By Pete Borello

Five local residents have qualified for the National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships, which start July 24 in Sacramento.

Ben Sitler, Tori Tyler, Nicholas Helgeson and Julian Bibl of Los Altos and McKayla Plank of Mountain View advanced by placing among the top three in their respective running events at the Pacific Association Junior Olympic qualifier. The qualifier was held June 22-24 at Contra Costa College.

Sitler, Tyler, Helgeson and Bibl are all members of the Palo Alto Lightning Track & Field Club, while Plank runs for the West Valley Track Club.

Sitler, competing in the Boys Youth division, qualified in three events. The incoming eighth-grader at Blach Junior High won the 3-kilometer run in a time of 10 minutes, 21.62 seconds. He finished third in the 1,500-meter run (4:37.84) and ran the anchor leg on the second-place 4×800-meter relay team (10:15.41). The relay also featured Blach’s Helgeson and Bibl of Egan Intermediate School.

“The (3-kilometer) is my best event and the one I’m most consistent with,” said Sitler, who prevailed by 50 meters. “I pretty much expected (to win it), but there’s always a chance someone could beat me.”

Tyler won the Girls Youth 1,500-meter run with a 4:59.82. She just missed making the cut in the 800 meter, placing fourth with a 2:30.83.

Tyler, who graduated from Blach in June and is headed to St. Francis High, led in the 800 until the final curve when a competitor bumped her off the track.

Although Tyler was shaken by the controversial bump, she used it as motivation the next day in the 1,500.

“She’s a warrior,” Lightning coach Willie Young said. “She couldn’t wait for her event to start. She came from behind to win it by 30 meters and ran a great race.”

Plank, who recently graduated from St. Simon School, has qualified in two Girls Youth events. She placed second in both the 3-kilometer (11:10.10) and 1,500-meter (5:02.21) runs.

Two other local runners representing the Lightning, Alicia Yanez and Hillary Paine of Egan, missed making the National Junior Olympics. Paine placed fourth and Yanez fifth in the Girls Youth 100-meter dash with times of 12.20 and 12.35, respectively.

The National Junior Olympics are set for July 24-29 at the A.G. Spanos Sports Complex at Sacramento State University. Approximately 6,000 athletes ages 9-18 will be competing.

Sitler has set two goals for the National Junior Olympics.

“Just to have fun and hopefully finish in the top 10,” he said.