June 27, 2024
Tavares Middle School Student Greenlea Salazar Shines at USATF Nationals In Javelin
By Kyle Coppola
Tavares Middle School Student Greenlea Salazar Shines at USATF Nationals In Javelin
Tavares Middle School student Greenlea Salazar has achieved an impressive feat by finishing 5th at the USATF Nationals in Javelin. Competing against some of the best middle school talent in the United States, Greenlea’s dedication and hard work have paid off.
Salazar’s 5th place throw reached 29.19 meters, just about a meter and a half short of securing a third place position. This is a huge accomplishment for such a young, upcoming track and field star. At only 14 years old, Salazar competes in the 15/16-year-old class. She’s been having a great summer season, and it’s a thrill to see her perform at this level!
(Salazar stands on the 5th place podium. She has been very impressive in the throwing events this year and is just 14 years old.)
Coach Kevin Von Maxey, who coaches the Red Sea Running Club and Tavares Middle School Cross-Country, continues to produce some of the top talent in the state of Florida. His program has developed into one of the strongest youth cross-country and track and field programs in the state. Greenlea is a testament to the strength of this program, holding the school record for the 600g javelin and excelling in multiple throwing events, including discus and shot put.
Last month, Greenlea placed 3rd and medaled at the FLYRA Middle School Track & Field State Championship in Bradenton. She decided to continue her summer track season by competing in USATF, where she made it to Nationals and secured a 5th place finish in her age group.
Greenlea’s season is far from over. She plans to compete in the AAU Nationals in early July in Jacksonville, with the goal of placing in the top 8 and qualifying for the USA Junior Olympics in North Carolina at the end of summer.
In addition to competing for Tavares Middle School and the Red Sea Running Club, Greenlea has recently joined Wind Speed Athletics in Clermont. Her coaches at Tavares Middle School and Red Sea Running Club are Kevin and April Von Maxey, while her coach at Wind Speed Athletics is Jacina Redden-Campbell. Greenlea also benefits from the dedicated coaching of her father, Hank Salazar, who serves as her throwing coach.
Congratulations to Greenlea Salazar on her remarkable achievements and best of luck in her upcoming competition.
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.
