Prep sports: Ranch's academics among tops in the state

This year marks the first time the Florida High School Athletic Association will name an overall academic team champion for each classification.
That bodes well for Lakewood Ranch, currently ranked first in Class 4A with 85 total points. It appears to be a two-school race - Naples Barron Collier is second with 82 points, but third-place Tampa Jesuit has 55.
A chunk of those points came this past winter, when Lakewood Ranch had some of the highest grade-point average in each of the season's sports.
They were sixth in boys basketball (3.178 GPA), third in girls basketball (3.515), sixth in boys soccer (3.378), fourth in girls soccer (3.591), fourth in wrestling (3.221) and sixth in girls weightlifting (3.416).
Lakewood Ranch also excelled on the field in those sports, as well. The boys soccer team advanced to its first regional final, the basketball teams and girls soccer team made the regional playoffs and wrestling and girls weightlifting sent qualifiers to the state tournament.
Points are awarded for how high each team ranks in grade-point average for each sport, with 10 points going to first place, nine for second, etc.