On the right track
Getting to the U.S. Amateur Track and Field national meet is one thing. Succeeding there is another.
Four Butler County athletes, Ava and Clinton Bonetti, Rachel Konieczny and Jordan Geist, will try to accomplish just that.
The USATF National Junior Olympic Championships are taking place through Sunday in Sacramento, Calif.
"It will be fun," said Geist, who is entering sixth grade in the South Butler School District. "I'm only competing for two days, so I can relax out there for three days.
"I'm hoping to come up with two more personal bests."
Geist posted a personal best of 81 feet, 7Z\x inches in winning the discus at the regional meet in Pomona, N.J., recently. He also had a personal best shot put toss of 36-3 while placing third in that event.
The top three placers in regional competition qualify for nationals.
Ava Bonetti, an incoming Butler High sophomore, is headed to nationals for the third time. She qualified as a fifth-grader and again last year, but has yet to place.
Bonetti won the discus at the regional level with a throw of 108-3. She was second in the shot put with a toss of 34 feet.
"There's a slight possibility I could place out there," she said of the national meet. "There's a lot of really good girls there. It's really intense.
"It does help you get better just being there."
Bonetti's younger brother, Clinton, is a fifth-grader at Butler and is completing his first season in track and field.
Clint Bonetti won the shot put at regionals with a personal-best of 30-0.
"I've gone 31 feet in practice since then," Bonetti said. "I guess I am surprised to get this far in my first year.
"Hopefully, I'll do good out there, but I haven't been sleeping too much lately. I'm trying to sleep (in the summer), but it's hard."
The younger Bonetti also plays football for the Butler Lil' Tornados.
Konieczny is a sophomore at Butler who qualified for nationals by placing third in the 800 meters at regionals. She ran the event in 2 minutes, 38 seconds.
"My personal best is 2:27," Konieczny said. "If I can run about a 2:30 in California, I'll be happy."
Konieczny has been running track since seventh grade. She also runs cross country and plans to compete in indoor track for Butler next year.
This is her first trip to the USATF national meet.
"I really like running and I enjoy working with the coaches," she said. "I'm hoping to benefit from this experience."
