ABOVE PHOTO: From left: Jayden Styles, Jayson Reeder, Coach Blair Green, Mekhi Williams, Sean Jones
Earning the Gold Medal for the first time, Philadelphia track and field athletes Jayson Reeder (12 years old), Jayden ‘Jay’ Styles (13 years old), Mekhi ‘Emmitt’ Williams (14 years old), and Sean ‘CJ” Jones (14 years old) put on an elite performance recently in the 4 x100 meter relay race at The AAU Track & Field National Championships.
The AAU Track and Field National Championships hosted elite competitions including more than 5,000 runners from all over the world. Head coach, Kenroy Wallace, coached the middle school aged boys to an epic winclocking in at 46.59 seconds.
These events were held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort. The Philadelphia natives ran the track that was once run by elite athletes such as three-time Olympic gold medalist LaShawn Merritt and former world’s fastest man Justin Gatlin.
According to Athletes Academy — Montgomery County’s premier youth sports training company, known for producing amazing athletes — in preparation for the win, the boys underwent months and months of intense training on conditioning, speed, & agility, which led to the epic win.
A younger group of Philadelphia natives that are also members of the Athletes Academy track team brought home the Gold medal in the 11-12 year old category 4×800 meter race. Clocking 9:50 seconds to win the Gold. Members included Richard RJ Matthews 11 (400, 800, 1500), Dominic Dom Jones 10 (400, 800), Tonivila ‘Toni’ Hicks 11 (400, 800, 1500) and Samir ‘Pop Pop’ Vereen 12 (400, 800, 1500).
Reportedly, the young athletes are excelling on and off the field. The honor roll students intend to join the track team at their respective high schools this fall.
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