Track and Field: Mach I has three national champions

Siblings Josh and Jenna Fink of Mach I Track Club each won a national championship in race walking at the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics in Houston this summer. The championship was a third straight for Josh, who competed in the Boys 15-16 age group, while Jenna was among the Girls 10 division.

Colsen Ing placed fifth and was named an All-American in the 800 in Boys 13 division for Supersonic Track Club, which was making their first appearance at the AAU Junior Olympics.

Sawyer Loe was named All-American after taking seventh in the Boys 13 pole vault for Supersonic Track Club.

Gannon Dolan won a second national championship for Mach I Track Club at the recent AAU Junior Olympics in Houston, capturing the top spot in the Boys 17-18 1500-meter run. He also earned All-American status by finishing sixth in the 3000.

Emmy Strathmeyer finished fourth in the Girls 17-18 2000 steeplechase and was eighth in the 3000. The top eight finishers in each event were awarded All-American status.

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In the Boys 15-16 age group, Josh Fink won a third consecutive national championship in race walking, capturing the title in the 3000-meter competition with a time of 14 minutes, 41.83 seconds. He won his previous two in the 13-14 division.

His victory came after a rain/lightning delay of more than three hours.

This year he was joined by his younger sister Jenna Fink, who won the 10-year-old Girls 1500 race walk by almost 40 seconds, clocking 9:05.59. She was also 25th in the 1500.

Also winning a national championship - his second - was Gannon Dolan in the Boys 17-18 1500 run. He posted a time of 4:01.79. Dolan won his first title in 2022 in the Boys 13-14 category and finished second in the 14-15 division in 2023.

Dolan also placed sixth in the 3000 in 9:04.11.

Also earning All-American status after finishing fourth in the Girls 17-18 2000 steeplechase was Emmy Strathmeyer, finishing in 8:04.31. She also placed eighth in the 3000 (11:31.19) and 27th in the 1500.

Also posting a top-10 finish was Cole Bettger, taking ninth in the Boys 15-16 3000 (9:22.54). He narrowly missed garnering All-American status, which goes to the top eight in each event.

Better was also 30th in the 1500.

“Overall we did outstanding. I’m really proud of these athletes,” Mach I coach Lupe Torres said. “The athletes competed great and showed that they belonged there.

“Now that summer track is over we will change gears and start to get ready for cross country. We will hold tryouts Tuesday, Sept. 16 and Thursday, Sept. 18 from 5:45 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Tison Middle School in Weatherford.”

Other results for Mach I include:

• Miguel Martinez, Boys 8-Under, 40th in 800; 22nd in 1500.
• Elijah Lawrence, Boys 8-Under, 48th in 800.
• Ryker Reis, Boys 8-Under, 50th in 1500.
• Malachi Dolan, Boys 10, 20th in 1500.
• Nate Favela, Boys 11, 43rd in 3000; 78th in 1500.
• Tryg Meshell, Boys 13, 24th in 3000.

Supersonic places two in top 10

In their first time competing at the AAU level, the Supersonic Track Club from Weatherford had two athletes receive All-American status after placing in the top 10 in their respective events, both in the Boys 13 age group.

Colsen Ing ran his fastest time ever, placing fifth in the 800 with a time of 2:06.87. In the pole vault, Sawyer Loe cleared 7 feet, 0.5 inches for seventh place.

In addition, Ing placed 34th in the 400 and Loe was 33rd in the 100 hurdles. They teamed with Jude Jackson and Carlito Richards to place 28th in the Boys 14 4x400 relay and 12th in the 4x800 relay.

Individually, Richards took 24th in the long jump.

Other individual performances included:

• Bridger Jarrett, Boys 9-Under, 34th in 800; 35th in 1500; 64th in 400.
• Hadley Fought, Girls 9-Under, 50th in 1500; 67th in 800.
• Charlotte Farhat, Girls 14, 40th in 3000.

“I am happy with everyone’s performance. They all did great,” head coach and club founder Richard Searcy said. “We look forward to returning back to the Junior Olympics next year. The relay team said they have some unfinished business. They want to get on the podium next year.”