BALTIMORE — A group of young athletes from Maryland Blaze Track Club are heading to the AAU Junior Olympics. Now one of them is raising funds to help with travel to get there.
Gold metals clink around the neck of Kayden Worrell. He holds the title of Maryland’s top ranked 9-year-old sprinter.
"I felt great when I got that, I just felt great,” said Worrell.
Now he's 10-years-old and is racing to win medals in the Junior Olympics in Iowa next week. But to get there, he's going to need a little help.
"Help fund getting to Iowa. We're only asking for about $2,000 to help us get us down there and help us get the hotel and everything. Make the trip a little more bearable,” said Brandon Worrell, who is Kayden's dad.
Kayden has been a member of the Maryland Blaze Track Club for a little over a year and has been placed among the top five sprinters for both 200-meter and 400-meter events in the city. His coach said he even placed nationally.
"So for 200, 400 he's ranked in the top ten in the nation. And actually, in the long jump, he's nationally ranked as well,” said Mike Benoit, who is the founder of Maryland Blaze Track Club.
Worrell said his strategy is to stick to what Coach Benoit taught him; "I visualize it as, get out hard, keep your pace, pick it up, and then once you reach right there, give it all you got.”
This is his second year competing in the Junior Olympics. This year he qualifies for 200 and 400 meter race as well as the 4 by 400 relay.
He said practice starts with some stretches on the field, then it's ready, set, go.
"Kayden practices between three to five days a week. I would say four on average to make sure that we're ready,” said Benoit.
While hard work and training have paid off, Kayden's dad said it’s not just on the track that he succeeds.
"Straight A student, his teachers love him, he loves school. He actually does really well in field days and stuff like that too,” said Worrell.
The Junior Olympics is July 30 through August 6. Kayden has until July 29 to reach his goal. With a little help from the GoFundMe created by his dad, he's about halfway there.
