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Indoor Track Information:
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!
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