Seminole girls top state water polo seed, boys earn No. 3 spot
Seminole’s girls arrived in Miami as the state’s No. 1 seed, and the boys followed at No. 3, with both teams two wins from a title at Belen Jesuit.
Seminole High School turned the 2026 water polo bracket into a Sanford showcase, sending both teams to Miami as state Final Four seeds and putting the program within two victories of a championship sweep. The girls drew the No. 1 seed in Florida and the boys landed No. 3, with semifinals set for Friday, April 24, at the Gian Zumpano Aquatic Center on the campus of Belen Jesuit Preparatory School.
The girls have been the state’s most dominant team all spring. MaxPreps ranked Seminole No. 1 in Florida and No. 1 in Florida 1A, and the team entered the semifinals at 29-0. In tournament play, Seminole rolled past Lake Howell 21-1, Lake Mary 18-3 and Lyman 18-3, a run that matched the kind of margin that has made the program the one everyone else in the bracket is chasing.
That chase has a recent history behind it. Seminole broke through in 2024 to win the school’s first-ever water polo championship, and by the time the 2025 state preview rolled around, the girls were already back in the Final Four as defending champions. Now they return as the top seed again, set to face Miami Country Day at 2 p.m. Friday in the semifinal.
The boys also reached Miami with a bracket path that showed how deep the Sanford program has become. Seminole’s boys were ranked No. 3 in Florida and No. 3 in Florida 1A by MaxPreps, and they advanced through postseason wins over Bishop Moore 17-5, Winter Park 14-8 and Oviedo 12-5. Their semifinal against Mater Lakes is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday.
R. Ackerson leads the program with assistants Julian Bame, T. Ackerson, L. Jongsma and G. Ciancimino, and the results have made Seminole one of the brightest multi-sport stories in Seminole County right now. The water polo run comes as Sanford-area teams also reached regionals in baseball, lacrosse and track and field, giving the county a rare stretch of simultaneous spring success. One win Friday would send each Seminole squad into Saturday’s championship round, leaving the school two victories from bringing home another state title.
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