Matanzas discus thrower places sixth in his third trip to state

The Pirates' 4x400 girls relay team also placed sixth at the Class 3A state championships; two Father Lopez throwers won medals at the Class 1A meet.

By Brent Woronoff
| 3:26 p.m. May 23, 2023

Matanzas discus thrower Bradyn Cox. Photo by Michele Meyers

Matanzas discus thrower Bradyn Cox places sixth at the 3A State Championship. Lakeland's Guerlens Milfort (left) places fourth. Photo by Michele Meyers

Class 3A State Championship top eight discus throwers. Photo by Michele Meyers

Matanzas 400 dash runner Evanne Miller. Photo by Michele Meyers

Matanzas 400 dash runner Evanne Miller finishes first in her heat and ninth overall at the Class 3A State Championship. Photo by Michele Meyers

Matanzas 400 dash runner Evanne Miller finishes first in her heat and ninth overall, just missing a podium finish at the Class 3A State Championship. Photo by Michele Meyers

Matanzas hurdler Jordan Youngman and Miashlie Jean of Northeast. Photo by Michele Meyers

400 hurdlers- Tajhana South, Lakeland (lane 9); Oksanna Smith, Hillsborough (lane 8); Jordan Youngman, Matanzas (lane 7);Miashlie Jean, Northeast (OP) (lane 6) compete at the Class 3A State Championship. Photo by Michele Meyers

Matanzas hurdler Jordan Youngman. Photo by Michele Meyers

Matanzas 800 meter runner Sierra Howard (second from right). Photo by Michele Meyers

Ponte Vedra and Matanzas girls get ready to run in the second heat of the 4x400 meter relay. Photo by Michele Meyers

Matanzas' Sierra Howard (left) runs the lead leg of the 4x400 meter relay at the Class 3A State Championship. Photo by Michele Meyers

Matanzas discus thrower Bradyn Cox. Photo by Michele Meyers

Evanne Miller smiles as she crosses the finish line after running the anchor leg in the 4x400 meter relay. Matanzas girls finished sixth at the Class 3A State Championship. Photo by Michele Meyers

Matanzas' girls 4x400 meters relay team. Photo by Michele Meyers

Palm Coast Observer
Sports

On his third and final trip to the FHSAA track and field championships, Matanzas High School discus thrower Bradyn Cox brought home a medal.

Cox placed sixth at the Class 3A state meet Friday, May 19, at the University of North Florida with a personal-record toss of 45.96 meters (150 feet, 9 inches).

The senior advanced to state as a sophomore in 2021, finishing ninth, one spot away from a state medal. He had a longer throw at state in 2022 but finished 11th.

Cox will continue his track and field career at West Virginia Wesleyan College.

The Pirates’ 4x400 girls relay team also placed sixth at state. Sierra Howard, Evanne Miller, Luise Sommer and Jordan Youngman ran a personal-record 3:57.39.

Miller ran a PR in the 400 meters, finishing ninth with a time of 57.98. Youngman ran a PR in the 400 hurdles, finishing 13th with a time of 1:05.18. Howard finished 13th in the 800 with a time of 2:22.69.

Father Lopez’s Hailey Bruce and Angelina Stabile each placed in girls throwing events at the Class 1A state championships on Wednesday, May 17.

Bruce, a senior, was fourth in javelin with a throw of 39.1 meters (128 feet, 3 inches). Stabile was fifth in pole vault with a 3-meter throw (9 feet, 10 inches).

Also competing for the Green Wave were Caroline Theriault (12th in girls high jump), Andrew Gazzoli in the boys 800 (12th place) and the boys 4x800 relay team of Andrew Gazzoli, Matthew Gazzoli, Felipe Paredes and Talan Spires (10th place).