FPC's Colby Cronk cruises to shot put gold; DeLand's Kylie Neira defends pole vault title

JACKSONVILLE — Like sister, like brother: the Cronk family produced another FHSAA state champion Saturday afternoon.

Flagler Palm Coast junior Colby Cronk, an N.C. State football commit , smashed his personal record with a 19.22-meter throw in the shot put to cruise to his first Class 4A gold medal at the FHSAA championships at Hodges Stadium. According to national track and field database Milesplit, Cronk's throw is the 10th-best in Florida high school athletics history.

Older sister Micayla Cronk , an 11-time All-American swimmer and NCAA national champion in the 800-meter freestyle relay, won seven FHSAA golds during her four-year tenure with the Bulldogs, becoming the most decorated female swimmer in Volusia-Flagler area history.

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"I'm loving it, … but she had seven," Cronk said, with a laugh. "I've definitely thought about doing more (events). Heck, I might try out javelin."

Cronk nearly matched his previous high mark (17.96), set at regionals, with his first attempt. He broke it at the second time of asking (18.15) before unleashing the winning toss.

"I'm happy with that because it's a really big PR, but now I want to be No. 1," Cronk said. "My goal today was just to hit 18 (meters). I got a little bit of pressure relief after that second (throw). On the third one, I just wanted to get after it."

Cronk nearly doubled his gold tally later in the day, setting the early standard in the discus with another personal-best (56.06). However, Chiles' Jason Atwood surpassed that mark on each of his final two attempts, including a huge 59.67 finale.

DeLand junior Kylie Neira defended her Class 4A girls pole vaulting championship with ease despite difficult wind conditions and a lightning delay, clearing 3.9 meters on her second jump to seal victory. Neira missed on three tries at the Florida high school record (4.03), giving her fuel for one last ride in 2025.

"I'm happy, but at the same time, everyone wants more," Neira said. "I want to take another attempt, but that can't happen. I literally said, 'Just give me one more.'"

Spruce Creek's girls notched a sixth-place showing in the team standings, dropping from third following the night's final event, the 4x400 relay. Niceville, George Jenkins and St. Thomas Aquinas, the race winner, vaulted ahead of the Hawks.

Twin sisters Mackenzie (4:54.86) and Arianna Roy (4:58.10) hung with Creekside's Alyson Johnson until the final stretch of the 1,600, placing second and third. They finished among the top four in the 3,200 as well — Mackenzie ran a time of 11:05.05, and Arianna was fourth in 11:08.45 — but Johnson broke away from the pack early and never looked back, winning by nearly 29 seconds.

The Roys ran the opening two legs of the 4x800 relay, in which Spruce Creek came fourth (9:29.23).

Angelina Stabile hit her first four jumps in the pole vault, good enough for fifth place with a top height of 3.3. Sanaii Gaines placed seventh in the long jump (5.48), her debut appearance in the event at states.

FPC fared best among the local boys' teams, tying with Mandarin for eighth on 21 points — with Cronk accounting for 18. Elijah Thero (53.60) and Levi Hayworth (53.17) both scored for the Bulldogs in the javelin, placing seventh and eighth, respectively.

Owen York represented DeLand on the podium, picking up the team's lone point with an eighth-place distance in the first flight of the discus throw (47.95).

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: FPC's Colby Cronk cruises to shot put gold; DeLand's Kylie Neira defends pole vault title