In 1977 a young lady from Vass set an AAU national track record that stands to this day.

Competing for the Sandhills Track Club, Latanya Wynn still holds that record with her 14 foot, 11.5 inch jump in the bantam girls’ long jump during national competition.

Just like Wynn’s record, the Sandhills Track Club under the direction of Nat Carter and assistant coach Ed Kelly, and numerous parent volunteers, is still standing strong during its 25th year of existence.

This year, 11 competitors from the club battled through the AAU region 3 track championships to earn the right to participate in the national championships to be held in Berea, Ohio, at Baldwin Wallace College.

Led by Kim Derrickson, Mark Moon and Edmund Kelly, the 11 athletes will travel to Ohio for the meet that begins July 31 and continues through Aug. 7.

Joining those three in traveling to the nationals are fellow track members Will Kenworthy, Carter Sharpe, Ahmod Goins, Charles Derrickson, Dominque Andrews, Brandon Goins, Helen Kenworthy and Brandy Spencer. The top-four finishers in each event during the regional meet held at Savannah, Ga., July 11 advance to the national championships.

Kim Derrickson grabbed three top-three finishes in the Bantam girls division. Derrickson rolled to a first-place in the triathlon competition with a total of 1,222 points, while adding a second in the long jump with a leap of 13-9, and sprinted her way to a third in the 100-meter dash.

Mark Moon improved on his personal best time in the 800-meter run by over nine seconds in taking first in the Primary boys’ 800-meter run. Moon took first with a time of 2:53.31. His previous best time, set in the AAU state meet, was 3:02.

Edmund Kelly, a veteran of both high-level high school competition and AAU meets, claimed a first in the 1500-meter run, and a second in the 800 in the Young Men’s division.

The rising senior at Pinecrest, posted a time of 4:09.55 in the 1500, nipping second-place finisher Marcelo Dunning by a mere .02 of a second. In the 800, Kelly finished in 1:56.78, his personal best time of the year, in taking second.

A younger member of the club appears to be a Kelly in training as Will Kenworthy took a third in the 800 and a second in the 1500 in Sub-bantam boys’ competition.

Four of Carter charges claimed second-place finishes in advancing to national competition. Ahmod Goins posted a time of 10:24.15 in the Sub-midget boys 1500-meter race walk in finishing second, and Sharpe placed second with a put of 25-7.25 in the Bantam boys shot put event.

Continuing the second-place efforts were Helen Kenworthy and Spencer. Kenworthy took second in the triple jump in Youth girls with a leap of 28-2, while Spencer hurled the discus 93-6 in taking the runner-up position of the Intermediate girls’ discus event.

Adding third-place finishes for the club were Charles Derrickson, Andrews and Brandon Goins. Derrickson cleared 4-4 in the Midget boys’ high jump, while Andrews’ time of 5:48.87 in the Midget girls 1500 advanced her to the nationals. Goins tossed the javelin 76-3 in the Youth boys’ event to advance.

Other members of the club that traveled to the regionals were Larry Ward, Eric Andrews, John Sharpe, Gary Moon and Jeremy Hargrove.