Young athletes representing 20 local junior high and middle schools are training to compete at the 76th Annual Harold Pope Junior Relays. The event will be staged on Saturday, May 10 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Modesto Junior College Track and Field, 435 College Ave., Modesto. The public is invited to attend, and admission and parking are free. The event is sponsored by the Stanislaus County Office of Education (SCOE), the Education Foundation of Stanislaus County, and Sutter Health.

The Junior Relays include a variety of track and field events. Schools participating this year include: Cardozo Middle School, Creekside, Dutcher, Glick, Hanshaw, Hart-Ransom, Hickman, Knights Ferry, La Loma, Modesto Christian, Mountain View, Oakdale Junior High, Our Lady of Fatima, Prescott, Ross, Somerset, Spratling, Turlock, Waterford, and Yolo.

The following track and field events are slated for the competition:

Track Events – Hurdles, 400-meter relay, 1600-meter run, 400-meter dash, 100-meter dash, 800-meter run, 200-meter dash, 1600-meter relay.

Field Events – Running long jump, running high jump, triple jump, shot put, discus.

The annual Harold Pope Junior Relays are dedicated to the memory of Harold Pope (Oct. 24, 1932 – Oct. 31, 2016). The Junior Relays was renamed the Harold Pope Junior Relays in 2000 in honor of his 47 years of coaching, mentoring, and teaching youth in Stanislaus County. Harold was a principal, superintendent, coach, bus driver, motivator, and teacher in Valley Home.