May 19, 2025
Buffalo Ridge Eighth Grader Braylon Stephens Ranks Among Nation’s Best Throwers
By Kyle Coppola
Buffalo Ridge Eighth Grader Braylon Stephens Ranks Among Nation’s Best Throwers
WILDWOOD, Fla. — Braylon Stephens, an eighth-grade track and field phenom from Buffalo Ridge, continues to make headlines after a standout performance at the State Track Meet this weekend.
Stephens, who is officially ranked No. 28 in the nation for the Class of 2029 and No. 62 all-time among Florida boys middle school track athletes, lived up to the hype with a trio of top finishes.
(Braylon Stephens shows off his medals he earned at the Middle School State Championship Meet. Braylon is ranked #28 in the USA as a middle-school thrower.)
He earned bronze medals in both the shot put throwing 13.35 meters. He also medaled in aero javelin with a throw of 43.13 and narrowly missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the 600g javelin. His consistency and power across multiple throwing events showed why he is among Florida’s top middle school athlete in Sumter County — where he holds the No. 1 ranking.
(Braylon is an exciting up and comer and is headed into his freshman year of high school as one of the track & field throwers to watch for in 2026.)
Braylon’s work ethic, natural ability, and focus at such a young age are rare. He continues to raise the bar for what’s possible at the middle school level and you better watch out for this young man when he enters the High School scene next year as a freshman. He’s going to be conteding for FHSAA high school medals next year as he continues to get stronger and mature. He’s almost a very young version of Ryan Crouser the U.S. Olympic gold medalist in shot put in 2016, 2020 and 2024. While he has a long way to go to reach olympic level competition, Braylon is turning heads and he’s not even out of middle school yet.
With his national and state accolades already stacking up, Stephens has quickly become a rising star to watch in Lake & Sumter County. He’s going to be conteding for FHSAA high school medals next year and we are excited to see this young athlete continue to set the bar.
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.
