Meet features competition, camaraderie Hershey state championships await top regional qualifiers

BANGOR – Track and field is a sport where athletes at a young age can have fun, make new friends and try to run personal bests in their events.

The 40 to 50 area youths who competed in Wednesday’s Hershey Track and Field Regional Qualifying Meet at Cameron Stadium accomplished all three of those things.

“It is great to see the kids come out, just having fun [and] realizing what track is all about and what Hershey is all about, having fun and trying to do your personal best,” said Hershey state coordinator and Orono Parks and Recreation Department activities coordinator Tim Baude.

Participants in Wednesday’s meet, who ranged in age from 9 to 14, competed in a variety of events from the softball throw and standing long jump to the 100- and 200-meter dashes.

“That’s what’s great about the program, it allows those kids to do well and yet introduces the beginner in the sport into a competitive atmosphere as well,” said Bangor Parks and Recreation director Tracy Willette, whose department hosted the event.

Athletes who finished among the top three in their event move on to next Wednesday’s state meet in Brewer with hopes of qualifying for the North American final in Hershey, Penn., on Aug. 3-6.

Baude said the meet in Hershey comes second to other activities that take place that week.

“They [the kids] get to spend a day at Hershey Theme Park, and they get to go through the [Hershey chocolate] plant,” he said. “We have to tell them they can’t grab the chocolate on their way through.”

Willette said the program has started to grow in the Bangor area and has been very popular in Aroostook County.

“The northern tier of the state always has a good turnout,” he said. “We’re starting to see a small increase in the Bangor area.”

Willette has been involved with the meet “on and off the last 10 to 12 years,” and he said it’s a different than a high school meet.

“It’s a different kind of meet, its more of a fun atmosphere,” he said. “It allows the kids that participate in other [youth] track programs a chance to come and compete against some other kids,” he added.

The meet was a family affair for the Belangers of Glenburn. Jonathan won both the 1,600- and 800-meter runs in the 13-14 age group while younger brother Joseph won the standing long jump as well as the 200- and 400-meter dashes.