Sports

T-Birds Run and Jump Their Way to the Junior Olympics

Of 94 kids in Mahwah's rec track & field program, four entered the national competition.

A group of Mahwah’s rec track & field athletes is building on a pretty impressive Thunderbird record.

This year, five track stars from the township rec program’s track & field team qualified to compete at the Junior Olympics national competition in Greensboro, NC.. 2013 marks the 14th consecutive year that the Mahwah team has sent three or more Junior Olympians to nationals.

The athletes were among 8,400 from across the country that competed in the USATF championships at North Carolina A&T University from July 22 through the 28.

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In order to make it to the Junior Olympics, the athletes had to qualify first for the state tournament in June by showing in local competitions, and then qualify for the regional competition in July – which includes racers from NJ, NY, PA, and CT.

This year, Mahwah had 18 kids qualify for states, and eight for regionals.

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The top five athletes in each category of the regional competition advanced to the national finals. Despite the tough competition from runners and jumpers from the 16 regions throughout the US, Mahwah athletes represented themselves well at the tournament.

11-year-old Dante Mejia, who is about to enter 6th grade, finished 12th in the race-walk, with a time of 10:55.

Eliza Hoover, a 9-year-old about to start JK, placed 17th in the 1500 meter and 23rd in the 800 meter with times of 5:32 and 2:44, respectively. 13-year-old Collette Petric, a rising 8th grader at St. Paul’s in Ramsey, placed 30th in the high jump, at a height of 1.4 meters. Allison Lounsbury, a 10-year-old, scored her personal best at the Junior Olympics this year, with a time of 5:52 in the 1500. One more athlete from Mahwah who qualified to attend the national competition could not go.

“One of the best parts [of nationals] is going back and seeing some of the same people from past years,” Petric, a four-time Junior Olympian, said. Petric said she keeps in touch with other high jumpers she’s met over the past four years, and now has friends from as far away as California, thanks to being involved with the competition.

Kids in the track program practice twice a week from March to July to prepare for the competitions. And, according to participants, the practice pays off.

Hoover has racked up five trips to nationals for both track and cross-country. And, last year, she won the Mahwah 5K.

“I’ve been running since I was three,” she said. “It’s just a lot of fun.”

This year was the first time at the Junior Olympics for Mejia. But, he said it’s an experience he’ll never forget.

“I think the best part was just being able to be there,” Mejia, who has been a member of the rec program for the past three years, said. “Qualifying to go is like the past three years of work paying off.”

Check out videos of the races and events at the weeklong competition here.


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