Boys
It's hard for 7th grade guys to get much respect out on the track. They're the ones always assigned to hurdle crews during home meets or to the pack mules lugging the high-jumping pits out to the field. 7th grade boys average 47.5 pounds and 7.7 inches less than their senior class cohorts, while 7th grade girls average 25 pounds and just 2.5 inches behind their 12th grade teammates. But even with all the hurdles (not the best event for a young guy except for maybe steeplechase barriers) thrown up against the newbies, there are places where boys can leave their marks, and quite respectable ones at that.
First off, wipe away any thoughts of being a king of the throwing pits and cages. The day when you will be strutting your 6'-6" and 250 lb. frame into the shot put ring to launch a throw into the next county are way in the future, and by then you will be munching down 7th graders for sustenance between throws. Long Island Lutheran's Spencer Elliot threw a huge 90-3 in the discus in his one recorded event this year, but that is very much an anomaly and still just slid him into the top 1000 overall. For the most part you are throwing away your shot if you seek early success in the shot put, perhaps especially if you attend Alexander Hamilton HS.
The other field events generally require not only more physical attributes than those possessed by 7th graders, but also many years of experience setting up your long jump approach or doing the triple jump skip or kicking up your heels in the high jump. A year ago though, Orchard Park's Kegan Mancabelli pointed the way in a possible specialty event for 7th graders. Mancabelli was his class's leader in the long jump with a distance that was more than two feet behind the 1000th best in NY, but he also obviously got some good training in the pole vault and soared to a height of 11 feet, good for 191st among the 887 vaulters who cleared 6 feet or better. Sure, most 7th graders do not have pole vault shoulders yet, but a little technique can go a long way upward.
Hurdles are generally tough events for 7th graders who don't have the height, technique, or springiness needed to succeed in a quick-hitting event, though Mancabelli's older brother Robertino Mancabelli broke into the top 1000 in the 400 meter hurdles in 2015, and Iroquois' Kendall Mariacher used his indoor experience to finish 424th among the 110 meter hurdles in 2017. Sprints are also not likely to provide much fame, as even very solid 2018 7th grade times like 12.33 by Middletown's Jaahmir Burgess in the 100 or 26.03 by Wilson's Evan Wolfe in the 200 do not come close to cracking the top 1000.
So yes, that mainly leaves a 7th grader with shooting for success in the long run. This year Brewster's Patrick Ford was the 7th grade long distance leader, and his 3200 best was good enough to place among the top 500 overall. Chatham's Timmy Jeralds also got in for the top 500 at 498th in the 3K steeplechase. Ford and Jeralds follow in the tradition of a long line of young distance greats including last year's top duo of Beaver River's Colton Kempney who was 682nd overall in the 1600 and an awesome 147th in the steeplechase, and Micah Tindale of Guilderland with a 506th best 3200 mark. Further back in 2015, Behailu Bekele-Arcuri then of Minisink Valley was setting the standards for 7th graders for all time with marks that placed him 266th overall in the 1600 and 113th in the 3200. A final nod also goes to Clymer-Sherman-Panama's John Swabik for a 2:15.38 time in the 800 in 2016, and this year as a freshman he used that early experience to finish a close 2nd in the States D2 pentathlon standings.
It may look like an XC scene and that Colton Kempney of Beaver River is an 8th grader here, but in
spring 2017 he placed highest of 7th graders in his 3K steeplechase event at 147th overall.
Behailu Bekele-Arcuri, ran in middle school for Minisink Valley and
compiled some stunning results in long distance races as a 7th
grader in 2015. The image is from XC States the next fall.
