ST. PETERSBURG - Many young athletes take the scorching summer months off, but the St. Petersburg Striders are sprinting, hurdling and preparing for the Junior Olympic Games.
Last weekend 31 athletes from the Striders' track and field club competed in a regional championship meet at Disney's Wide World of Sports, and six of them qualified for the national games. They will compete for Junior Olympic medals from July 31 to Aug. 7 at Iowa's Drake University.
"I'm happy to be representing Florida," said Kelvin White, 12, who qualified in the long jump. "I'm very excited because it's my first time out of Florida."
Also qualifying for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Junior Olympics were: Jyaira Moore, 9, (6:12/1,500 meters, 2:50/800 meters); Vershayla Munnerlyn, 11, (1,500-meter race/walk); DeVontae Persha, 9, (1:08/400 meters, 2:33/800 meters, 12 feet/long jump); Eboni Reed, 17, (00:12:47/100 meters); and Adrian Snead, 8, (2:51/800 meters).
The Striders train four nights a week at Lakewood High School. Coach David Brown said practices are geared to push the kids and teach them athletic discipline.
"Track readies you for any type of sport there is," Brown said. "It makes you mentally and physically tough."
The training lays a foundation for competing in other sports, and track athletes often play another sport during track's off-season, said John Boyer, national meet coordinator for the Junior Olympics. "The first thing that basketball coaches and football coaches look for is: "How fast can you run the 40?' and, "How high can you jump?' " Boyer said. "If you're looking at a good track and field athlete, you're looking at a good all-around athlete."
College scouts will hover at the Iowa games, sizing up more than 7,000 potential college sports stars, even though many will not graduate from high school this decade.
But just last year, former Strider Rose Richmond graduated from Indiana University, where she spent four years long jumping for the Hoosiers. Richmond will try out this year to represent the United States at the Olympic Games in Athens.
The St. Petersburg Striders track and field club was founded in 1987, and Brown began coaching in 1988, when his daughter joined the squad. The program includes runners as young as 5 and as old as 18. The Striders have been a mainstay in Florida's Amateur Athletic Union from their beginning, said Jacques Raphael, the AAU's Southeast commissioner.
"Their organization has been so supportive of track around the state of Florida," said Raphael, who used to direct the Florida region. "If we need help setting up for a meet, then they help us set up." This included helping set up for a meet in Sarasota earlier this year.
Interest in track and field continues to grow in Florida, Raphael said. The state has a reputation for turning out tough competitors in the high school age groups, and he said, "Quality at the younger ages continues to improve."
Many of the children, like 9-year-old Jyaira, started racing because their parents were looking for an outlet for their energy. But shaving seconds off a time and getting faster bit by bit can become more than a way to burn childhood energy. It teaches children how to set goals and work to achieve them.
Jyaira took her preparations to the next level, running with her aunt, who is training to be a firefighter. Her parents planned strategy with her before her races in Orlando. "Pace yourself," said her mother, Michelle Moore. "Try to stay with the front group and do your best."
"I just sprinted at the end," Jyaira said. "I wanted to get this race bad."
