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Young athlete leaps onto national stage

A Seffner Track Club member wins silver in the long jump at the AAU Junior Olympics.

By TERRY JONES
Published September 2, 2005

SEFFNER - Mia McCoy is one of the best long jumpers her age in the United States.

The second-grader at Phillip Shore Elementary School won the silver medal last month in her age group in the long jump event in the AAU National Junior Olympics for Track and Field in New Orleans.

McCoy's best jump of 11 feet, 9 inches matched the distance set by another athlete from New York.

Instead of awarding both girls gold medals, officials went to the second-best jump out of each competitors' four attempts. McCoy's jump was short by just 2 inches.

McCoy, then 7, wasn't too upset at losing first place by only inches. She said she was thrilled to compete and visit New Orleans, where she toured the Superdome.

"I will train harder to try to win the gold next year," she said. "Besides it was all fun."

McCoy is one of 11 Seffner Track Club members who made the 10-day trip to the nationals.

"You will be hard pressed to see athletes more talented than the ones at the AAU nationals," Seffner Track Club head coach Mike Zelazo said. "They came from all over the country to compete, and they came to win."

Three others from the Seffner Track Club placed in the top eight in at least one event in some of the toughest youth track competition in the United States.

They are Justin Osking, 12, Christopher Chatfield, 9, and Brittany McGee, 9.

Osking placed third in the discus, with a throw of 113 feet. He also came in sixth place in the shot put, with a throw of 42 feet, 1 inch.

Chatfield placed sixth in a triathlon event, where officials combine results from three different events. His events were the shot put, high jump and 400-meters race.

He threw the shot 19 feet, 10 inches; in the high jump, he traveled 3 feet, 10 inches. His time in the 400-meters race was not available.

McGee finished seventh in her triathlon event, which include the shot put, high jump and 200-meters run.

She threw the shot put 13 feet, 5 inches; jumped 3 feet, 3 inches; and ran the 200-meters race in 33 seconds.

Other members of the club who qualified and competed, but didn't place included Erin Liles, 17; Michelle Trugillo, 16; Raquel Hitsman, 14; Ian Osking, 16; James Fleming, 16; Tyra Hepburn, 8; and Marc McCoy, 9.

To earn berths in the national junior Olympics, all the club members must train two hours a day, three days a week, beginning in April. Before that, they train once a week for three months.

To qualify, they must match or beat records at one of two summer competitions, the state AAU championships in Gainesville or the AAU National Club Championships at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista.

[Last modified September 2, 2005, 02:15:35]