Doran Bennett is shown here competing in the long jump at the Indiana Junior Olympic Championships held last month in North Manchester.
Submitted photo
MCCORDSVILLE — Doran Bennett was winning races and events at the YMCA level, but parents Tony and Mia Bennett didn’t truly know how good their 8-year old son was at running and jumping.
“We knew he was good. We knew he was strong, but we did not anticipate where this would go,” Mia said.
The answer is California.
The McCordsville family, Mia said, has been on a “wild ride” this summer following Doran’s track and field successes.
Doran, who just turned eight years old, has gone from winning local races to becoming a state and regional champion. He is now preparing to compete at the USA Track and Field Junior Olympic National Championships in Sacramento, Calif.
It’s an exciting time for me,” Doran said. “I like long jump (the best).”
In mid-June, he won a USATF Junior Olympic age-group state title in the long jump (10-feet, 2 4/5-inches), earned a runner-up finish in the 400-meter dash (1:24.82) and a third-place spot in the 200 (36.13 seconds).
The soon-to-be third-grader at Fortville Elementary School qualified in all three events for the USATF Region 7 Junior Olympic Championships earlier this month in Crawfordsville. The meet included the top competitors from Indiana and Illinois. He won the long jump again (10-1 ¾), placed second in the 400 (1:20.58) and fourth in the 200 (34.95 seconds), earning spots in all events at the national championships next week in Sacramento, Calif.
As excited as the family was for Doran’s accomplishments, they weren’t sure how they could pull off a trip across the country. Mia said the quick two-week turnaround from the regional to the national meet was going to provide quite a challenge.
Doran’s coach Jennifer Polk created a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for the week-long stay in California. They set a goal for $2,000. It was more than met. As of Wednesday, they had received $2,635 from 76 donations.
“Doran has a love for track and field, natural athletic ability and a determination to do his best,” Coach Polk said on the GoFundMe page.
“I would have never in a million years dreamed he’d get as much support as he did from our entire community. It was absolutely amazing,” Mia said of the generosity.
With Doran being part of a travel baseball team, Mia said she was aware of people sponsoring youth sports, but thought that was usually just for teams and not for an individual.
“I thought, ‘No one is going to sponsor a single kid to go compete,’” she said. “Our community is amazing.”
The family moved to the area in 2019. Doran began being active in a Fishers YMCA track and field program, coached by Polk, at the age of four.
“We went into this blindly,” Mia said. “We were going to follow Doran’s lead and see what happens. He went from competing in the top (YMCA events), then it sanctioned off to more competitive teams in the Indiana Youth Track and Field Association (IYTA) and he was still ranking in the Top 3.
“It seemed like a no-brainer when they asked if he wanted to compete in the USATF Indiana meet and see where he goes. State, regional and now here we are.”
Competing in both track and field and baseball, Doran has been a busy youngster this summer.
Track and field is currently his favorite. He has high goals for the upcoming races to be held at Sacramento State University.
“I want to bring home the gold medal,” Doran said.
He’d also like to eventually get a national age-group record in the long jump. The current mark is 14-feet. Since he just turned 8-years old, he has an entire year to work on it.
The McCordsville youngster has even bigger goals for down the road.
“I want to go to the Olympics and be a world champion,” Doran said.
He begins competition Wednesday in the 200 trials. The semifinals will be on Thursday. First round races in the 400 are set for Friday, while the entire long jump event takes place on Saturday, along with the 200 finals. The 400 finals are scheduled for Sunday.
The week begins with participation in an Olympic-style opening ceremony.
“It almost seemed effortless,” Mia said of watching Doran run and jump. “He loves to run and he is so humble about it. He just goes and races. For him, it’s not ‘I am going to win.’ He like to runs and he wants to beat his old time. After the race he’s always asking ‘Did I set a personal record?’”
