MOUNT PLEASANT, SC - The Mount Pleasant Recreation Department is proud to announce that it will be hosting the annual Hershey’s Track & Field Games State Meet on Saturday, June 6 at the Park West Track. The meet begins at 10 a.m. and is open to the public.

The state meet will host winners from the Lowcountry’s district Hershey’s Track and Field games, which will be held May 16 in West Ashley, along with winners from districts across the state. More than 300 athletes from four districts in South Carolina will compete in the meet.

There will be three age divisions at the meet, ranging from 9-14 years, and events will include the standing long jump, softball throw, 4x100-meter relay and 50-meter through 1600-meter runs. Winners at the state meet will have the chance to compete in the North American Final Meet, held in Hershey, PA in July.

The Mount Pleasant Recreation Department’s Park West Track was host to the local meet of Hershey’s Track and Field Games, which took place March 21. Winners from that meet went on to the district meet. The 2009 event marks the fourth consecutive year that the Mount Pleasant Recreation Department has hosted the state championship.

As the largest youth sports program of its kind in the United States and Canada, the Hershey’s Track & Field Games was created as a community event in 1975 in Charleston, WV. Over the years, it has continued to expand throughout the nation and now includes meets in each of 50 states, the District of Columbia, 10 provinces and 3 territories of Canada. Over 400,000 youth participate in the program annually. The program works to encourage physical fitness in children through running, jumping and throwing.

The Mount Pleasant Recreation Department’s Park West track facility is located at 1251 Park West Boulevard in the Park West division of Mount Pleasant.

For more information, contact MPRD Track Coordinator Jay Rhodes at 856-2196 or visit www.townofmountpleasant.com. For more information on Hershey’s Track & Field Games, visit their website at www.hersheys.com/trackandfield.