The 57th Lehighton Booster Club Track and Field day took place for the first time on the brand-new artificial turf of the Lehighton stadiumrecently.

Under cloudy skies over 184 students ranging from ages 6 to 14 competed in more than 18 events, including shot put, discus and 1600 meter dash, around the freshly constructed track.Students were divided into four teams, Army, Navy, Oklahoma and Notre Dame.This year Army was the overall winner for the girls team, taking 110 points while Notre Dame boys won with 101 points.The fastest 6-year-olds for the sprint medley relay was the Army team with Ella Sittler, Brionna White, Abigail Rynd and Sierra Scheirer who completed the track in just over a minute. Notre Dame's Jack Lucykanish, Kai Salles, Cameron Fisher and August Hertweck, won the relay by crossing the finish line in one minute and 22 seconds.Cale Kresge, director of the track and field program, said the teams practiced for five weeks before the big meet in the spring season."We do everything the middle schoolers do. Then we have one big track meet," he said.Along with Lehighton Area High School donating time on the new field, Blue Mountain Health set up a volunteer first-aid tent and Chantilly Goods Ice Cream Shoppe of Weissport awarded free sundaes to all the gold-medal winners.The Lehighton Booster Club organization has been serving the youth of Lehighton for the past 56 years. It supports programs for football, basketball, cheering, wrestling, and track and field.For the complete list of winners or more information, visit

www.labcindians.com.