Benjamin senior Jackson Hamilton knew how to pull off a huge encore.
Hamilton, the team captain, won the shot put and discus for the second consecutive year and helped Benjamin win its third straight boys Class 1A state track and field championship. He’s won seven gold medals in the past two years at state – four individual and three team.
Not a bad haul for someone who finished next to last in the discus in his freshman year.
“Even on the star-studded team that we had last year, Jackson was the anchor of that team,” said Benjamin track coach Barrett Saunders. “I knew this year, as long as we had Jackson giving us 20 points everywhere we went, we’d have a chance.”
The multiple-time All-American is the school-record holder in both events (shot put at 57-8 1/2 and discus at 180-11) and he has repeated as the Sun Sentinel track and field small-school boys athlete of the year. He was also a team captain for the Buccaneers’ football team.
“There definitely was pressure because I had won shot and discus in the state last year,” said Hamilton, who is signed with FSU. “All the eyes were on me this year, but I like pressure anyway. I was peaking at the right time, and I felt really good.”
For the last two years, he’s concentrated on throws after splitting time between football and track
“When I came to high school, I thought my thing would be football,” Hamilton said. “It ended up being discus and shot put. Even though we lost some guys (to graduation), we also picked up some guys. I think our strong point this year was our field events. We were good overall.”
Hamilton said this was also the most athletes they ever brought to the state meet, which contributed to the 41-point victory over the rest of the field.
“I am excited about the next chapter in my life,” Hamilton said. “It will be fun because I don’t know what to expect. It will be good. The Olympics would be good, but we’ll see when I get to college.”
