- December 4, 2025
Flagler Palm Coast’s Colby Cronk had a late start to track and field this season after recovering from November surgery to repair a torn labrum. But he seems to be all the way back.
Cronk’s shot put and discus throws at the Region 1-4A meet surpassed his throws from a year ago heading into the state meet. He went on to win the state title in shot put and place second in discus.
Cronk won the regional shot put title on May 3 at Sanford Seminole with a throw of 19.03 meters (62 feet, 5.24 inches), which puts him on top of the state rankings for all classifications. He placed second in discus with a throw of 51.15 meters (167 feet, 10 inches), which ranks fourth in Class 4A.
At state last year, Cronk set school records in the shot put at 19.22 meters and in discus at 56.06 meters, which is farther than any Class 4A competitor has thrown the discus this season.
Cronk and Karina Marcelus were the only Bulldogs to win regional titles, but several others will have a good chance to medal at the Class 4A state meet on Saturday, May 10, at the University of North Florida.
Marcelus won the girls triple jump with a leap of 11.27 meters (36 feet, 11.75 inches). She also placed second in 100 hurdles (14.72 seconds) and third in long jump (5.37 meters) to qualify in all three of her individual events. Marcelus heads to the state meet ranked sixth in triple jump and seventh in 100 hurdles.
Tanner Cauley-Bennett placed second in pole vault with a 3.90-meter vault (12-feet, 9.5 inches) after his pole snapped in half on an earlier attempt.
“In his four years, that’s never happened to him before,” FPC coach Dave Halliday said. “It sounds like a shotgun going off. Some kids get spooked by it. He was upside down when it happened and landed in the pit. He got his composure back — he always brings multiple poles — and he got a second place, which is all he needed to do.
Cauley-Bennett’s best vault this season of 4.27 meters is tied for third in the Class 4A rankings.
“He’s one height away from winning the whole thing,” Halliday said.
Corinthians “R.J.” Watson placed second in triple jump at 13.62 meters (44 feet, 8.25 inches).
Maya Tyson placed second in girls shot put with a personal record 11.88 meters (38 feet, 11.75 inches) to break her own school record. She has now qualified for state in shot put four years in a row. Tyson is also an at-large qualifier in discus. Her throw of 34.69 meters placed sixth. She is ranked fifth in Class 4A in shot put and 11th in discus.
Cronk will be joined in the boys discus competition by at-large qualifiers Michael London and Gethin Pritchard. London and Jack Wronowski both earned at-large qualifications in javelin. London, who placed fourth in discus and sixth in javelin, set personal records in both events. His discus throw of 47.61 meters ranks eighth in Class 4A.
FPC’s 4x400 boys relay also earned at-large qualification. On the girls side, Arianna Slaughter (800 meters) and the 4x800 relay team are at-large qualifiers. Slaughter placed fourth in the 800 with a PR time of 2:19.63.
