Gateway’s Maxwell Garcon Soars to Triple Jump State Title as Osceola County Athletes Shine at FHSAA Championships

By: J. Daniel Pearson

For a second year in a row, an Osceola athlete is a state track and field champion.

On Friday, Gateway junior Maxwell Garcon – who came into the competition as the fourth seed –won the FHSAA Class 3A Triple Jump with a season-best leap of 50’-0 ¾”.

Garcon was the only jumper of the 18 competitors to go over 50 feet in the event as he bested the top three seeds in Wesley Chapel’s Klyh Anderson, Northeast’s Tommie O’Hara and Pine Forest’s Darian Banks. O’Hara (49-8 ¼) and Banks (48-11) finished second and third respectively.

It was not the only hardware on the day for Garcon, who also qualified in the long jump and high jump. With a leap of 23’-81/4” in the long jump, he grabbed fifth place to also earn All-State honors and account for 14 of Gateway’s 16 team points (tied for 11^th).

A second Panther also earned All-State honors as junior Ethan Antile, seeded 14^th out of 18 qualifiers, out-performed his seeding with a seventh-place finish going 14’-31/4”. Antle’s height actually tied him for fifth but he was moved down based on misses. He also qualified for multiple events, earning a spot in the javelin – where he finished 17^th.

In all, Gateway sent eight athletes to compete in eight events at the state meet. In addition to Garcon and Antle, the boys 4 x 800 relay team (17^th) competed; as did Sarah Diaz (Pole Vault, 18^th Place) and Melissa Figueroa (Triple Jump, 16^th).

Saturday’s 4A meet was a banner day for Osceola County athletes as seven different athletes earned all-state status in nine different events.

St. Cloud’s Denzel Hawkins picked up two medals with 4^th place finish in the 100-meter hurdles (14.32) and came back to claim a bronze medal in the 400 hurdles (54.42). Osceola’s Cheyenne Price was also a double medalist as she placed 5^th in the long jump (18-5) and 7^th in the triple jump (36-8 ½).

Pryce’s teammates Nicole Oliveira and Korbyn Jones picked up medals in the long jump and triple jump, respectively. Oliveira had a third place finish (18-5 ¼); while Jones was fourth (37-4).

St. Cloud senior Kyla Perez placed in the 800 for a second straight year, grabbing 7^th place in 2:12.79. In a bit of a surprise, Celebration’s Sofia Meadows, who came into the javelin as the 14^th seed with a qualifying throw of 103’-1”, heaved the spear a season-best 117’-3” to Ktake 4^th place.

Lady Bulldogs pole vault specialist Brooke Bonesteel tied for 5^th place was had an official placement of 7^th based on total misses.

Over at the Lakeland Civic Center, the St. Cloud Bulldogs had four lifters earn five all-state designations at the FHSAA Class 3A State Weightlifting Championships on Thursday. Leading the way for the Bulldogs was double medalist Jason Isaraphanich (139-lb. weight class) – who took fifth place overall in the Olympic (snatch + clean-and-jerk) and 6^th in the Traditional (clean-and-jerk + bench).

Jayden Green (129) was the highest St. Cloud place-winner, taking third in the Olympic. Jaden Perez (183) was fifth in the Olympic and barely missed joining Isaraphanich as a double medalist as he finished one off the podium in the traditional.

The other St. Cloud medalist was Ayden Lopez (119), who placed fifth in the traditional. Santos Torres just missed out on the St. Cloud medal haul with a seventh place finish in 139 Traditional.

Of 108 schools that qualified lifters for the 3A Championships, St. Cloud finished 5^th in Olympic team scoring and 23^rd in the Traditional. Tohopekaliga, Osceola, Celebration and Poinciana all qualified lifters for the state championship but did not have any top seven finishers.

OSCEOLA COUNTY’S ALL-STATE PERFORMERS

FHSAA Track and Field Championships Jacksonville, Fla.

Top 8 Earn All-State

Maxwell Garcon, Gateway Triple Jump, 3A State Champion

Kyla Perez, St. Cloud, 800 Meters, 7^th (4A)

Brooke Bonesteel, St. Cloud, Pole Vault, 7^th (4A)

Cheyenne Pryce, Osceola, Long Jump 5^th, Triple Jump 4^th (4A)

Nicole Oliveira, Osceola, Long Jump, 3^rd (4A)

Korbyn Jones, Osceola, Triple Jump, 3^rd (4A)

Sofia Meadows, Celebration, Javelin, 4^th (4A)

Denzel Hawkins, St. Cloud, 110 Hurdles 4^th, 400 Hurdles 3^rd (4A)

Maxwell Garcon, Gateway, Triple Jump 1^st, Long Jump 4^th (3A)