Hernando County schools honor top athletes, coaches and teams at awards show

More than 9,000 fan votes helped shape Hernando County School District’s annual athletics awards at Crosspoint Church in Spring Hill, turning the ceremony into a countywide measure of school pride as much as individual success. Every one of Hernando’s five public high schools earned at least one honor, and Springstead, Nature Coast Tech and Weeki Wachee each took home two.

That reach mattered in a district that lists 5 high schools, 16 sports at the high-school level, 217 total teams, 3,940 student athletes, 249 coaches and 12 athletic directors. With that many programs spread across the county, the awards gave parents, students and boosters a single night to see how local sports are building identity at each campus, not just producing wins on the scoreboard.

District Athletic Director Dustin Kupcik led the unveiling of the 2025-2026 honorees on May 15. A six-person committee selected the winners, but the public still had a meaningful voice: two tiebreakers were decided by fans. That mix of committee review and community input made the show a reflection of both athletic performance and the support system surrounding it.

The headline winners included Allyn Williamson of Nature Coast Tech as male assistant coach of the year and Alexis Gerondidakis of Central as female assistant coach of the year. Erin Clark of Weeki Wachee was named female coach of the year, Tyson Ellis of Hernando earned male coach of the year, Addison Osborne of Springstead was selected as female athlete of the year and Leelan Wright of Weeki Wachee was chosen as male athlete of the year. Taken together, those honors spread recognition across the county rather than concentrating it in one dominant program.

That distribution is part of the story for Hernando County schools, where athletic success can help keep students connected to a campus and give younger players a reason to stay in the pipeline. Coaching stability matters too, and honoring coaches alongside athletes sends a message that the work of building programs is valued year after year.

Kupcik’s role in the awards also carried extra weight after he was named Central Region Athletic Director of the Year in February. When he accepted that honor on Feb. 28, 2026, he said he was proud to be the voice for student-athletes, coaches and athletic directors at the district level. On May 15, that voice helped frame the awards not as a trophy roll call, but as a countywide celebration of the people and programs shaping Hernando sports.