May 24, 2024
Kai Evans Soars to Victory: Lake Minneola High Track Star Dominates FHSAA State Championships
By Kyle Coppola
Kai Evans Soars to Victory: Lake Minneola High Track Star Dominates FHSAA State Championships
We knew that Kai Evans was the #1 High School 400-meter hurdler in the USA. But we just didn’t know how truly dominant he could be. Well, now we know. Kai Evans made it look easy as he won the FHSAA State Championship in the 400M Hurdles and the 110M Hurdles.
This young man is one of the best at what he does and a potential future Olympian. I would argue he is certainly going to be a favorite to compete in the 2028 Olympic Games in LA. But for now, Evans continues to hone his craft in High School. While there were others on the list who were fast, no one could rival the speed of Kai Evans.
(Kai Evans would win the 110M Hurdles and 400M Hurdles winning two individual gold medals and a 5th place finish in the 100M Race.)
Evans showed his dominance in the 110M Hurdles, where he won by nearly a full half-second with a time of 13.81, over second-place Rance Grace from Lincoln, who finished with a 14.14. Grace was also one of the favorites in the competition. Once Evans jumped over the first hurdle, though, everyone else was racing for second.
Amazingly, after competing in the 110M Hurdles, Evans jumped right back into racing with only around a 10-15 minute break. Evans then competed in the 100M Dash. He finished with a time of 10.66, which was good enough for 5th place. The winner, J’Vari Flowers from Miami Northwestern, finished with a 10.50.
(Kai Evans in the black uniform thunders out of the gate.)
With two medals already won on the evening, Evans would shine once more in the 400M Hurdles. The 400M Hurdles is a full lap around the track instead of just a straight like the 110M, which is a much shorter race. This race is much longer, and Evans would once again prove why he is the #1 400M Hurdler in the USA.
(Kai Evans in the black uniform gets ready to race. He had a huge day winning the 110m Hurdles, 400M Hurdles and finished 5th in the 100M race.)
Evans would go up against Rance Grace once more from Lincoln and Jerrell Jimenez from Ponte Vedra. All three would race neck and neck, but Kai Evans pulled away down the stretch and finished with an impressive 53.02 run. Jimenez was 2nd with a 53.88, and Rance Grace finished 1 second behind with a 54.25. We have to give a shoutout to Kenneth Smith from Lake Minneola, who also competed and finished 11th with a 56.28.
It was a great performance from Kai Evans, and we want to congratulate all the Lake County athletes who made it to states this year. Evans was head and shoulders above the competition, and we can’t wait to see what this young man is capable of in the coming year.
Congratulations on a successful FHSAA Class 3A State Championship performance!
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.
