Athletics > Striders Track Club
Striders Track Club
Striders Mission StatementHHYD Striders Track Club (Striders) is committed to enhancing the sport of track and field in the Twin Cities. We are a developmental track club, meaning we concentrate on developing the gifts and abilities of the youth that are committed to training with us. The Striders have no intention of being a team that caters to the elite, however our goal is to bring out the very best in every athlete in our program. Our basic philosophy toward competing is called "Total Release". In everything we do, we give it our all, holding nothing back. Give 100% of the effort 100% of the time.
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Congratulations to all our youth for a wonderful effort!
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USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. The Junior Olympics is the youth branch of the USATF and was created to help develop future stars that will follow in the footsteps of Olympians like Justin Gatlin, Allyson Felix, Jeremy Wainer and Lauryn Williams.
 
Photos from the 2005 USA Track and Field National Championships, held in Indianapolis.
2006 USATF Indoor Championships
Track Results for the Team
60 meter dash: Bantam girls (BG) Tanee' Krause took the silver, youth girls (YG)Alyssa Warren walked away with the gold while our assistant head coach JoeAnn Jackson-Matthews won gold for her efforts in the women's master division. Our midget boy (MB) Rashawn Fountain captured the gold and Aaron Warren was close on his heels winning the silver. Rumeal Harris, youth boy (YB) took gold along with intermediate boy (IB) De'Sean Benik. Intermediate boy Daudi Long came home with the bronze and Paris Richardson, young men's division (YM) took home silver while HHYD distance coach Russ Anteronen grabbed the gold in the men's master division.
200 meter dash: Winners is this event are Tanee Krause (BG), bronze; Halle Huff, midget girl (MG), gold; Alyssa Warren (YG), gold and Kiana Canady (YG) took the bronze. Bantam boy (BB) Sy Chatman, gold; Aaron Warren (MB), gold; Joseph Sutton (YB), bronze; De'Sean Benik (IB), gold; Brandon Lawrence (IB), bronze and Paris Richardson (YM), silver.
400 meter dash: Winning are Tanee' Krause (BG), silver; Alyssa Warren (YG), gold; Rashawn Fountain (MB), gold and Paris Richardson (YM), gold.
800 meter run: The winners are Aiko Ploog (BG), bronze and youth boy Alex Bilek, gold.
Mile run: The winner is Alex Bilek (YB) taking the gold.
60 meter hurdles: The winner is Joseph Sutton (YB) winning the gold.
Shot Put: Winners are Aiko Ploog (BG), gold; Jonae Sutton (BG), silver; Jonathon Sutton (MB), gold; Joseph Sutton (YB), gold; Alex Bilek (YB), bronze and women master JoeAnn Jackson-Matthews, gold.
High Jump: Our winner is Sade' Chatman (MG) taking the gold.
Long Jump: Winners in this event are JoeAnn Jackson-Matthews (master), gold; Rashawn Fountain (MB), gold; Aaron (MB), silver and Rumeal Harris (YB), gold.
Triple Jump: The winner is Daudi Long (IB) winning the bronze.
New Hospitaly House Indoor Track Records
Aiko Ploog: Bantam Girl established a new Shot-Put record of 12' 5 ½" becoming a gold medal winner.
Rashawn Fountain: Midget boy was a Triple Crown winner placing first in the 60 meter dash with a new Hospitality House record of 8.48 seconds. In the long jump he soared to 14'11 1/3" breaking the old record of 14' 9 ¾". Rashawn blazed to victory in the 400 meter dash with a new record time of 1:05.44 breaking the old record of 1:06.87 set in 1997 by Robert Springfield a former Junior Olympic All American.
Alyssa Warren: Youth girl was also Triple Crown winner establishing a new record of 8.41 seconds in the 60 meter dash. Alyssa final effort came in the 400 meter dash capturing gold with a time of 1:05.17and breaking the old Hospitality House record of 1:07.39.
Rumeal Harris: Youth boy blitzed to a first place finish in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.72 seconds; breaking the old Hospitality record of 8.09. In his second event of the day Harris leaped to a Hospitality House indoor record of 18'1 1/4"; breaking the old Hospitality House record of 17''8 ¾".
If you would like to more information about Hospitality House Youth Directions or information on how to get your child involved in the summer track and field program please call Hospitality House at 612-522-4485 for more details.
Striders History
Keith Johnson started the STRIDERS in 1986; prior to that track and field was only recreational at Hospitality House. Keith had been involved in the sport of track and field so he knew how it could impact the life of a young person. Since track requires you to compete as an individual, Keith knew that track and field could inspire youth to do their very best.
During the early years the team was fairly small and the program saw a lot of kids come and go. Even though the Striders were a small team, almost from the start they were competitive. Records by Striders team members; Leonard Jones and John Jackson still stand today.
The early 90's brought several changes for the Hospitality House Striders. First, the program director expanded the program to serve all ages and increase the size of the track team. Next, a youth minister was hired to help with the team and give the youth spiritual and motivational messages after practice and before track meets. Lastly, in 1994 Sam Harris merged his team, the Hornets, with the Striders. This proved to be a great boost for the track club. Sam brought a wealth of knowledge as well as some pretty good runners. Mr. Harris is still a volunteer coach for the Striders and helps design team workouts and specifically works with the jumpers.
From 1992 to 1999 the team grew from 30 members to over 150 members. Some years we had over 200 children come through the track program. Growth like this takes a lot of committed people who love children.
Along with the numbers came success. We went from a team happy to make it to the Regional meet to one of the strongest teams in our region (Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, and Minnesota). In 1994 we had our first National medal winners. Zachariah Babington-Johnson placed sixth in the nation in the 100-meter dash for the 10 and under age group and Marcus Westberry placed eighth in the nation in the High Jump for 15 - 16 year olds. In 1996 Cedric Springfield finished fourth in the nation in the 200-meter dash for 11 - 12 year olds. In 1997 Robert Springfield finished second in the nation in the high jump for 11 - 12 year olds, giving us our highest place finish ever. Our biggest achievement came in 1999 when we registered 139 athletes for the State Junior Olympic meet and 119 qualified to progress on to the Regional meet. Since our first medal winners we have continually produced National medalist. From 1996 until today our relay teams have consistently finish in the top 20 in the nation.
None of these achievements are possible without the dedication of the coaching staff. We have been blessed with some very committed volunteer coaches over the years. Some have even gone on to coach at the high school and college level. Some will not trade their experiences with the children for anything, one of these dedicated volunteers is JoeAnn Jackson-Matthews has been with the Striders for 17 years. Our coaches not only give their time, but also contribute financially and use their vacations to accompany team members to out of town track meets to see that the youth succeed.
The more successful we become; more children want to participate with us. We have children from all over the Twin Cities. We try to help others start track teams because we know we cannot service everyone.
During our history we have been questioned as to why we do not cut children and work with the more committed runners. Once you read our mission statement you will understand why. We want a child's experience with us to be a positive one; we want them to have fun and to be serious at the proper times. We also want them to learn how God loves them and has a plan for their life that goes beyond the races and medals of this world.
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Today's Youth...
Tomorrow's Leaders.
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