Boca Christian Baseball Team To Race In Annual 5K Torch Run

Boca Raton Christian will host it’s fifth annual 5K Torch Run Event on Saturday, January 21st at 7 A.M.

Boca Raton Christian High School students will come together Jan. 21 to walk or run in the school’s fifth annual Torch Run in partnership with Boca Helping Hands.

For the first time in the history of the event, the Blazers baseball team has volunteered to run as a team in support of this positive cause. The idea was first suggested by the Blazers’ new head coach, Clint Erickson, who has run the 3.2 mile race twice.

Players will be sponsored by family and friends, and the team intends to run together as a group. Blazers assistant coach Todd Hart also has volunteered to run with the team.

“We will keep a pace we all can handle together, show team unity and not let any one player fall behind from our team,” Erickson said. “We are excited about reaching out to the community while we represent our team and run together.”

This family event, which is sponsored by iCruise.com, helps to raise funds and goods for the local outreach program Boca Helping Hands. BHH is a community-based organization that was formed in 1998 by a group of local religious congregations. Boca Christian also will hold a food drive throughout the week leading up to the race and will store all of the donated food items in a massive container that will be present at the race in the hope of it being filled to capacity.

“It’s a huge container that will require a forklift to move,” Erickson said. “So the students have quite a challenge to try and fill it up this week.”

All race participants will be entered into a drawing for a three-night Bahamas cruise, and there also will be a school-wide contest for grades K3 through 12 in which the class with the highest percentage of participating families in the event wins a pizza party. Athletes also will be treated to breakfast after the race.

For the Blazers baseball team, a young group consisting of primarily of freshmen and sophomores, the race will be a great bonding experience.

“We are going to have fun out there,” Blazers junior pitcher and infielder Jonathan Kreh said.

Kreh spent this past winter competing on the school’s soccer team, so he believes he has an extra advantage in being used to running for long stretches.

“We are baseball players, so some guys are nervous about finishing,” he explained. “But we are doing it as a team. Nobody will run ahead, and nobody will fall behind. Our main goal is just to finish, so I guess we will just hold hands and pray through it that we can.”

In preparation of the race, Blazers freshman left fielder/pitcher Robert “Blaize” McSweeney has practiced by running through his neighborhood. So far, his best time for the 3.2-mile distance is 23 minutes and 42 seconds.

“We are all excited to promote awareness for the baseball team,” McSweeney said. “It’s not exactly for baseball activities, but it’s a great way to bond with each other.”

Coach Erickson said the plan is to find a reasonable pace they can all handle together and then just focus on reaching the finish line.

“It helps to have 150 other runners out there with you. It is more encouraging with other people,” Erickson said. “They key is not to get too excited at the beginning and just find your pace.”

The race will begin at 7:15 A.M. near Boca Community Park near the intersections of Crawford Street and Fourth Avenue, with racers running south to Palmetto Park Road before heading west toward the Boca Raton Firehouse and Boca Hospital before circling around to finish at Boca Christian High, which is located at 315 NW 4th Street.

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