By Kyle LoJacono
Pasco sophomore Janarion Grant kept up his family tradition of winning track and field state championships by taking the Class 2A long jump title on April 30.
Janarion had a championship jump of 24-03.5, a personal best. It is the first state track title for any Pirate athlete since his uncle Darren Grant took the 3A high jump gold in 1993 and the first in the long jump since 1989.
“I wasn’t expecting to have a jump like that,” Janarion said. “I’ve been working hard at it every week, but to come out and have my best jump ever at states, I was shocked. It couldn’t have happened at a better time.”
Wesley Chapel senior Hunter Joyer won his second straight 2A shot put championship with a toss of 61-01, less than five feet from the state record of 65-08.25.
Joyer won the title last year while attending Tampa Catholic. It is the second state championship for Joyer this year after winning the 1A weightlifting crown in the 238-pound classification less than a month ago.
“It’s a great feeling to win two state titles in two sports,” Joyer said. “Some guys never get to win even one. It’s a hard thing to do. It was my goal this year.”
Wesley Chapel and Pasco tied for 21st with 10 team points. Godby won the overall title with 65.
For the girls, Steinbrenner junior Alexis Wright won the first track and field state championship for the second-year school by claiming the girls 100-meter hurdles race.
Wright ran a 15.05 in the finals, just 0.06 seconds faster than second place Khadeeja Dooling from American Heritage. Last year she finished ninth in a preliminary race by running a 15.76.
Wesley Chapel sophomore Ravin Gilbert took seventh in both the 100 and 200 with runs of 12.72 and 25.18 respectively.
The Warrior girls scored 24 points in the event to finish eighth as a team, while Wesley Chapel earned four. American Heritage took home the state championship with 92.
–All results as recorded by the Florida High School Athletic Association.
