Lakewood Ranch senior Sophia Falco wins 4A state triple jump

Sophia Falco’s Lakewood Ranch career came to an end Saturday with her best performance yet at the Class 4A championships. The senior took home a pair of gold medals, one silver and one bronze at IMG Academy Field this weekend.

The sprinter and jumper won her second gold medal of the weekend Saturday with a first-place finish in the FHSAA track & field 4A triple jump. A few minutes later, she settled for second place in the 100-meter dash at IMG Academy and then rounded out her day with a third-place finish in the 200 dash. Leading into the state championship, Falco had won all eight events she competed in at her district and region meets.

Falco, who finished second in the triple jump last spring, produced a jump of 42 feet, 8 inches at IMG Academy to win the state title by nearly three feet. Oak Ridge’s Marquasha Myers finished second with a 40-foot jump.

Falco needed to jump only twice to win the state title, and her first jump was the one that stood up. After taking the lead, the jumper rested to prepare for her two sprinting events later in the day.

“I was just right on,” Falco said. “I warmed up, everything was feeling good.”

First up was the 100 dash, in which she ran in 12.07 seconds to finish second behind Miami Southridge’s Symone Mason. In the 200, Falco ran a 24.15.

The gold medal in the triple jump, though, gives Falco three for her career. She won the long jump as a junior then repeated as the event’s 4A champion Friday in Bradenton.

Falco’s performance is once again helping the Mustangs toward the top of the team standings. After winning the meet in 2016, Lakewood Ranch was fourth with 38 points. Southridge leads the way with 80 1/2 and Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas is second with 46 1/2.

This story was originally published May 6, 2017 at 2:41 PM with the headline "Lakewood Ranch senior Sophia Falco wins 4A state triple jump."