During the week of July 24 to August 1st, the Lake Tahoe Track Club, based out of Incline Village, had fifteen athletes travel to Jacksonville, FL to compete at the 2021 USATF Jr. National Olympics. Athletes qualify for the USATF Jr. National Olympics by competing at association and regional qualifiers throughout the summer in CA and NV.
The Lake Tahoe Track Club is comprised of approx. 40 athletes from all over the Tahoe Basin and further. Athletes from Lake Tahoe School, Incline High, Truckee High, North Tahoe High, South Tahoe, Yerington, and more come together to form this club that is focused on promoting the love of running and track & field.
Lake Tahoe School was well represented with four current students, three recent graduates from this past school year, and two Bobcat alumni that are currently in high school.
LTS had four athletes from our middle school competing at National JO’s. Jackson O’Donnell (7th grade) and Micah Bergstrom (6th grade) had a tremendous season competing in the 11-12 boys pentathlon at nationals. Both boys competed hard against tough competition and finished 16th and 20th respectively. Micah also had a standout performance in the individual 80m hurdles on the opening day of the meet. Micah ran a PB 15.36 to qualify 14th for the semi-finals. For the girls, Alyssa Hill (8th grade) qualified for the 400m and 800m. Alyssa had two impressive runs and set new personal best marks. The same can be said for Avery O’Donnell (7th grade) in the 800m and 1500m.
A highlight for our LTS community was seeing recent graduates Lake Davis and Aiden Vieara-McCarthy win a bronze medal in the 4x800m 15-16 relay. Joining the boys on this relay team was Bobcat alumni Luc Casini (Incline HS, sophomore). Other Bobcat alumni to qualify and compete at nationals were Madeleine Patrick (Cate School, freshmen) and Harrison Fung (Stevenson, Senior). Madeleine had a busy meet with the individual 400m, 800m, and 1500m. Madeleine had her best meet of the summer and set two new personal best marks at nationals. Harrison went to nationals for the 110m hurdles and the 400m hurdles. Harry’s best race was his 400m hurdles, as he set a new personal best against tough competition.
The following week, AAU held their National JO’s in Houston, TX. Shelby Erikson, 6th grade at LTS and last year’s female MVP for our school track team, qualified for the individual 800m, 1500m, and 3000m in the 11-year-old girls division. Shelby enjoyed a great meet and loved the experience of competing at the national level for the first time. Shelby’s best two runs were her 800m, finishing 42nd out of 80 girls, and her 1500m, where she set a new PB and finished 32nd overall.
The Lake Tahoe Track Club enjoyed a fantastic summer season. Coach Kris Nugent shared, “We are extremely proud of our current and former Bobcats for their hard work and dedication to track and field this summer. It’s a big commitment to train and compete all summer long in the hopes of qualifying for JO’s, yet these athletes never wavered, they had a lot of fun, and performed so well. I can’t wait to see these kids race for our school this year in XC and track. Let’s go, Bobcats!”.
For more information on the Lake Tahoe Track Club please visit their website at www.laketahoetrackclub.com
