In its first full season back since 2019 the Mach I Track Club returned in blazing style by qualifying 16 competitors for the upcoming Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics in Greensboro, North Carolina July 31-Aug. 6.
The 2020 season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. Coach Lupe Torres said when the team did return to competition in 2021 it was with a smaller roster, which has expanded greatly this season.
“It feels great to be back in full force. We’ve got a lot of new kids,” he said.
The 16 national qualifiers, in fact, ties the club record for the most in a season. Of that group, almost half (7) are from Aledo, though Torres’ team draws from all over, a reason he believes they withstood the COVID pandemic and returned so strong.
“Word of mouth has done so much. They hear about what this group has done and want to be a part,” he said. “We’re primarily a distance club. One year we had a kid coming all the way from Ranger.”
Among the returning qualifiers are Samuel Haught (Boys 15-16), John Luffey (Boys 15-16), Jack Fink (Boys 15-16) and Josh Fink (Boys 11-12), all from Aledo; Aiden Mansell (Boys 15-16), Poolville; Nicholas Walden (Boys 13-14), Azle; and Emerita Strathmeyer (Girls 13-14), White Settlement.
Newcomers to nationals are Jenna Fink (Girls 8-Under), Carolyn Walsh (Girls 8-Under) and Andrew Walsh (Boys 11-12), all from Aledo; Makaylee Ray (Girls 17-18), Poolville; Brody May (Boys 17-18) and Cameron Allen (Boys 11-12), both from Peaster; Gannon Dolan (Boys 13-14) and Joshua Kocis (Boys 17-18), both from Granbury; and Saginaw’s Ashlynn Crossland (Girls 13-14).
“I’m excited. I get to see my family. I haven’t seen them in about five years,” said Haught, who has a great aunt and uncle in the Greensboro area.
Though Haught competed at nationals last year it was bittersweet as he suffered an injury that carried over into his high school cross country season for Aledo.
“It was the last race,” he recalled, adding that the cross country season ended well, though, because the Bearcats reached state.
“I’m definitely more healthy than last season. It’ll be a lot different this season.”
Strathmeyer said though it was a rough national meet for her last year, she’s grown a lot as a runner since.
“I’m more experienced and more prepared,” she said, adding that the summer competition is great preparation for her fall schedule at Fort Worth Country Day School. “When you run in tough conditions like this you’re ready for anything.”
Jack Fink said he now knows how to handle the competition better as well.
“I know how to, for example, handle a tight situation between runners. I’m over the first-time jitters,” he said.
This is Crossland’s first season to compete for Mach I. She admitted to being a little nervous, but called that a good thing.
“I’m more excited, though, to go with this good a team,” she said. “It’s going to be good to be noticed by some different scouts. Also, we get to travel and do something we love.”
Assistant coach Matt Mitchell said of the qualifiers, “This year, most are at the top of their age group, and that makes a difference.”
Torres said between now and nationals the qualifiers will do one last “great push” in preparation.
“We have the liberty to train a little harder with no more meets before then,” he said, adding that you never know what will happen at the national meet.
“We had a kid in 2004 at nationals in Oregon. He was ranked 24th or 25th going in and he won,” Torres said. “Nationals is full of surprises.”
Amateur Athletic Union Region 18 Mach I Junior Olympics qualifiers
Boys
11-12-Year-Olds
1500: 4. Cameron Allen, 5:23; 6. Josh Fink, 7:34.
3000: 2. Jo. Fink, 11:31; 3. Allen, 11:38; 6. Andrew Walsh, 11:54.
1500 walk: 1. Jo. Fink, 8:35.
13-14
1500: 2. Gannon Dolan, 4:27; 4. Nicholas Walden, 4:41.
3000: 1. Dolan, 9:34; 2. Walden, 10:21.
15-16
800: 2. Samuel Haught, 2:02.
1500: 1. John Luffey, 4:16; 5. Jack Fink, 4:22; 6. Haught, 4:25.
3000: 1. Ja. Fink, 9:19; 2. Luffey, 9:21; 4. Aiden Mansell, 10:09.
17-18
800: 6. Brody May, 2:02.
1500: 5. Joshua Kocis, 4:48.
Girls
8-Under
800: 5. Carolyn Walsh, 7:14; 6. Jenna Fink, 7:34.
13-14
800: 6. Emerita Strathmeyer, 2:49.
1500: 2. Ashlynn Crossland, 5:18; 5. Strathmeyer, 5:41.
3000: 2. Crossland, 11:45; 5. Strathmeyer, 13:13.
17-18
800: 2. Makaylee Ray, 2:23.
1500: 1. Ray, 5:09.
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