Participation less, but fun remains at track meet fundraiser

A low turnout at Maricopa High School’s fundraiser track meet on April 12 didn’t disappoint the 40 kids who came to run with the team.

For the second year, the Maricopa High School track team held a meet for Maricopa children between third and eighth grade as a way to raise money for the team. The meet drew more than 100 participants last year; however, because of some scheduling issues, this year’s meet only had half of that turnout.

“We didn’t know at the time but we planned this year’s meet on the same day that soccer started,” said Brad Chamberlain, head coach of the track team.

A required event for members of Chamberlain’s team, the meet is one of two fundraisers the team does each year to raise money.

“All of the money goes toward the track club,” he said. “It provides us with warm-ups, meet entry fees and our awards ceremony.”

Even with the low numbers, the kids who attended were not disappointed with the added attention from members of the team.

“Getting to run the 100-yard dash for the first time was a lot of fun,” said Nate Ramirez, 14, who was at the event with his dad, Sergio, and sister, Victoria.

Because of the low turnout, all of the participants were allowed to compete in any event they wanted, even if they hadn’t signed up for it.

Nate, Victoria and their friends, Bryan Leonard, 14. and Jacob Cowing, 13, stood out from the rest of the participants as they wore their own team Swagger Sports jerseys.

“It’s really just me sponsoring them with my company Swagger Sports; we do T-shirt printing,” Sergio Ramirez said.

***ADVERTISEMENT***Even though they weren’t a formal team, they still posted some of the best scores and times in the meet. Bryan posted 11.74 in the 100-yard dash.

Despite the turnout, both Maricopa track team members and participants enjoyed the event.

“It was a lot of fun,” Victoria said. “I just wish there were more kids like last year.”