- June 21, 2025
FPC seniors Colby Cronk and Maya Tyson each won two medals in their final state meet. Cronk won boys shot put and placed second in discus. Tyson place dthird in girls shot put and placed eighth in discus. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Colyb Cronk won the shot put title on his final attempt. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Corinthians Watson placed eighth in triple jump at the Class 4A state track an field championships. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Karina Marcelus competed in 100-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump and took home two fourth-place medals. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Sophomore Michael London placed fifth in discus for the Bulldogs. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Tanner Cauley Bennett placed fourth in shot put. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Arianna Slaughter helps the Bulldogs to a seventh-place finish in the 4x800. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Colby Cronk was No. 1 in shot put at the Class 4A state track and field championships. The senior won shot put and placed second in discus for the second straight year. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Maya Tyson won two medals, including third in shot put, in her fourth trip to the Class 4A state track and field championships. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Tanner Cauley Bennett placed fourth in pole vault at the Class 4A state championships. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Spruce Creek's Mackenzie Roy (right) and Arianna Roy placed first and third, respectively, in the 1,600 meters at the Class 4A state championships. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Spruce Creek twins Mackenzie (right) and Arianna Roy run together early in the 3,200 meters. Mackenzie would finish second by two-thousandth of a second to a surging Addison Elwell of Viera. Arianna placed sixth. Photo by Brent Woronoff
One day before leaving for North Carolina State University, Flagler Palm Coast's Colby Cronk became a two-time state track and field champ.
Cronk won the Class 4A boys state shot put championship for the second year in a row and also placed second in discus for the second straight year helping the FPC boys place fourth as a team. The FPC girls placed 10th, finishing in the top 10 for the first time in 23 years.
Several of Cronk's teammates also won medals at state: Maya Tyson (third in girls shot put, eighth in discus), Karina Marcelus (fourth in both the girls 100 hurdles and the triple jump), Tanner Cauley Bennett (fourth in boys pole vault), Michael London (fifth in discus), Corinthians Watson (eighth in boys triple jump) and the girls 4x800 relay (seventh place).
Cronk, who will play football at N.C. State, wasn't sure if he'd be able to participate in track and field this year. He underwent shoulder surgery in November and didn't compete in his first meet until April 2.
On a rainy day at the state championships at the University of North Florida's Hodges Field on Saturday, May 10, Cronk repeated as shot put champ by throwing 19 meters even (62 feet, 4 inches) on his fourth and final attempt.
"I'm super happy I was able to get another championship," said Cronk, who joked that he now has two-sevenths of the state championships won by his sister, Micayla Cronk, as an FPC swimmer from 2017 to 2020.
"I'm also really happy I was able to compete this season, because there was a question if I would be able to come back. It was God’s plan, and I was able to come back," he said.
Cronk scratched his on his third attempt on what would have been close to a state record at 19.9 meters, FPC coach David Halliday said. He trailed St. Thomas Aquinas' Christien Moreau as he entered the cage for the final time. His 19.0-meter throw was his third best in a competition, trailing his 19.22 meters at last year's state championships — the 10th best throw in state history — and 19.03 a week ago at regionals.
"He just muscled it out there," FPC throws coach Paul Spegele said of Cronk's final throw. "It was all heart."
Cronk placed second in discus behind Bartram Trail's Ethan Fox with a throw of 54.45 meters (178 feet, 7 inches), his best of the season. Cronk left for Raleigh, North Carolina, on Mother's Day to begin his college career in N.C. State's Summer One session.
Tyson was competing at state for the fourth year in a row. Her bronze medal in shot put was her first.
"This year I came with the mentality that I experienced it all," she said. "I saw all outcomes of state during my four years, and I was ready and excited this time rather than nervous. I went out there with a good mindset and clear head and I performed the best I could. I'll take it."
Marcelus competed in three individual events and placed fourth in two of them. She was 11th in long jump.
"She had a couple of fouls in long jump, so she almost came away with three medals," Halliday said.
Pole vaulter Cauley-Bennett also took home a fourth-place medal at 4.20 meters (13 feet, 9.25 inches).
London, a sophomore, placed fifth in discus and finished 11th in javelin, setting personal records in both.
The girls 4x800 relay team of Anna Grigoruk, Cassidy De Young, Arianna Slaughter and Jayden Wright ran 9.43.39. Slaughter placed ninth in the 800-meter run, just .22 of a second behind the eight-place runner.
