Bunnell relay headed to Nationals

Bunnell’s Christ N’Dabian, Jonathan Cineus, Ramsley Exantus and Elijah Henry won the 4x100-meter at the boys Class MM Outdoor Track championships last month. Their blistering time of 42.46 seconds qualified them for the New Balance Nationals Outdoor meet.

There was just one problem.

“We had to figure out how we were going to get there and how people were going to pay for it,” Cineus said Monday. “At first I didn’t think we were going to be able to go.”

Everything in life has a cost. For Cineus and his teammates, a trip to Greensboro, N.C., for the premiere event of high school track was one that seemed destined to be too expensive.

“We saw the cost,” said N’Dabian, who is the lone junior among a relay team of seniors. “We knew we needed to fundraise immediately. We didn’t think we’d be able to do it at first.”

Not wanting to give up on their dream of competing, they sought help from the community. A GoFundMe page titled “Send the Bunnell Boys to Nationals” was created to help cover the costs of travel and lodging for four runners and two coaches this weekend.

The response they received was overwhelming. In 13 days, they’ve raised $3,365 — well over their original goal of $2,500 and enough to make the boys’ dream a reality.

Without the outpouring of support from the community, Bunnell boys outdoor track coach Maurice Scioletti said, “the trip would’ve never happened. The community, they reached into their pockets of generosity. It wasn’t from surplus wealth. It was from the heart.”

Added Henry: “We were astounded. We worked so hard for it.”