By Kyle Coppola
First She Made History—Now She’s Aiming for the Olympics
Vanessa Waite
Before even entering Lake Minneola High as a freshman this year, Vanessa Waite made history on the track. As a middle schooler, she became the fastest 14-year-old ever in the 200-meter sprint, blazing to a :23.26 finish at at the 2024 AAU Junior Olympics. Her record-breaking run earned gold medals in both the 100-meter and 200-meter events, cementing her status as one of the nation’s most electrifying young sprinters.
“I was really surprised to see that time,” Vanessa says. “I knew I was going to run fast, but I didn’t know I was going to run that fast. I was proud to get a personal record and break the record.”
Vanessa started running track at age 6, inspired by her older sister Andria, a 400-meter competitor at Florida Gulf Coast University, and Olivia, a junior at Lake Minneola who competes in javelin and shot put. Since the beginning, her father, Randolph Waite, has coached her through years of training and competition with the AAU, a program that offers travel track and field opportunities for young athletes of all skill levels.
“I have been her coach since she was 6,” Randolph says. “Many think the journey was easy, but she was at the bottom when she first started. She is just now getting the accolades from the process. So many people think she just got there overnight but they don’t see the hard work, countless hours and what she has had to go through.”
Beyond athletics, Vanessa excels academically, maintaining a weighted 4.0 GPA while dual-enrolled at Lake-Sumter State College and taking AP classes. She’s also involved with the Health Science Collegiate Academy. Her mother, Eucretia Waite, is one of her biggest supporters.
“I’m super proud,” Eucretia says. “I’m the mom who can’t watch because I get more nervous than she does. But as a student and an athlete, she balances everything so well.”
Vanessa draws inspiration from 2024 Olympic 100-meter gold medalist Julian Alfred, as well as Sha’Carri Richardson and Gabby Thomas. One piece of advice from Sha’Carri particularly resonated with her.
“Sha’Carri told me to focus on my race and not let people get in my head,” Vanessa says. “Coming from an Olympic gold medalist, that meant a lot and it’s helped me a ton because sometimes I was letting people get to me.”
A devout Christian, Vanessa credits her faith in God for her success and often reflects on her favorite Bible verse: Romans 5:3-5 which speaks about endurance and character.
“Endurance produces character, and character produces hope,” Vanessa says. “A person’s character is important because it defines how others see them.”
Vanessa’s goals include medaling in the 100-meter and 200-meter at the FHSAA state championships and placing in the top three at major events like the Pepsi Florida Relays and New Balance Nationals. Her ultimate dream is to qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Photos: Nicole Hamel
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.
