Mach I sending six to Junior Olympics

Continuing the club's long-standing tradition, the Mach I Track Club has qualified six of its members for the upcoming Amateur Athletic Union and USA Track and Field Junior Olympics.

The list includes three members of the Fink family who advanced from the regional meet at Chisholm Trail High School.

Josh Fink will return to defend his national championship in the 3000-meter race walk in the Boys 13-14 division. He won regionals with a time of 17 minutes, 45.86 seconds.

Emmy Strathmeyer leads all Mach I qualifiers, advancing in three events from the AAU regional meet. Competing in the Girls 15-16 division, she won the 2000 steeplechase with a time of 8:04.50, took third in the 3000 in 11:40 and fourth in the 1500 clocking 5:26.

Josh's older brother Jack and younger sister Jenna qualified in two events for AAU. Jack won the Boys 17-18 3000 in 9:03 and was second in the 1500 in 4:17. 

Jenna took second in the 1500 and third in the 800 at the regional meet. She clocked a time of 6:35 in the former and 3:18.52 in the latter.

At the USATF regional meet in Seguin, Malachi Dolan advanced in the Boys 9-10 age group and Tryg Meshell joined him in the Boys 11-12. Dolan placed second in the 1500 with a time of 5:27.84, while Meshell finished fourth in 5:04.32.

Meshell also narrowly missed a berth in the 3000, placing sixth with a clocking of 11:52. The same for Bodee Cato, who took sixth in the Boys 17-18 3000 in Seguin with a 10:05.

Also competing at Chisholm Trail was Malachi Wilson. Competing in the Boys 17-18 division, he placed eighth in the 3000 with a time of 10:59.

Also in Seguin was Cole Bettger in the Boys 15-16 category. He was 12th in the 3000 with a 10:15.

From those regional meets, the top five in each event qualified to move on. USATF will hold its Junior Olympics in Bryan-College Station July 22-28 and AAU will be at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, North Carolina July 29-Aug. 3.