ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
Tops in
the games
A pair of under-20 athletes added impressive totals to their
already impressive resumes at 2018 Sunshine State Games
competitions to earn the annual Male and Female Athlete
of the Year Award.
Madison Malone, of Fort Lauderdale,
competed in the Ultra Weight Throw in
the 2018 SSG International Beach Games
in Clearwater Beach and threw a weighted
ball through the air to earn the honor.
Meanwhile, Kahleil Jackson, of Hawthorne,
threw a circular ball filled with air, through
a hoop at the 2018 SSG Basketball
Championships in Alachua County.
After taking up the weight throw in
her junior year of high school, Malone
participated in the inaugural SSG
International Beach Games in 2016 and
won her first gold medal. That success
earned her a trip to the New Balance
National Indoor Championships, where
she made such an impression on coaches
from Auburn University, the recruitment
process began. She was ultimately
offered a full scholarship.
She returned to the 2018 Beach Games
and won the gold medal, with a 20lb ball
throw of 54 feet, in the U29 Florida Weight
Throw Championship gold medal.
While it was the longest throw of any
athletes competing, it was not one of
her best performances, according to
her coach from the Broward Elite USATF
Team, Jim Griffin.
“She threw 72 feet at the SEC Indoor
Championships this year,” he said.
She competes in the Indoor Weight
Throw and Outdoor Hammer Throw at
Auburn and was recently named the SEC
Freshman Indoor Track and Field Athlete
of the Year.
As a member of the gold-medal winning
Florida Hornets team, Kahleil Jackson
earned the MVP of the 11th Grade
Division. The Hornets won three of four
games over the weekend of games
and beat Gainesville Stampede in the
Championship game, 72-61.
“We were down by three late in the game
and Kahleil scored seven straight points
to change the momentum of the game to
give us the lead and eventually the win,”
said Hawthorne High School Basketball
Coach Greg Bow, who also coached the
Hornets team.
Besides being a talented basketball player
for Hawthorne High School, Jackson
threw 42 td passes in 2018 as the senior
quarterback for the football team and is
a member of the track and field team,
running in the 110- and 330-meter hurdles
and 4X100 Relay Team Events. He was
named one of the Gainesville Sun’s High
School Football Players of the Year.
As a member of the Hawthorne
basketball team, Jackson played in 49
games during his junior and senior years
and averaged 11.9 points per game and
5.3 rebounds per game. His Florida Hoops
team was made up of the majority of the
team from Hawthorne High School that
finished with a 23-6 record and advanced
to the Regional Final of the 2018-19 FHSAA
State Basketball Tournament.
Malone and Jackson are the 40th and 41st
individual athletes to earn the award since
2000, along with one girls’ basketball
team and a family of judo athletes.
46 2019 SUNSHINE STATE GAMES COMMEMORATIVE PROGRAM
Kahleil Jackson of Hawthorne, Alachua
County, is one of two under-20 athletes
who further cemented a reputation as a
top Sunshine State Games competitor.