastest cross-country runner from Palm Beach County at the 2023 FHSAA state cross country meet, held Friday, Nov. 17 at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. She finished in eighth place with a time of 18:40. She will continue her education at the University of Florida, where she will also run cross country and track.
Kendall, also a senior, was a four-year letterman for the boys varsity golf team at WHS. Back in 2019, Kendall was diagnosed with nephronophthisis, which is a cystic kidney disorder (CKD). He was immediately put on the transplant list and remained committed to being an athlete by becoming a member of the boys varsity golf team. Kendall received a living donor transplant in May 2023, but remains involved in efforts to give back and support those suffering from CKD. Kendall plans to attend the University of Central Florida this fall to major in architecture.
