By Kyle Coppola
Groveland’s Vanessa Waite: Fastest Middle School Girl In USA
Groveland, Florida, – Vanessa Waite, a middle school student from Groveland and she has become the fastest middle school girl in the United States. She is gearing up to represent Powerhouse Athletics at the 2024 AAU Track and Field Junior Olympics in Greensboro, North Carolina. The event, scheduled from July 29th to August 3rd, will see Vanessa competing in the 100-Meter, 200-Meter, and 4 x 100 Meter Relay.
Vanessa’s journey to the Junior Olympics is a testament to her hard work and dedication. This will be her second appearance at the prestigious meet, having previously dazzled spectators and brought home the gold in the 200-Meter race in 2022. Her accomplishments have not only brought pride to her family but have also ignited a wave of excitement and support throughout Lake County.
As Vanessa prepares for her upcoming races, the entire Groveland community and beyond are rallying behind her. From local schools to neighborhood groups, everyone is cheering on this exceptional young athlete. Her participation in the Junior Olympics is inspiring so many youth athletes in our community.
In the coming years, Vanessa is going to be a force at the High School level. She is one of the most powerful young runners in Track & Field today and we can’t wait to see how she performs at the 2024 AAU Track and Field Junior Olympics this upcoming week! Go Vanessa!
Photo Credit – Eucretia Waite
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
