Best high school mascot in Florida: Top 10 candidates

From Dreadnaughts to Blue Darters to Spongers, meet the best high school mascots in Florida

Florida has the longest coastline in the lower 48 states, so it's not surprising to see the Sunshine State having so many ocean-themed high school mascots that stand out.

But the state also throws a couple of Atomic, Flying L curveballs outside the nautical zone.

SBLive Sports' love for unique mascots with interesting back stories has been well documented.

We've crowned Hodags and Imps the past couple of years in national high school mascot contests, and now we're taking a spin through every state.

Over the next couple of months we'll go from Alabama through Wyoming featuring each state's best high school mascots, and then give readers a chance to vote for their favorite. Our Florida poll posted Oct. 12 on highschool.si.com and will stay open through Oct. 19:

Vote: Which is the best high school mascot in Florida?

Here are the top 10 high school mascots in Florida:

Apopka Blue Darters

From a 2001 Orlando Sentinel article describing Apopka's mascot: “A Blue Darter is a small, agile raptor about the size of a crow, sometimes known as a Cooper's hawk, and it is the perfect symbol for our football team and school. Unlike larger raptors that spiral lazily in the sky, the Blue Darter flies low and swiftly through woods, rarely seen. It prefers understated displays of power and will pounce on unsuspecting prey before they know what hit them.” 

Charlotte Fightin' Tarpons

Just minutes away from the school, you’ll often find hundreds of fishermen out angling for the popular game fish. Tarpons are the mascot choice for three other high schools in the U.S. (two in Louisiana, one in Texas), but Charlotte has the only Fightin’ Tarpons, and its logo is the only one with a tarpon wearing boxing gloves.

Colonial Grenadiers

This mascot is a literal tip of the cap to the highest-ranking regiment of infantry in the British Army and refers to the fur caps worn by the guards at Buckingham Palace. Colonial’s football team plays its rival, University, every year in "The Boot Game.”

Fort Lauderdale Flying L’s

At the 1917 state track meet, a reporter reportedly remarked, "Look at that L Fly,” as Fort Lauderdale track star Charlie Rhodes ran to victory in numerous events. The following week, the town of Fort Lauderdale voted on nicknaming all of the school's sports teams "The Flying L’s,” and over 100 years later it’s still a hit.

Key West Conchs

Key West is the farthest-south high school in the continental United States, and it has the only Conchs in the country in high school sports. Featuring an area rife with that seashell on local beaches, the mascot is a big hit with locals.

Lakeland Dreadnaughts

Lakeland’s unique mascot dates back to 1923, when Principal I.G. McKay made a speech to the football team, comparing them to a mighty dreadnaught (a battleship typically spelled “dreadnought”) that rolls over its opponents like a massive ship navigating stormy seas. He ended the speech suggesting the team should be called the Dreadnaughts from that day forward, and it stuck.

Osceola Kowboys

Osceola's mascot is named for real-life cowboy and Kissimmee native Otis "Pete" Clemens, who died in 2018 at the age of 91. Why Kowboy with a K? It comes from a cartoon portrayal of Clemons that was put on a pickup truck and dubbed "Kowboy Jake.”

Oxbridge Academy ThunderWolves

Oxbridge Academy opened in 2011, and with the birth of the school came the birth of a high school mascot never seen before — the ThunderWolves. The school’s logo sports a wolf carrying a lightning bolt like a deer bone. Barron Trump, youngest son of Donald, is in the school’s Class of 2024 (according to the almighty Internet).

Poplar Springs Atomics

Named by a sports writer, Poplar Springs' name Atomics was adopted in 1948, just after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The school chose the name to describe its athletes as explosive, and its logo today shows a PS in the center of an atom. 

Tarpon Springs Spongers

This is as good as it gets when it comes to geographically specific nicknames. Tarpon Springs is the sponge capital of Florida, so it’s fitting that the high school’s sports teams are called the Spongers. Just visit the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks one time and you’ll get the picture.

Vote: Which is the best high school mascot in Connecticut?

Vote: Which is the best high school mascot in Delaware?

(Feature photo by Andrew West/The News-Press / USA Today Network)

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports