Port City Track Club prepares for regional track meet

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Track isn’t a sport that gets a lot of publicity in our area with sports like baseball and basketball getting most of the attention. But the Port City Track Club is looking to change that as they try to run into the national spotlight.

What started as less than 10 athletes has grown to more than 90 from all over our area in just the past four years for the Port City Track Club. But no matter how big the group gets, they all remain close together.

“It’s almost like we have a family out here,” De’Shawn Ballard said. “We always try to help each other in practice.”

This family has been running and jumping their way to a lot of success. In the recent USA Track and Field North Carolina Junior Olympic Championships the team brought home five state titles. Success like that only comes one way.

“Practice, practice and practice.” Xavier Terrell said.

The club is keeping to that motto as they prepare for the Region Three Junior Olympics in Greensboro. Saying you are representing your team in regionals is nice, winning in regionals is even better.

“I want to go to Nationals,” Keyana Yeoman said. “I want to go far. I believe that I can with all the hard work that I’ve been putting forward.”

Head Coach of the club Roderick Bell says being part of this track team is great for these athletes, some of them as young as 5 years old. He says track keeps them off the streets and builds them as people.

So if you’re a sports fan who may overlook track, this team will be running into view to represent their city.

“Knowing that we’re from the small town Port City of Wilmington, however we can compete on that big stage,” Bell said. “If you just look at the five state championships that we brought back last week, it’s easy to see.”

If you’d like to help donate to this team, feel free to contact Coach Bell at pctc13@gmail.com, or you can donate through paypal by: pctc13@gmail.com.
You can follow Port City Track club on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/portcity.trackclub or Instagram at Port City Track Club.