Aberdeen Soaring Eagles Track Program Grooms Young Athletes

Madison Whitehurst runs the quarter mile for the Aberdeen Soaring Eagles Track and Field Team.

She’s only 7, but she's determined.

“I'm learning to run correctly and we get to have fun while working hard,” said Whitehurst.

Besides, running is in her blood.

Her mother, Lt. Col. Pamela Whitehurst of the United States Air Force, who is stationed at , ran the 200 meter at her high school in Cleveland, Ohio.

She’s proud of her daughter and grateful for the program sponsored by the Harford County Parks & Recreation department.

“I think she’s going to be awesome and I like any sport where I can bring both of my kids together,” Whitehurst said. “I’ve been very pleased.”

Malcom Whitehurst, Pamela’s son and Madison’s brother also runs.

“I like the track program because we get to do fun things and work out,” Malcom Whitehurst said.

Track and Field is a family affair for many of the young people involved with the Aberdeen Soaring Eagles.

The Soaring Eagles team is designed to introduce young people to Track & Field events. But it also acts as a feeder program for area high schools.

 “Ultimately we would like them to participate in track,” said assistant coach Charles Powell III. “But at this level it’s teaching them the correct form.”

The focus of a recent Monday practice: strides.

Coach Kyree Edwards explained that running with too much back-kick is inefficient.

“It takes constant effort to make sure you are running properly,” Edwards told the team on a warm April afternoon at Aberdeen High School. “When a runner pulls their foot back too far they can lose power and it can really wind up being wasted motion. What I also don’t want to see are strides that look like a marching band.”

The program has 40 young people enrolled so far. But registration is still open. The fee: $60.

“There are families from here, Bel Air, and Havre de Grace,” Edwards said. “We want to get the kids early exposure.”

Meghan Price, whose 12-year-old son D.J. and 15 year-old daughter, Crystal, both run said the program has an even greater value—it builds self-esteem.

“My son and daughter’s grades are drastically improving,” Meghan price said. “They build character before anything else.”

Meghan Price ran track for Indiana University of Pennsylvania and for Coatesville high School. She ran the 4 x 8, the 4 x 12 and she threw the discus and javelin.

“I did the distance stuff,” Meghan Price said. 

Trevor Britt, of Belcamp, whose 14-year-old daughter Taylor is on the team said track & field teaches discipline and confidence.

“Unlike some of the team sports, with track it’s you against the person next to you so it instills the spirit of competition,” Britt said. “Hopefully that transitions into academics and that transitions into life.”