Youth compete in state Hershey meet

    Over 100 boys and girls from Aroostook County traveled to Bangor and battled extremely warm conditions on July 6 to compete in  the State Finals of the Hershey Youth Track and Field Program.
IT’S THE HAND OFF — Houlton’s Carolyn Mooers, right, hands the baton to Kolleen Bouchard in the 400-meter relay at last Tuesday’s Hershey state competition held in Bangor.
    The program, sponsored by the Hershey Food Corporation and the Maine Recreation and Park Association,  has been a national event and now a North American event for the past 32 years. Initiated as a playground track and field program in 1975 in Charleston, West Va. by Dr. Donald P. Cohen, Hershey’s Track and Field Games has become the largest youth sport program of its kind in North America.
    Participants representing all 50 states as well as all 10 provinces and three territories of Canada are eligible to qualify for the North American Finals, which this year will be held Aug. 5-8 in Hershey, Pa.
    Youngsters competing in Maine are part of the Region 6 team which includes Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island as well as all the Atlantic Provinces. Once all the state and provincial meets are completed, all winners are eligible to qualify for the North American Final.
    To ensure fair representation of all 50 states and Canadian provinces and territories, a minimum of five finalists are selected from each state/provincial group to be part of the regional team attending the North American Final.
    Northern Regional Representative Kathy Mazzuchelli from the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department praises the program and notes that over the years a large contingent of youngsters from Aroostook County have had the opportunity to attend the National Finals.
    She noted that the results from this year’s State Meet looked good for another contingent of youth from northern Maine to head to Hershey in August. She said out of 42 possible first-place finishes, Aroostook County youths captured 29, including a sweep in all 14 events in the 11- and 12-year-old girls and boys divisions.
TAKING FLIGHT — Rebecca Mooers of Houlton competes in the standing long jump during last Tuesday’s Hershey Track and Field state competition held at Cameron Stadium in Bangor. Mooers had a jump of 5 feet, 3 inches which put her in seventh place overall.
    The Houlton Recreation Department sent 19 youth to the Maine Hershey Track & Field, with two individuals and a relay team capturing first place in their events.
    In the 9-10-year-old age division, Kolleen Bouchard was the top female in the Softball Throw, throwing a distance of 101 feet, four inches, while in the 13-14-year-old division, Isaac Cone was the top competitor in the Standing Long Jump at seven fee, nine inches. The relay team of Allix Hanson, Lily Hanning, Molly Veysey and Destiny Russell competed in the 4×100 relay event and came in first with a time of 1:05.
    Other awards were made as follows: girls 9-10, Bouchard, second in the 4×100 relay and fourth in 50 meter dash; Carolyn Mooers, second in the 4×100 relay and seventh in the Standing Long Jump; Rebecca Mooers and Emily Miller, second in the 4×100 relay; boys 9-10, Zachary Fitzpatrick, third in the Softball Throw and fourth in the 4×100 relay, along with teammates Logan Tribou, Sam Ellis and Tyler Cox.
RUNNER – Emily Mooers of Houlton gives it her all as she approaches the finish line in the 200-meter dash during the Hershey Track and Field state meet last Tuesday in Bangor.
    In the girls 11-12-year-old category, Ameila Hanning, fifth in the 100 meter dash and in the boys 11-12 division, Cameron Clark, second in the Standing Long Jump and 4×100 relay and fourth in t he 400 meter dash; Isaiha Littleton, Joshua Sutton and Dawson McLaughlin, second in the 4×100 relay.
    Girls 13-14 years of age, Emily Mooers, fourth Standing Long Jump, fifth in the 100 meter dash and sixth in the 200 meter dash; Destiny Russell, fifth in the Softball Throw and seventh in the 100 meter dash; and boys 13-14, Cone, third in the 200 meter dash and fourth in the 100 meter dash.