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NEK All-Americans
       

      Indoor Track Information:

      • Schedule Change:  Practice will be Saturday, 2/6/10 at 1PM instead of Sunday because of the Superbowl Football Game.
       
       
      NEK doubles medal record at AAU Junior Olympics!

      North East Kansas Track Club won 28 medals at the AAU and USATF Junior  
      Olympic meets, smashing the club's old record of 13 set last year.

      Dante Brooks began the medal rush finishing 8th in the Midget boys  
      Turbo Javelin at the USATF meet in Greensboro, NC. The remaining  
      national participants (all 55 of them) took part in the AAU JO Games  
      held in Des Moines, IA. The first of the NEK athletes to make their  
      way to the awards stand was 10 year old Abbie Sise in the Bantam Girls  
      1500 Race Walk, Abbie came in ranked 16th, but finished more than 2  
      minutes ahead of her seed time finishing 5th. Next on the track was 11  
      year old Caroline Craig who earned her 7th national medal of her young  
      career finish 3rd in the Midget Girls 1500 Race Walk with a new PR of  
      9:29.46. Saturday and Sunday were filled with the multi-event athletes  
      and their competitions, 16 year old Carson Barnes had a strong showing  
      finishing 7th in the Intermediate Boys Decathlon and improving his PR  
      by more than 140 points. 14 year old Madison Schrock had an incredible  
      day in the Youth Girls Pentathlon finishing with PR's in 4 of her 5  
      events and earning a 6th place medal in the most competitive  
      competition of the week, as both the 1st and 2nd place finishers in  
      that competition smashed the AAU record by more than 200 points.  
      Sunday saw the only time in club history that 2 athletes from NEK have  
      been on the awards stand together at the JO Games, as Keara Lenard  
      (2nd) and Rachel Taylor (8th) both were medalist in the Youth Girls  
      3000 Race Walk.

      With the weekend behind them and 7 medals in tow, the kids of NEK had  
      the daunting task of a full week of qualifier rounds and finals ahead,  
      with the competition growing ever more stiff as the fields were  
      narrowed. Monday saw a pair of Field Event medalist with Shannon Parr  
      adding another All-American honor to her High School State  
      Championship that she won in May, finishing 6th in the Intermediate  
      Girls High Jump. A huge upset was in the making as Keara Lenard earned  
      her 2nd medal of the meet finishing 8th in the Youth Girls Triple  
      Jump, coming in as the 22nd seed, she was able to win her flight, and  
      then had to sit through an hour worth of jumps before finally earning  
      her spot in the finals. On Wednesday the club started back in to  
      medals game as 15 year old Hudson Phillip finished 3rd in the  
      Intermediate Boys Steeplechase, and 13 year old Derrick Zaldivar (in  
      his 1st full year of track) placed 5th in the Sub-Youth Boys Pole  
      Vault. Thursday saw the clubs first National Champion of the meet as  
      Rebekah Topham won the Sub-Youth girls 1500, the first of her two  
      national titles of the week. The Boys team countered with Blake Goodin  
      running 4:06.56 in the Intermediate Boys 1500, this coming just one  
      day after being edged out of a medal in the 800 finals, Jaxon Wright  
      added his name to the All-American list coming out with a phenomenal  
      3rd place finish in the Youth Boys 100 Hurdles, in his first ever  
      Championship meet. Friday morning 12 more medals were earned as the  
      Youth Girls team of Connor Strader, Keara Lenard, Brooke Bischof, and  
      Lauren Leonard finished 6th, the Intermediate Girls team of Gavyn  
      Yetter, Mandy Wilson, Jaycee Wells, and Kaitlyn Barnes finished 4th,  
      and the Intermediate Boys team of Carson Barnes, Colin Duffy, Blake  
      Goodin, and Hudson Phillip finished 5th. The last day of competition  
      brought the final two medals and one more National Championship to the  
      club as Rebekah Topham won the Sub-Youth Girls 3000, and Blake Goodin  
      closed out his week with his 3rd medal earning 6th in the Intermediate  
      Boys 3000.

      That is a recap of our medalist, but those 8 days were so much more;  
      they were a chance for all 55 kids to show how those of us who weren't  
      born in New York City, L.A, Houston, Atlanta or any other urban center  
      are capable of competing in the largest track meet in the world, and  
      against the very best competition in the United States. It was a  
      chance for our kids and parents to make new friends within our club,  
      and outside of it. During this meet we had 57 kids achieve new  
      personal best, which resulted in them moving up a cumulative 360 spots  
      from their seeded positions. Some of my best memories will be watching  
      our kids who didn't win a medal, battle it out trying, sometimes it  
      was so close to being a medal we could taste it, other times it was  
      finishing off your event by chasing someone down the homestretch and  
      moving up that one place for pride's sake. Whatever the reason, our  
      kids and our families have a lot to be proud of.

      What a week it was for us as our current national medal count now  
      stands at 153. It was a very nice moment of nostalgia for me to visit  
      Drake Stadium again, as this is the place where the club earned it's  
      first ever national medal, just 5 years later NEK has taken it's  
      rightful place as one of the very best Youth Track and Field programs  
      in the United States. This has happened because of many great people  
      who have given their time, money, and energy to helping these kids  
      achieve the greatness inside them. A huge thank you goes out to the  
      administrative board who spent countless hours meeting and planning  
      every detail of this and all of our other years, I was overwhelmed in  
      the days that we used to have just a few kids and I tried to do this  
      on my own, I wouldn't have a prayer now. To the Parents and  
      Grandparents of our athletes who finance these trips, and take the  
      time to be there to nurture, cheer, celebrate, and mentor not only  
      their own but everyone's children. To the former athletes and parents  
      who still take the time to help with practices, meets, fundraisers and  
      even take an active role in maintaining this website; you guys were  
      the one's who laid the ground work for some maniac to chase this  
      impossible dream, some of your records may be broken, but you will  
      never be forgotten. To all of our coaches who give of their time and  
      talent preparing these young people for competition, people identify  
      me as "the" coach of NEK, I am simply one piece in this puzzle, these  
      kids are a direct reflection of you, so congratulations on your 153  
      national medals. To our athletes who give up their summers and winters  
      to prepare themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally, whether  
      you won a national championship or finished last you are all winners  
      in my book, while many sit around and talk about wanting to be better,  
      you guys go out and do something about it!
      • NEK Track member Jareb Stallbaumer was named to the All Big-12 Academic Team!!!

      Read this article about Jareb.

      • Welcome Julie and Diana Pickler to NEK Track.  Our track club is very fortunate to have them help coach our athletes this summer.  Julie and Diana were heptathlon athletes at Washington State University.  Diana completed in the 2008 Olympics