SPORTS BUZZ: Newark Charter's Timmie Claessens taking it one mile at a time

Timmie Claessens’ long-distance running season last year ended on a high note when he won the 3200 race with an 18-second personal best time of 9:19.73 at the Meet of Champions.“It gave me a little boost and gave me confidence to what I could do and motivated me to work even harder in the summer,” said Claessens, a student at Newark Charter School. “And coming off a good summer of training always feels good.”Claessens’ senior cross-country season got off to a great start when he won the team’s first 5k meet at the White Clay Creek Classic on Sept. 11. He followed that up a week later with a second-place finish at the Spartan Moonlight Classic. In October, Claessens’ performances started to dip. He placed third at the Manhattan Cross-Country Invitational and fifth at the Joe O’Neill Invitational.“At that point. I wasn’t feeling too great,” Claessens reflected.

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