Track And Field

A lot of pain and suffering goes into most great achievements in the sport of track and field. Just ask Jan Price. On Nov. 29, she and her husband, Bill, received the President's Award at the 29th annual USA Track & Field Convention in Honolulu. The Smithsburg couple were honored by USATF President Bill Roe for their outstanding contributions to the sport during a special ceremony. "I didn't even know we were going to be receiving it," Jan said. "But I was so sick, I could have cared less.

BOONSBORO - There's no denying Dwight Scott loves track and field. Even after his retirement in 1996 after 37 years as a coach at Boonsboro High School, he still lives and breathes the sport. The past 11 years he's coached as a volunteer at the high school. "My mind still thinks track and field," said Scott, 76. He said his goal is to reach the 50-year mark as a Boonsboro High coach, which will be in 2009. It is Scott's love of track and field that compelled him to devote three years of research and writing to his first book.

Dwight Scott has coached thousands of Boonsboro High School track and field athletes over the past five decades. Now, hundreds of Boonsboro High students and staff members have signed a petition that would ensure future track and field athletes at the southern Washington County school will remember Scott long after he stops coaching. A petition to name the school’s track and field complex “Scott Field” was presented to the Washington County Board of Education Tuesday night.

Robert T. "Bo" Myers, Director of Athletics and Leisure Studies at Hagerstown Community College, recently presented a session at the annual Sports Rules Interpreter Meeting of The National Federation of High Schools in Indianapolis. The presentation was "The Referee: Making the Difficult Decision to Re-run a Race. " Myers sits on the NFHS National Rules Committee and represents Section 2 (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky). He was selected to the committee based upon his 30-plus years coaching and officiating track and field and cross country.

Colby Robinson, a graduate of South Hagerstown High School and son of Jay and Christy Robinson of Hagerstown, earned scholarships and awards from two organizations. He was named the recipient of a four-year Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship. The scholarship process required Colby to complete an application with essays and conduct a one-on-one interview with a Naval commander. The scholarship process was  competitive, with several thousand students applying for only a couple thousand scholarships available nationwide.

Valuable life lessons never seem particularly valuable at the time. More likely, they are the source of pain, heartbreak and discouragement. Yet something deep inside some people causes them to regroup and carry on, despite the difficulty or the odds. At the annual True Grit Awards banquet, Mike Spinnler recounted some his own struggles before stating this simple but difficult truth: “When you get your teeth kicked in, you have to get back up.” It is the message behind the True Grit awards, which honor student-athletes who have overcome sometimes multiple setbacks.

BOONSBORO - There's no denying Dwight Scott loves track and field. Even after his retirement in 1996 after 37 years as a coach at Boonsboro High School, he still lives and breathes the sport. The past 11 years he's coached as a volunteer at the high school. "My mind still thinks track and field," said Scott, 76. He said his goal is to reach the 50-year mark as a Boonsboro High coach, which will be in 2009. It is Scott's love of track and field that compelled him to devote three years of research and writing to his first book.

Thumbs up: To baseball phenom Bryce Harper for injecting some baseball excitement into Hagerstown and the Tri-State area. We wish him luck as he climbs the professional baseball ladder. To Washington County Commissioners Terry Baker, John F. Barr and Ruth Anne Callaham for paying their own way to Florida on the first Direct Air flight out of Hagerstown Regional Airport June 23. To Dave Reeder, a longtime administrator in Washington County Public Schools, who left his job as director of secondary education to become superintendent of the Camp Hill (Pa.)

Ten-year-olds Jalyx Hunt and James Searcy seem to be inseparable. “We're like twins,” Hunt said. “We do everything together.” The two best friends live only a few houses apart and are classmates in the fifth grade at Paramount Elementary School in Hagerstown. When asked Tuesday what they're favorite sport is, Jalyx and James each had the same answer - football. “That's because that's what they're playing right now,” said Theresa Searcy, James' mother. A month ago, the answer probably would have been track and field - the sport in which both boys are national champions.

Last fall's annual JFK 50 Mile Ultramarathon raised funds for nonprofit organizations through entry fees and sponsorships. The JFK 50 Mile donated $10,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit organization that assists men and women of the armed forces who have been severely injured during conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations around the world. The program helps veterans enjoy sports, including skiing, fishing and running. Some of the competitors in the 2008 ultra-marathon individually raised money and awareness for the program.

Valuable life lessons never seem particularly valuable at the time. More likely, they are the source of pain, heartbreak and discouragement. Yet something deep inside some people causes them to regroup and carry on, despite the difficulty or the odds. At the annual True Grit Awards banquet, Mike Spinnler recounted some his own struggles before stating this simple but difficult truth: “When you get your teeth kicked in, you have to get back up.” It is the message behind the True Grit awards, which honor student-athletes who have overcome sometimes multiple setbacks.

The competitive events included everything from the 50-meter dash to the standing long jump. But it was the spirit of community and camaraderie that stood out Saturday at the 39th annual Boonsboro Sons of the American Legion's Junior Olympics for Washington County's fourth- and fifth-graders. About 500 students from 25 schools in the county took part in the event at Boonsboro High School, according to organizers. Richard Secrest, director of the event, said the event epitomizes the spirit of community.

Monday, November 12, 2012 COLLEGE SPORTS EMMITSBURG, Md. - Mount St. Mary's University will discontinue three of its Division I teams in 2013 in an effort to reduce its athletics budget while growing its existing programs. Men's soccer, along with men's and women's golf, will cease following the 2012-13 academic year. As many as 30 Mount student-athletes will be affected by the elimination of the three sports, as well as one full-time and three part-time coaching positions.

Jordyn Morris makes qualifying to compete at a national level athletic event sound easy. “I have a rhythm,” she said. “In between hurdles, I count - one, two, three - then I step over the hurdle.” The 12-year-old Hagerstown athlete has competed nationally twice in previous years at Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games near Virginia Beach and in New Orleans. On Saturday, Jordyn faced competitors in the Mountain Express Appalachian Games, an AAU Junior Olympic Games national qualifier at South Hagerstown High School.

Jeff Spielman was in a familiar place last Saturday at North Hagerstown - at a high school track and field meet. While he's traded in his coaching clipboard for a starter's pistol this spring, the sport of track and field remains a constant in his life. “I'm starting the next phase of my life now. I'm going to be an official,” said Spielman, who has helped officiate several meets in Washington County this season. “I did that other part for so long, and now I'm doing something different.

While the tri-meet between Boonsboro, Clear Spring and Williamsport on Tuesday was small potatoes in the grand scheme of the spring track and field season, it was potatoes nonetheless. And several athletes were ready to do some mashing. Boonsboro junior Sarah Zielinski shattered her own outdoor school record in the girls 3,200-meter run with her winning time of 11:26.9. The previous mark was 11:49.37 from her third-place finish at last May's state meet. “I was just ready to run,” Zielinski said.

Colby Robinson, a graduate of South Hagerstown High School and son of Jay and Christy Robinson of Hagerstown, earned scholarships and awards from two organizations. He was named the recipient of a four-year Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship. The scholarship process required Colby to complete an application with essays and conduct a one-on-one interview with a Naval commander. The scholarship process was  competitive, with several thousand students applying for only a couple thousand scholarships available nationwide.

Ten-year-olds Jalyx Hunt and James Searcy seem to be inseparable. “We're like twins,” Hunt said. “We do everything together.” The two best friends live only a few houses apart and are classmates in the fifth grade at Paramount Elementary School in Hagerstown. When asked Tuesday what they're favorite sport is, Jalyx and James each had the same answer - football. “That's because that's what they're playing right now,” said Theresa Searcy, James' mother. A month ago, the answer probably would have been track and field - the sport in which both boys are national champions.

Mrs. Brandi Kaye (Rockwell) Peli, 22, of 79032 Bowie Loop, Fort Hood, Texas, and formerly of 11403 Rhapsody Road, Greencastle, Pa., died Friday, Aug. 5, 2011, in her home. Born Dec. 17, 1988, in Hagerstown, Md., she was the daughter of Brian Scott "Rocky" Rockwell, Sabillasville, Md., and Jodi Lynn Lafferty, Greencastle. Brandi graduated from Greencastle-Antrim Senior High School with the Class of 2006. She later graduated with the 2010 Class of Hagerstown Community College with a degree in registered nursing.

Thumbs up: To baseball phenom Bryce Harper for injecting some baseball excitement into Hagerstown and the Tri-State area. We wish him luck as he climbs the professional baseball ladder. To Washington County Commissioners Terry Baker, John F. Barr and Ruth Anne Callaham for paying their own way to Florida on the first Direct Air flight out of Hagerstown Regional Airport June 23. To Dave Reeder, a longtime administrator in Washington County Public Schools, who left his job as director of secondary education to become superintendent of the Camp Hill (Pa.)