Update, July 19: The team will fundraise at City Market on Sunday and Monday.
Two Pagosa Springs athletes — Abigail Nehring and Creede Dozier — will compete in the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics July 22-28 in College Station, Texas.
Both earned the right to compete at Texas A&M’s EB Cushing Stadium after placing in the top three at the Region 10 event last weekend.
The top five finishers in each event from each of the 16 regions advance to the Junior Olympics.
“This should be a fun year to attend this event with the hype of the Olympic Games starting on its closing days,” coach Karri McCarter wrote in an email to The SUN.
Nehring qualified in discus by placing second with a distance of 118 feet, 11 inches.
Dozier qualified by the high jump, placing third with a height of 6-00.50.
Dozier also placed ninth in the long jump with a distance of 19-06.25.
Both athletes are competing as part of the Triple Crown Track Club, a nonprofit track club in the region.
“That fact that Abi and Creede both qualified for this prestigious track meet in their first summer competing is hugely impressive and speaks to the level of athletic talent being forgotten in our secluded corner of Colorado,” McCarter wrote.
McCarter notes Nehring will compete in the 17-18 discus at 4 p.m. on July 25. Dozier will compete in the 17-18 high jump at 7 p.m. on July 27.
About Triple Crown Track Club
According to McCarter, the club’s goals are to give middle school, high school, open, masters and parallel athletes “the opportunity to fine tune their training in this sport, their chosen events and then be able to compete those events on a National level.”
In the past, she notes, the club “has solely focused on helping [high school] student-athletes achieve their goal of running in college, only using summer meets for recruiting marks. The only other athlete in our club’s history to compete with the intention of making Nationals was Bayfield’s track and field stand out, Jordan Lanning. She attended the 2018 Junior Olympics in Greensboro, NC qualifying in High Jump and finishing 15th in the nation.”
McCarter also notes that the club’s location makes participation in club track and field “very expensive.”
“These rural athletes have limited opportunities to train and compete because of the travel costs incurred to do both,” she wrote.
To help fund the trip to the Junior Olympics, she notes, the team will be at City Market this weekend to fundraise to send the athletes and the two specialty coaches to Texas.
“Please come by to purchase a goodie or make a donation that will help these athletes continue to chase their dreams,” she wrote.
If interested in training or making a donation, contact McCarter on Instagram, @triplecrown_trackclub, or by emailing ksmfit13@gmail.com.
randi@pagosasun.com
