County athletes medal at Hershey final
Ashland’s Pelletier, PI’s Cyr compete in Pennsylvania meet
HERSHEY, Pa. — Despite rain and cloudy skies, five Maine youths captured medals at the North American Finals of the Hershey Youth Track and Field Games held Aug. 3 at the Milton Hershey School Stadium.
Contributed photos
HERSHEY TEAM — Five Maine youth traveled to the North American Finals of the Hershey Youth Track and Field Program in Hershey, Pa., Aug. 1-4. Showing off their hardware are, from left, Trace Cyr of Presque Isle, 10th place, 11-12 standing long jump; Isabella Pawloski of Bangor, 11th, 11-12 800-meter run; Cassidy Pelletier of Ashland, ninth, 13-14 softball throw; Madison Szczygeil of Wells, 12th, 13-14 800-meter run; and Cole Tweedie of Bangor, third, 13-14 softball throw.
CASSIDY PELLETIER of Ashland recently attended the North American Finals of the Hershey Youth Track and Field Program in Hershey, Pa., where she placed ninth in the 13-14 girls’ softball throw. Pelletier, who made her third trip to the North American Finals, takes time out to talk with 10-time Olympic medalist Carl Lewis, who is a spokesperson and ambassador for the Hershey Youth Track and Field Program. 
This year marked the 36th year of the games, which were attended by 480 youngsters and nearly 70 chaperones and hosted by the Hershey Foods Corporation and the Milton Hershey School.
This year’s participants from Maine included two from Aroostook County, as well as two from Bangor and one from Wells. Northern Regional Coordinator for Maine, Kathy Mazzuchelli, indicated that the chance of qualifying for the three-day event is about 1 in 1,000 and this is the fifth year that The County has had at least two of the five qualifiers.
Despite enduring a very long trip to Hershey, and some rain, all the participants medaled in their respective events.
Cassidy Pelletier of Ashland was ninth in the 13-14 girls’ softball throw on her third trip to the international event. Trace Cyr of Presque Isle took 10th in a very competitive field of 11-12 boys’ long jumpers.
Cole Tweedie of Bangor took third place in the 13-14 boys’ softball throw. Isabella Powlaski of Bangor was 11th in the 11-12 girls’ 800-meter run, where she was the youngest competitor and where a young lady from Georgia set a new North American Final record with a time of 2:19; and Madison Szczygeil of Wells captured 12th place in the 13-14 girls’ 800-meter run.
In addition to a track record in the 800, Tatiana Del Valle from Puerto Rico set a new record for the 1,600 with a time of 4:57.18.
The Hershey Track and Field Program, founded by Dr. Donald P. Cohen of West Virginia in 1975, was developed to promote physical fitness, participation, friendship and sportsmanship. Now, the program has become the largest youth sports program of its kind in North America.
The basic premise that Cohen developed the program around was to encourage children to run, throw and jump, whether they had a track in their community or not. To this day, competitors from across North America still compete only in running events including the 50, 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes and the 800 and 1,600 meter runs as well as the standing long jump and softball throw.
Several current and past Olympic competitors began their track and field successes through participation in the Hershey program. Former Olympian Monique Henderson still holds the record for the 13-14 girls’ 200-meter dash with a time of 24.06 seconds.
In addition to the track meet, participants are treated to a formal opening ceremony on Thursday evening which featured track and field legends Rafer Johnson and Carl Lewis, spokesmen and ambassadors for the Hershey Track and Field program.
On Friday of the marathon weekend, participants are treated to a day at Hersheypark. Following the track meet on Saturday, all participants are treated to a supper followed by a special closing ceremony, the favorite part of which is the viewing of a video which captures the highlights of the weekend and serves as a keepsake for participants.
