Kent Boy Headed to Hershey's Track & Field Games

A Kent boy is headed to yet another prestigious youth sports competition.

Grant Kersh, who in the the NFL's Punt, Pass & Kick contest in January, is headed to the Hershey's Track & Field Games in Hershey, PA, this Saturday. The games are sponsored by chocolate maker The Hershey Company and will bring together 400 of North America's best young track and field athletes.

Grant, 12, is no stranger to the competition. He competed in the track and field games, held at the Milton Hershey School, in 2009.

"We're not sure how he keeps getting so far in his competitions, but he does love competing in sports," Grant's mom, Jodi, said. "Grant is a quarterback for the Seton Crusaders and catcher for the Summit County Buzzsaws, so he has a pretty strong arm for his age."

In 2009, Grant won first in the softball throw at the national competition in Hershey.

To qualify for Saturday's games, Kersh placed first in a softball throw competition held recently in Kent and again at the state-level competition held in Columbus. He also had the best distance in the Great Lakes region of the United States and Ontario, Canada.

Kersh will have the company of four other Ohio athletes when he competes in the games Saturday.

A seventh-grade student at , Kersh is on the track team and plays baseball there. The young athlete also plays baseball for the Summit County Buzzsaws and football for the Seton Crusaders.

"He does envision a career in sports, at least at the collegiate level," Jodi Kersh said. "He hopes to play either football or baseball in college.  His favorite college football team is Stanford, but he also loves the Kent State Golden Flashes and watches most home games there."