Rakim Coyle of the Middle Township youth track team recently won the AAU National Championship in the ages 8 and under boys shot put at the competition held in Ann Arbor, Mich. Coyle tossed the shot put 29 feet, 11 inches to defeat 40 of the nation's top regional winners. His throw missed the national record set seven years ago by just one inch.

Coyle's win in the event gave him All-America status. Approximately 7,500 athletes competed at the event.

Two other Middle Township athletes also won medals at the AAU National Championships. John Mooers, 11, won a fifth-place medal in the sub-midget boys discus with a throw of 84 feet, 3 inches. Nadine Coyle, 7, placed eighth in the primary girls 8 and under shot put with a throw of 19-4.

Also competing at the event were Bill Kelly, 15, who placed 30th in the intermediate boys discus throw; Ronald Ernst, 14, who was 21st in the sub-youth boys discus; John Ruskey Jr., 13, who placed 17th in the sub-youth boys discus and javelin. 

You can read more about this story in next week's editions of the Gazette and Leader.