LAMONT, Calif. (KERO) — Fast Track Lamont is a cross-country team founded by Carl Hatley, who created the club while teaching at Lamont Elementary School.
- Lamont's cross-country team 'Fast Track' was founded in 2007 by Carl Hatley.
- The team includes students from Lamont Elementary School District and Arvin High School.
- Fast Track recently competed in the Cross Country Nationals in North Carolina.
- The team secured several titles, including second place in the 15-18 boys division.
- The next event 'Are you faster than a 5th grader' is scheduled for February or March.
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BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Fast Track Lamont has been competing in the Cross Country Nationals since 2007. Now in 2024, they are making headlines on the national level. And over the years, Coach Carl Hatley says the team has been growing and leaving a legacy.
Fast Track Lamont is a cross-country team founded by Carl Hatley, who’s currently a coach at Arvin High School.
In his first year, he says only one student qualified for nationals, but over the years, he says the club grew and so did the number of kids competing and remaining loyal to the sport.
"A lot of the kids that I have on my team at Arvin High and now in Fast Track Lamont which is a club, I’ve coached since they were little kids maybe first—second grade," said Hatley.
One of those kids is Bryan Cisneros who joined the club since he was in the 5th grade.
"I was racing kids in the quad and then some kids were like, ‘You’re pretty fast, you should join cross country and at the moment I had just come from Mexico," said Cisneros. "I decided to go, show up and try it out."
Now a junior at Arvin High School, Cisneros says the club has become almost like a family to him.
"You make friends everywhere, you go to a meet and you’re like, ‘What is your race, what’s your time?'" said Cisneros.
In addition to giving students a space to make friendships, Hatley says the club gives youth in the community the opportunity to travel to different parts of the world by competing in the Cross Country Nationals.
This year the nationals took place in North Carolina and the team brought back several titles including second place for the 15-18-year-old boys division.
"I just love to see the kids, it doesn’t matter if they’re medalists, I just love to see them improve as they work hard," stated Hatley.
Fast Track Lamont’s next race “Are you faster than a 5th grader” is scheduled for sometime between February and March.
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