The 2011 Hershey’s local meet had almost 80 athletes, mostly from Rutherford County with the ages between 9 and 14 years old. Several events were contested with the top two finishers from each race earning a trip into the next phase of the season.

“I was extremely pleased with the turnout and the event went well,” Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Athletic Superintendent Thomas Laird said.

The ultimate goal for these athletes is to quality for the North America Final in August at the company’s headquarters in Pennsylvania. However, this past weekend’s local meet was the first step these kids needed to take in order to stay in contention.

Local product Donovan Harkins was one of those participates who earned that trip last year to the North American Final. He finished 11^th in the 11-12 year old 800-meter run, however his finish would have been higher. He ran into some trouble during the race.

“It was fun, but I tripped over somebody during the race,” Harkins said of his performance last week at the national meet.

Overall, he said it was exciting to visit the factory and get a fresh chocolate bar at the end of the tour. He also enjoyed riding the roller coasters at the company’s own theme park and getting a chance to meet new people from all over North America.

Fast forward to Saturday, Harkins was involved in a three-man tussle with Lebanon’s Micah Smart and Smyrna’s Nathan Delk in both the 800- and 1600-meter events in the 13-14 year old age division. Harkins won the 800, and finished second in the 1600. However, the top two spots in each event earned an automatic bid into the district meet at the same location on June 11.

“I think I did pretty well,” Harkins said after he won the 800 in the meet’s first race of the morning. “Everybody else also ran really well.”

In total, Laird said 78 participates took part in the event, including 68 from Rutherford County. Also, thanks to $2,500 grant from the Middle Half, the group was able to buy 58 pairs of shoes. The kids had to make a certain number of practices in order to get a new pair of shoes.

“We wanted to make sure the kids had the right size of shoes,” Laird said. In order to do that, Fleet Feet came by and measured the kid’s feet and also provided the shoes at cost.

Another factor on Saturday was the warm temperatures, after practicing in cool weather during the week.

“I think they handled the weather change really well,” Laird said. “It’s going to get hotter for the later meets.”

The next meet is June 11 at Riverdale for the District meet. Only the winner from each event goes to the state meet later in the month.