PEMBROKE – Hurdles First Track Club has partnered with Angel Elite Sports and UNCP to offer a free hurdling clinic on October 24. Athletes from the 6th grade all the way up to the collegiate level are encouraged to attend.
The clinic will be held at UNCP's Taylor Track and is set to begin at 1 p.m.
Since 2003, the Angel Elite Sports' track program has produced two individual USA Track and Field (USATF) state championships, 15 AAU individual state titles, along with six silver medals and 10 bronze medals. The club has also produced 17 Region 3-A individual championships (Region 3-A includes Tennessee, Alabama and North Carolina) as well as seven silver and eight bronze regional medals.
Angel Elite Sports has produced 3 national champions who have combined for a total of seven championships (a pair of indoor titles and five outdoor titles) including one AAU Jr. Olympic Championship. Club athletes have also set four national records. Angel Elite Sports competitors have achieved “All-America" status 23 times (top 8 at the Junior Olympic games, Club National Championships and AAU National Indoor championships) collecting 29 national championship medals including 11 AAU Junior Olympic Medals.
At the Club National championship meet in Orlando in 2007, Angel Elite Sports finished eighth of 35 teams in the female 12U age division and 14th of 58 teams in the overall 12U division (male and female combined). In 2008 AE finished 6th of 36 in the sub-youth age division at club nationals and 68th of 136 with just two athletes. Currently, the track program features a coaching staff that is USATF Level I certified and boasts a total of 12 years collegiate track experience.
Aaron McDougal and Troy Baker will be conducting the clinic for the Hurdles First Track Club. More information about HFTC can be found at hurdlesfirsttrackclub.com
For more than a dozen years, Hurdles First Track Club coaches have had the opportunity to mentor and coach some of our area's USATF Junior Olympic athletes. Over the years, HFTC athletes have come to the track with a variety of different agendas – some because they liked running, others because they liked their friends who ran, and some were looking for a support group.
Initially HFTC's training was held at various locations in the area, but for nearly ten years on a more consistent basis at UNCP's facilities. Much like consistency at home or in the classroom, there seemed to be a distinct advantage to practicing in an environment designed for positive growth and development. That advantage has manifested itself with the fruits of the club's labor. While it is every coach's objective to train athletes capable of competing on the highest level, HFTC athletes' productivity has far exceeded most people's expectations.
Among the young athletes that established their track and field foundation at the UNCP facilities are Johnny Dutch, who is currently representing the USA at the World Games in Germany, and Booker Nunley, who are both attending the University of South Carolina on full track & field scholarships; Keare Smith, who is attending Virginia Tech on a track & field scholarship; Gabby Mayo and Wayne Davis, attending Texas A&M University on track & field scholarships; Malcolm Nunley and Danielle Davis, Southeast Raleigh High School students; Joseph Kenly, a Cardinal Gibbons High School student, and many others. While the aforementioned athletes currently represent some of track elite in high school and college athletics, they by no means tell the entire story. We presently have athletes as young as nine years old that are Junior Olympic All-Americans and ranked among the top in the nation this year.