Plant City High School sent four athletes to the FHSAA Class 4A track and field state championship meet over the weekend with high hopes, and the kids made their school and hometown proud.
Jackson Knotts had the best finish of the group of four. The senior, who set a state record in the boys javelin throw back in March, placed third overall and took home a bronze medal with a mark of 52.47m on his final throw of the event. Though Knotts finished behind Niceville juniors Aidan Boyd and Nathan Stepp, the Raider’s state record mark of 57.23m still stood at the end of the day.
Kaylee Hahn’s throwing arm was also in good shape that day and got her on the podium. Hahn placed fifth overall and set a new personal record with a high mark of 34.80m — which is also the fifth-best mark of the year in the Class 4A rankings. Interestingly, Hahn and three of the other girls who joined her on the podium saved their best throws for the last meet of the season and almost completely rewrote the state’s top five spots in the record book. Fourth-place finisher Jacey Tippman of Venice did not top her mark of 36.92m at the May 1 regional meet and that is now the third-highest mark of the season.
Aramoni Rhone’s first season of track and field ended on a high note as the senior made it all the way to states in both the boys triple jump and boys long jump. At regionals on May 1, he placed third overall in both events with personal records of 6.78m in the long jump and 13.96m in the triple jump. At the state championship meet, Rhone finished 12th in the triple jump with a mark of 13.25m and 15th in the long jump with a mark of 6.47m.
Montrael Bennett, fresh off of setting a new personal record at regionals with a time of 10.82 in the boys 100m, sprinted his way to 13th place in the event with a time of 11.16 at states.