Targgart and Lewis Named Gatorade Athletes of the Year
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina track and field incoming freshmen Dylan Targgart and Christian Lewis were named 2019-20 Gatorade Track and Field Athlete of the Year, in Michigan and Kentucky, the Gatorade Company announced Monday.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Targgart as Michigan’s best high school boys track & field athlete. He is also now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in July.
The 6-foot-3, 250-pound senior hurled the shot put 65 feet, six inches and launched the discus 175-5 to win both events at the Michigan Indoor Track Series championships this past winter. Both marks ranking as the nation’s No. 1 performance among prep competitors during the 2020 indoor season. Targgart also won the shot put and the discus at the Division II outdoor state meet in 2019 and won gold in the shot put at the 2019 New Balance Nationals Outdoor with a career-best throw of 69-4 1/4, which ranked No. 3 nationally last spring among preps.
Targarrt has volunteered locally on behalf of a food pantry, an elementary school reading initiative and the Branch County Coalition against Sexual Violence. Targgart also has maintained a 4.0 GPA in the classroom.
Lewis, a 5-foot-11, 158-pound senior, earned All-American honors at the 2019 New Balance Nationals Outdoor with a third-place finish in the long jump. Lewis’ personal-best leap of 24 feet, 6 inches ranked as the nation’s No. 21 mark among prep competitors during the 2019 outdoor season. Also the 2019 Class AAA Outdoor state meet champion in the long jump, he was Kentucky’s top-ranked athlete in the 200-meter dash and long jump during the 2020 indoor season.
Lewis has maintained a weighted 3.37 GPA in the classroom. Lewis has volunteered locally as a youth track coach, and he has donated his time to multiple community service initiatives through his church.
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