Three Nanaimo runners got to extend their track season with one more meet, and some sweets.
Madison Heisterman, Amy Morris and Carter Higgins represented British Columbia at the Hershey’s Track and Field Games in Hershey, Pa. over the August long weekend.
Heisterman won her 11-12-year-old 800-metre race with a time of two minutes, 22.53 seconds.
“She didn’t take the lead right away, she jumped into about third place and then with about 500 metres to go she passed the other kids and started trying to stretch it out,” said Tyler Heisterman, coach of the Nanaimo Track and Field Club.
Madison had qualified for the Hershey’s meet with a record time, but was about two seconds off that time in her final.
“She wanted to beat the record, to get into the book down there…” said Tyler. “But once you get down to Hershey and you’re looking at all the other kids, you start thinking, geez, if I could just win this race.”
Higgins was third in the 13-14-year-old 800m race and Morris placed seventh in the 11-12-year-old 1,600m.
Every U.S. state and Canadian province was represented, as well as Puerto Rico. The trials whittled some 450,000 hopefuls down to 450 at the meet. Youths got to tour the Hershey’s factory, visit the theme park, and let loose at a dance.
“It’s a pretty fun experience, they had an absolute blast,” Tyler Heisterman said. “To have three kids from Nanaimo all the way down in Hershey, Pa., I was pretty proud of our team.”
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
