Lakewood Ranch’s Sophia Falco is All-Area Athlete of the Year for girls track and field
Sophia Falco has been a fixture on state championship podiums since she started at Lakewood Ranch High School, and Talia Falco, her older sister, was winning her own gold medals. The younger Falco’s legacy has grown since winning three medals during her freshman year. That career culminated with her best championship performance yet; she won two gold medals at the Class 4A championships in Bradenton. She’s the Herald’s All-Area Athlete of the Year for girls track and field for the second straight year.
To her credit: Lakewood Ranch always tried to pace Falco through her jumps. The senior ran the 100- and 200-meter dashes for the Falcons throughout her career, so, when possible, head coach Mark Napier liked to try to win the long jump and triple jump in just an attempt or two. At the Class 4A championships, Falco took that approach to an extreme. She skipped her final three attempts in the long jump and repeated as the 4A champion with a leap of 19 feet, 8 1/4 inches. Then, on her first triple jump attempt, Falco produced a personal best of 42-8 to win another gold; she took only one more attempt.
The rest of her weekend went well because of the reduced workload. Falco won two more medals — a pair of bronze — in the 100 and 200 dashes at IMG Academy Field to finish her career with three gold medals and 14 total. The Vanderbilt-bound sprinter and jumper won at least three top-eight medals in each of her four years at Lakewood Ranch.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Manatee: Paige Morrison, senior, hurdles; Raquel Lespasio, junior, runs; Alison Ecker, senior, runs. Lakewood Ranch: Karen Lyvers, junior, jumps; Josie Curtis, freshman, jumps; Morgan Lingle, junior, throws. Palmetto: Sydney Waiters, junior, sprints/jumps; Elizabeth Atkinson, senior, throws. Braden River: Breonna Graham, junior, sprints; Alyssa Gagnon, junior, runs. Southeast: Priscilla Miller, junior, sprints/jumps. Bayshore: Charneycar Casimir, junior, sprints; Alexus Norman, senior, jumps. Out-of-Door Academy: Saraiah Walkes, 8th, sprints.
This story was originally published May 31, 2017 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Lakewood Ranch’s Sophia Falco is All-Area Athlete of the Year for girls track and field."