VALDOSTA –– It is time to go for the gold.

The Valdosta HYPE Blazers track team is sending five athletes –– Essence Menefee, Robert Russell, Christopher Jones, Valerie Roberts and Braylon Neal –– to the AAU Junior Olympics in Humble, Texas July 31-Aug. 7.

After winning the steeple chase in the team’s regional meet earlier this year, Menefee will compete in the 100-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles at the Junior Olympics. Russell will compete in the long jump and the 400-meter run, Neal will compete in the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter run and Jones will also compete in the 100 and 200-meter events, while Roberts will compete in the 400-meter run.

With the Tokyo Olympics right around the corner, the HYPE Blazers will be well-represented as Gabby Thomas has qualified for the Tokyo Games.

After qualifying to run the 200-meter dash individually, the Harvard graduate was named to the U.S. 4×100 relay team Tuesday. Thomas trained with the HYPE Blazers for two years and achieved a personal record while with the HYPE Blazers.

“It’s amazing,” HYPE Blazers program visionary Creation Divine said of Thomas being selected for Team USA. “I’m really excited to see her hard work pay off. When she was with the program, her work ethic was second to none. It’s rewarding. I’m glad that we’ve had the opportunity to assist and support her and her family and her achieving her goals.”

Locally, the HYPE Blazers will launch a year-round track and field program beginning Aug. 23 and will compete in indoor track meets. The team, led by Divine and head coach Curtis Sutton, has opened a community center and construction on the sports performance wing of the center began this week.

In addition to the establishment of their community center, the HYPE Blazers have also partnered with the Valdosta State Student Recreation Center and Fit Fighters Fitness to help its athletes train for future competitions.

“We are so thankful for our partnership with VSU Campus Rec,” Divine said. “We have been using their swimming pool to add water resistance training to our conditioning regimen twice a week, which has helped us tremendously. We have not had any injuries this season.”

The Valdosta HYPE Blazers compete in their first Junior Olympics event Aug. 2 and will close competition Aug. 7.

HYPE Inc. may be contacted by e-mail at hype@hypesouthga.org or by phone at (229) 234-0808