Durham fifth-grader Coleman Mitchell Jr. finished 2010 by adding a national cross country championship to his accomplishments.
A Creekside Elementary School student and member of the Durham-based Triangle Champions Track Club, Mitchell won the Bantam (age 10 and younger) Boys Division at the USA Track & Field National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships on Dec. 11 at Veterans Park in Hoover, Ala.
He covered the 3K course in 11 minutes, 14 seconds to win by seven seconds, a victory margin that might have produced as much relief as celebration for the young champion after some stressful anticipation.

With more than 10,000 youth swimmers on 78 teams this summer, the Tarheel Swimming Association long ago outgrew any single season-ending championship meet.

These days, four meets give the recreational summer league's swimmers a chance to experience a multi-team, championship-meet atmosphere.

Although the four meets being held this weekend and next in Raleigh and Cary are conducted by Wake County club teams and not the Tarheel Swimming Association, TSA teams are the invited participants.

The Triangle 18 Black team won the Black Division for ages 16-18 at
the Mid-Atlantic Power League volleyball tournament played Saturday and
Sunday at the Raleigh Convention Center.

The Pennsylvania Volleyball Academy 18s team was second in the
tournament, which consisted of 48 elite-level Junior Olympic girls
teams in each of two age divisions.

The Blue Division (ages 13-15) title went to the Carolina Juniors Volleyball 15 Blaze of Charlotte.

The Triangle Volleyball Club is going for a world record.

Club athletes, staff and participants in next month's Mid-Atlantic
Power League tournament will attempt to win a place among the Guinness
World Records for the number of consecutive volleyball passes, said
Sherry Fadool, associate director of the Morrisville-based Triangle
Volleyball Club.

The record attempt will take place at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5 at the Raleigh
Convention Center as a prelude to the Mid-Atlantic Power League’s Feb.
6-7 MAPL Raleigh 2010 tournament at the convention center.

A talented young sprinter from Raleigh has been chosen to receive a big honor from USA Track & Field.

Bryce Love, who runs for the Carolina Elite Track Club, is the 2009 Youth Athlete of the Year by USA Track & Field's Youth Committee.

This summer, he became the first Midget Boys Division runner to set
three national records in one year. (Check out his times below.)