{"id":6366,"date":"2026-07-03T14:35:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=6366"},"modified":"2026-07-03T14:35:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:35:30","slug":"all-area-track-and-field-lake-minneolas-vanessa-waite-is-athlete-of-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=6366","title":{"rendered":"All-Area track and field: Lake Minneola\u2019s Vanessa Waite is Athlete of Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Vanessa Waite took a driver\u2019s education class this summer and joked that she was going to be able to drive faster than she runs.<\/p>\n

Read more Rescue mission launches to save NASA telescope that\u2019s falling back to Earth<\/a><\/p>\n

She already has her pedal to the metal in track, where leaning into a left turn is her specialty. The 16-year-old Lake Minneola High starlet ran Florida\u2019s fastest time in the girls 200 meter dash, 23.17 seconds, to win the FHSAA Class 3A state championship as a sophomore. She is the Orlando Sentinel girls track & field Athlete of the Year.<\/p>\n

Her state meet performance puts her in Florida\u2019s all-time top 10 for the 200. She ran even faster, 23.03, to place second at the New Balance Nationals meet in Philadelphia several weeks ago but that was wind-aided.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big track meet and I really want to win. I know that as a sophomore that will be hard to do,\u201d Waite said before that prestigious meet. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waite also placed first with a 23.37 time in the postseason Southeast Meet of Champions, which was held at the state meet site at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n

She was runner-up in the 100 at the state meet with an 11.57 time and later set a second personal best with an 11.40 prelim performance at the prestigious New Balance meet, where she finished sixth.<\/p>\n

Waite has been in the track spotlight since she was an elementary schooler racing for her father\u2019s track club. She set an age group national record with a 23.26 time for the 200 as an eighth grader in 2024, and is now the second fastest sophomore in the country behind Texas state champ Zahria Bernard (23.07).<\/p>\n

Waite has long been on the radar for college recruiters, but for now she\u2019s not in any hurry to get to the next level.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just enjoying high school because I know I won\u2019t get it back,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m still progressing. And I want to enjoy my high school years while I can. I won\u2019t be this age again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

FHSAA state track and field has 8 Orlando-area champions at UNF<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n