Nathan Merena Qualifies for 2015 Hershey National Championships

This Saturday March 14, Nathan Merena, 8, of Pennsburg, may, unknowingly, become one of the best young track and field athletes in Upper Perk history. On Saturday afternoon February 21, 2015, Nathan qualified for his second consecutive trip to the prestigious 2015 USATF (USA Track & Field) Indoor Youth Championships, generally the finale for club winter track competition in the United States.

This year’s meet is being sponsored by Hershey. The top six athletes in each event by gender and age group qualified from one of six zone (regional) championships held throughout the United States. This weekend’s March 13-15 national championships are being held in Landover, Maryland at the Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex situated adjacent to the Washington Redskins football stadium, FedExField.

In the February qualifier at Houghton College, NY, Nathan placed second in the boy’s 8-and-Under 2 kg (4.4 pound) shot put and long jump with marks of 4.49 (14’ 8.75”) and 3.11 meters (10’ 1.25”), respectively. He also ran the 55 meter dash in 10.23 seconds (12th).

Last summer in Pennsylvania's Olympics, the Keystone State Games (KSG), Nathan was the youngest top finisher in the 8-and-Under 100 meter dash (8th), long jump (2nd) and shot put. Earlier this winter on January 4, Nathan won the Park Slope Armory long jump competition hosted by the Brooklyn YMCA with a then personal best (PR) leap of 2.99 meters (9’ 9 ¾”). Nathan has also previously qualified for the biennial State Games of America National Championship in summer track and field to be held August 1-2, Lincoln, Nebraska.

Nathan celebrates his 8th birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Nathan :o)