By Bill Morgan, Staff Writer

 

The 2018 AAU Junior Olympic National Track and Field Championships, hosted by Drake University in Des Moines, brought in over 10,000 athletes from around the country the week of July 30 through Aug. 4. 

Among them was Becker sixth grade track and field athlete Carter Reckelberg. 

Carter qualified last month at the National qualifier at Simpson College in Indianola, IA.  At the regional, he qualified for the national meet in the 200M (first place), 400M (first place), and the long jump (first place).

At the national meet, Reckelberg decided to compete in his strongest and favorite event - the long jump. There he jumped against kids from all over the U.S., a total of 71 jumpers competing in his age group. After prelims were complete, the top eight received an additional three jumps in finals. Carter’s prelims placed him in fifth going into finals. 

His best jump of the competition was his last where he soared to 15’8 ¾’, placing him in fifth overall at the national championships.