‘I’m very determined’: 29 local track stars work to afford trip to nationals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A local team has set the track world ablaze, dominating their regional meet. But now, they are up against an opponent they might not be able to overcome.
The DellaLamb Enforcer track team qualified for nationals, however, getting there will not be cheap.
“It’s a very special group of kids,” said Isaac Freeman coach and former track star himself.
How special? Well, Bailey Arceneaux has run her way onto the Baker University track team while Giavonni Jones has earned a track scholarship to Hutchinson Community College.
The recent Ruskin High School graduates are two of the stars on the DellaLamb Enforcer track team.
“I’m very determined. I work hard for anything because I know it takes a lot to get to the top,” Arceneaux said.
A number of kids actually qualified for the National Junior Olympic Meet, a moment their moms and dads will never forget.
“After my race, they ran up and hugged me,” Arceneaux ed.
“Congratulated me, hugged me,” Jones added.
But in the midst of all this success, there is a problem, because the club had expected to be able to pay for everybody’s trip to nationals. However, nobody expected all 29 athletes to make it. That is right, 29 of these kids beat the competition at the regional meet.
“This is teams from Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and you worked that hard to earn this opportunity,” Freeman noted. “And then to not have it? That’s a heartbreaking conversation to have with a kid.”
The trip to the national meet in North Carolina will cost around $500 per kid - and the thought of leaving people behind is not good.
“It would be a real bad thing that we’re in that situation,” Jones said.
This will be her second trip to nationals and he knows how excited his younger teammates are to make it.
“It’d be a real heartbreaker, for real, at that young age and you qualify for the biggest meet,” Jones added. “I would want them to go more than myself at that point.”
So now, the coach is working to raise money. The team is running a raffle and a fish fry at the Della Lamb Community Center on July 20. All proceeds will go to pay for the kids’ way to the Junior Olympics Meet in North Carolina.
As hard as it is to outrun the competition, these kids say the thought of being left behind is even tougher.
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