by Beau Wicker
Pharos-Tribune
— Out of more than 400,000 athletes who competed at a local level in the Hershey Track and Field Games this summer, just 560 advanced to the North American Final in Hershey, Penn.
One of those athletes was Royal Center 10-year-old Maci Morris, who competed in the softball throw. The strong-armed youngster placed sixth in the girls 9-10 division at the North American Final with a throw of 100 feet, 2 inches.
Morris, a fifth grader at Pioneer Elementary School, also excelled in at the Hershey State Games held at Lafayette Jeff High School earlier in the summer, winning the softball throw and both the 50- and 100-meter dashes. She won the softball throw at 103-2, the 50 dash in 8.41 seconds and the 100 in 15.78 seconds.
“Maci is a very energetic 10-year-old who can run like the wind for as little as she is,” said Vicki Ward of the Logansport Parks Department. “All of our coaches, Randy and Dena Kuhn, Tim Wilson and Jeff and Jim Newport, enjoyed watching her progress each week at our practices. It was very exciting having her on our team this year and we look forward to next year.”
Morris is just the third athlete from Cass County to ever compete at the North American Final, joining Jalen Adaway and Jamie Scagnoli.
“It was really fun,” she said. “We went to the chocolate factory and we went to the amusement parks and we just did a lot of stuff. It was good fun.
“It was a really great experience.”
Morris’ grandfather George Vianco had the idea of her competing in the Hershey Track and Field Games this summer.
“We were looking for something for her to do to run, and my dad found this in the paper about Hershey Track and Field,” said Morris’ mother, Linda Morris. “We thought, ‘It’s free to the community and we’ll try it.’ And they were absolutely wonderful. … The Parks Department was just wonderful.
“The softball throw was actually kind of a surprise to both of us. We were at the local Hershey Track and Field practice and when she threw that, the coaches were, ‘Look at this!’ They were all excited.”
Maci’s softball throw at the State Games ranked her first in the eight-state region entering the North American Final.
The trip to Hershey, Penn., for the North American Final was all-expenses paid for Maci.
“Hershey paid for it,” Linda said. “They would’ve picked her up at the door but we wanted to take her to Indianapolis. They flew her out there. There was no expense to us whatsoever for her to go.
“They just treat them like star athletes the whole way around.”
Maci’s favorite sport is track, but she also plays softball, volleyball and basketball.
Her siblings also play sports. Her sister, Riley, is a freshman at Pioneer and plays volleyball, and her brother, Jake, is a sixth grader at Pioneer Elementary and plays football, basketball and baseball.
Maci plans to compete in Hershey Track and Field again next summer, when she will move up in age division, and hopes to make a return trip to the North American Final.
“She wants to go next year and we said, ‘You’ve got to work, you’ve got to practice,’” Linda said.
