BELTON, TX — For the first time, 30 Central Texas track athletes are headed to the Junior Olympics in North Carolina.
"We took 32 athletes to the AAU Regional track meet and we qualified 30 athletes," Anthony Gerhard, the Texas Prodigy Track team head coach, said.
That means 94 percent of the Texas Prodigy Track team is Junior Olympics bound.
"This is the top of their age group. This is the Olympics for the kids. There's no level above that," Gerhard added.
This is the first year of Texas Prodigy Track, and more importantly, the first time all 30 of these kids have made it to the big stage.
"It means we're doing right, we're conditioning right, we're tweaking them in the races where we need to," Gerhard said.
"When I go to the Junior Olympics I will be competiting 16U, so sophomores and juniors and they're already at the high school level. So, it will be a good experience for me to race against those people," Macee Bradford, one of the Junior Olympics qualifier, said.
The Texas Prodigy Track team is comprised of athletes, male and female ages 10-18 from all across Central Texas.
"We're all like family, and we like to see each other succeed," Tyson Tamez, one of the Junior Olympics qualifier, said.
So, you can bet they'll continue to push each other until the time comes, and then be each others biggest fans as they race for the title of Junior Olympic champion.
"It's an opportunity and I'm blessed because other people don't get to do this. It's really awesome," Madison Weber, one of the Junior Olympics qualifier, said.
The hope is that this experience continues to boost their track careers.
"When they compete in middle school or some of them coming up to the high school next year, it's gonna be a lot easier. They're gonna comfortable," Gerhard added. "And hopefully we're gonna have some state qualifiers, and it should be nothing new to them because they've already competed at that level."
The athletes will compete in the AAU Junior Olympics July 27th-August 3rd.
If you'd like to sponsor the team or a specific athlete, email TexasProdigyTrackClub@gmail.com
