New National Youth Girl Race Walk Champion

CHARLOTTE, NC (June 24, 2008) – Today is opening day for the 2008 USA Youth Outdoor Track & Field Championship, June 24-29, at the University of North Carolina - Charlotte in Charlotte, N.C. The Championships are a national competition with entry based upon qualifying standards for each event and has the same age divisions as the USATF Junior Olympic Program: Bantam (10 and under), Midget (11-12), Youth (13-14), Intermediate (15-16) and Young Women/Men (17-18).

Lila Haba, age 12, finished almost two minutes in front of the second place race walker in the Youth Girls 3000m Race Walk.  More amazing, her personal best time of 17:17.33 was also better the older Intermediate age division winner over the same distance.

Haba is a member of the Umoja Track Club, based in Santa Clara, CA, and guided by race walk coach Kenny Cleveland and technique coaches Art and Becky Klein.  The Umoja Track Club, a non-profit organization, was established in 2000 to provide a supervised after school program of training and competition in Track and Field for children ages 6 to 18.  The Umoja Track Club has been a Pacific Association member of the USA Track and Field Association (USATF) for eight years.  It is the goal of the Umoja Track Club to provide a meaningful learning and character-building environment to promote self-esteem, personal commitment, responsibility, and respect for others.  Furthermore, the Umoja Track Club has a strong commitment to getting kids more physically active; to getting kids involved in the teamwork of sport; and to having real, positive and measurable impact.  For more information about the Umoja Track Club, visit our Web site at www.umojatrackclub.com.