Seven local athletes from the Cleats of Fire Track and Field Club qualified for the 2017 National Junior Olympic Games last month.
Landen Deaton, Jaelyn Haldeman, Trenton Davis, Logan Davis, Jaden Deaton, Darrell Barnes and Hanna Moore each punched their tickets in their respective events and will compete in the nationwide event on July 29 in Detroit, Michigan.
Most of the athletes qualified for the first time to earn a trip to the national competition.
Landen Deaton qualified in three 9-10 year old events -- the long jump, 400 meter and 800 meter run. Haldeman qualified for the 100 and 200 meter dash in the 7-8 year old division.
In the 15-16 year old division, Jaden Deaton landed spots in the 1500 meter run, 3000 meter run, and the 2000 meter steeplechase while Davis qualified for the decathlon.
Barnes will compete in the long jump for the 17-18 year old boys division while Moore will race in the 400 meter dash on the girls side.
In their final tune up meet of the season this past weekend in Indianapolis, Landen Deaton posted a time of 5 minutes, 29 seconds in the 1500 without any training in the event. He also took first in the 800 and finished fourth in the long jump with a leap of 11 feet, 1 inch.
Jaden Deaton put in a great performance by competing in three races within a five-hour period. He took second in the 3000 and recorded a personal best time of 10:04 by shaving 31 seconds off his previous record. He also took third in the 1500 in 4:37 and got second in the 800.
Barnes finished eighth in the 100, ninth in the 200 and fourth in the long jump at 16-5.
Davis won first place with a personal best pole vault of 10-3 and ran a 4:57 for fourth place in the 1500, which was the fastest time in the decathlon for his age group last season. He also finished first in the high jump at 4-9 and second in discus with an 85-foot toss.
Logan Bell took second in the javelin with a throw of 58-6 in his first official competition. He also grabbed a fourth place finish in the discus with a throw of 58-11, missing the right sector line by about 8 inches, which would have been the winning throw by just over 100 feet.
The Junior Olympic competition will go through August 5.