Unveiling the 2024 Volusia-Flagler All-Area Girls Track and Field Team

Until last spring, Volusia County waited 33 years to crown a state girls pole vaulting champion. There was no such drought this time around.

Not only did DeLand's Kylie Neira defend her Class 4A gold medal, but New Smyrna Beach's MaKenna Estes walked out of UNF's Hodges Stadium as the undisputed champ of Class 3A. If that weren't enough, Spruce Creek's Angelina Stabile added a fifth-place Class 4A finish, solidifying arguably the area's finest season in event history.

In total, nine local athletes earned their way onto the podium at states, creating an exceedingly competitive field of candidates for Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

All-Area Boys Track and Field: State champion throwers Cronk, Kuznof among 12 Athlete of the Year nominees

The Volusia-Flagler High School Sports Awards is proud to announce the player of the year nominees for track and field. The winners will be announced during the live show on Monday, June 3, at the Ocean Center.

The show is presented with the support of Halifax Health.

During the live show, athletes of the year in 30 state-sanctioned sports will be honored. In addition, top teams, coaches and overall athletes will be honored as will a Courage Award winner.

Nominated athletes who RSVP will receive a complimentary ticket to the event here, thanks to sponsors: RSVP here for the 2024 Volusia-Flagler High School Sports Awards.

Tickets for the public are on sale here: 2024 Volusia-Flagler High School Sports Awards Tickets (enmotive.com).

For more information about the show, including links to other sports nominees and to opt into email updates, visit its website and follow it on Facebook.

The Volusia-Flagler High School Sports Awards show is part of the USA TODAY High School Sports Awards, the largest high school sports recognition program in the country.

Nominees

Nyrania Barr-Miller, University: The senior exploded out of the blocks in the Class 4A 100-meter hurdles and set a new personal-best time of 14.73 seconds, good for ninth overall. Locally, Barr-Miller ranked fourth in the 100-meter dash (12.45), second in the 200 (24.67) and fourth in the 400 hurdles (1:08.53).

Mackenzie Brewton, Father Lopez: The junior saw a huge improvement in the shot put at the Class 1A finals, hitting a throw of 11.34 meters to secure a bronze medal. Brewton also qualified for states in the discus, setting a new PR (28.57) to take sixth in her region.

MaKenna Estes, New Smyrna Beach: The senior became the Barracudas' first female track and field champion since 1987, and only the second overall, by clearing 3.75 meters in the pole vault at the Class 3A meet. Estes, an Alabama commit, won her final five high school competitions — picking up district and regional gold along the way.

Adelae Fulton, Father Lopez: The junior delivered her best discus throw on the biggest stage (36.27), more than five meters further than any previous attempt this spring, in placing fourth in Class 1A. Fulton also qualified for regionals in both the shot put and the javelin (30.62), in which she ranked third locally.

Olivia Gaines, Flagler Palm Coast: The senior stood out among a trio of talented FPC triple jumpers, hitting a PR 11.44 distance at districts and placing 12th at states. Gaines had the second-best long jump (5.42) in the area, and was eighth-fastest in the 100 (12.66).

Sanaii Gaines, Spruce Creek: The junior topped the local leaderboard in four events, including the sprinting triple crown. She posted times of 12.19 in the 100, 24.37 in the 200 and 57.87 in the 400, and finished seventh in Class 4A in the long jump as a first-time qualifier (5.63 PR at districts).

Sierra Howard, Matanzas: The senior backed up consecutive golds at districts and regionals with her best 800 time ever (2:15.71), becoming the lone Pirate to crack the Class 3A podium in eighth place.

Kylie Neira, DeLand: The junior defended her Class 4A pole vaulting crown with relative ease, hitting four of her first five jumps with a top mark of 3.9 meters. Neira took gold at all but one meet this spring, including titles at the Florida Relays, the Five Star Conference championship and her district and regional competitions.

Arianna Roy, Spruce Creek: The junior ran near the front of the pack in every major long-distance race this spring, ending the campaign with her top 1,600 (4:58.1) and 3,200 (11:08.45) times to take third and fourth place in Class 4A.

Mackenzie Roy, Spruce Creek: The junior grabbed a pair of silver medals at states and was the area's top runner at the three longest distances: the 800 (2:14.94), the 1,600 (4:54.86) and the 3,200 (10:53.1). Roy caps a calendar year in which she placed fourth in the state in cross country and earned All-Area recognition as a midfielder for the Hawks' soccer team.

Maya Tyson, Flagler Palm Coast: The junior three-peated at Five Star in the shot put, one of two events in which she advanced to the state meet. She set a new PR at regionals in the discus (36.13), an event in which she claimed a conference gold for the first time .

Jordan Youngman, Matanzas: The senior demonstrated remarkable consistency in the 400 hurdles throughout the state series with three nearly identical times, including a PR 1:05 flat at regionals. Youngman finished 10th in Class 3A, and was also among the area's best in the 110 hurdles (15.63) and the high jump (1.52).

Other Athletes of Note

Summer Barnes, Flagler Palm Coast: The senior sprinter scooped up a Five Star gold medal in the 200 on her home track and had top-three local times in both the 100 (12.3) and the 200 (25.43).

Kylie Davis, Spruce Creek: The senior won conference and district championships in the 400 hurdles, then assured herself a spot in the Class 4A meet with a personal-best time of 1:06.52.

Jada Hawkins, Spruce Creek: The freshman scored in three races in her Five Star debut and added a district title in the 400, lowering her personal-best time to 58.1 seconds.

Aun’Yale Howard, Flagler Palm Coast: The senior, committed to play softball at Lynn University, qualified for regionals in the triple jump (10.98), was fifth locally in the long jump (5.09) and topped 33 meters in the javelin.

Hannah Judge, University: The junior carried over her success from cross country season to make the Class 4A state finals in the 1,600 (5:11.06 PR) and dropped a time of 11:18.17 in the 3,200 at the FSU Relays in Tallahassee.

Emily Lamb, DeLand: The junior launched an area-best javelin throw (36.75) at the FSU Relays, and pulled off a district championship in the discus (35.28) by improving her distance by nearly 2 meters.

Karina Marcelus, Flagler Palm Coast: The sophomore soared 11.19 meters at states to place 11th in Class 4A in the triple jump, and scored for the Bulldogs in both the high jump and the 100 hurdles at Five Star.

Mikayla Palmer, Spruce Creek: The sophomore pulled off a mild shock in winning a regional high jump title (1.62), and ended a breakout season with an 11th-place performance in Class 4A.

Taylor Spann, Flagler Palm Coast: The senior made it to regionals in four events, where she recorded the area's second-fastest time in the 100 hurdles (15.24). Spann ranked fourth locally in both the long jump (5.16) and the javelin (29.05).

Angelina Stabile, Spruce Creek: The junior pole vaulter cleared 3.45 meters in April, and hit each of her first four jumps to secure fifth place in the Class 4A competition.

Anna Vandell, DeLand: The sophomore won Five Star gold in the high jump for the second year in a row, setting a new PR (1.62) which she matched in a runner-up finish at districts.

Kiera Williams, Mainland: The junior broke the one-minute barrier in the 400 for the first time to prevail at districts (58.43), and made her debut at the Class 3A state meet where she finished 16th.

Top Coach

Stephon Gallon, Spruce Creek: The Hawks edged FPC for the conference title, and finished sixth in the team standings of the Class 4A championship after piling up points in the long-distance races.

Honorable Mention

Atlantic: Aalaiah Jones, Jada Livingston, Helena Perez

DeLand: Shamia Allen, Keylani Cates, Savannah Hatfield

Deltona: Iniya Reddicks

Father Lopez: Laura Bernal, Caroline Theriault

First Baptist Christian: Sanigh Arneaud

Flagler Palm Coast: Cassidy De Young, Jada Dotson, Zoey Gotera, Favour Jegede, Sophia Johnson, Madison Lagarde, Haley McLeer, Taylor Novak, Leilany Rosa, Arianna Slaughter, Isabella Tarsitano, Mikaylla Williams, Jayden Wright

Mainland: Callie Brown, Janiyah Giddens, Gabrielle Lett, Yasmin Polk, Amyah Watlington

Matanzas: Bryonna Bowdry, Evanne Miller, Kamryn Miller, Ariana Smith

New Smyrna Beach: Jaclyn Betti, Celeste Coney, Asha-Mahri Manzueta, Sydney Traub

Seabreeze: Lauren Lancing, Emma Uneda, Anastasia Von Bretzel

Spruce Creek: Riley Bennett, Bella Cobb, Jay Cooley, Emma Davis, Brianna Fordham, Bella Niewald, Riley Withers

University: Morgan Harvill, Morgan Northey

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia-Flagler All-Area: Meet the 2024 Girls Track and Field Team