YMCA Holds Punt, Pass and Kick

It wasn’t the Super Bowl or even an NFL combine, but there were plenty of footballs flying and fans cheering last Saturday at Marquez Elementary School, where the Palisades-Malibu YMCA held its first-ever Punt, Pass and Kick competition. More than 90 kids showed up to participate in two age categories’35 in the 8- to 11-year-old division and between 50 and 60 in the 5- to 7-year-old age range. The 8-and-older division began with an introductory clinic at 11 a.m., with events beginning at 11:30. The 5-7 division followed with its own clinic, events kicking off at 2 p.m. Kids competed in the 40-yard dash, a passing contest, a kick-off contest and, for the older division, a punting competition. “I was surprised we had that many kids participate,” event organizer Zach Stone said. “We have a lot of kids in the program but the turnout was still more than I expected.” Ribbons were awarded to the top three finishers in each age division. In the kick-off competition, Benjamin Jacobs won the 8-year-olds division with a boot of 33 yards, followed by Cole Aragon (28 yards) and Carlo Morelli (18 yards). Competition was close in the 9-year-old age group, where Andrew Lehropff took first with a kick of 21 yards, Jason Simon was second at 20 yards and Joe Levin came in third with a distance of 19 yards. In the 10-11 age bracket, Bryce Sexton was first with a kick of 27 yards, followed by Christian Sanchez (24 yards) and Parker Schoop (23 yards). The pass competition consisted of five throws at targets set up anywhere from 8 to 209 yards away. In the 7-8 group, Lachlan Combs won with 12 points, Wyatt Loncar was second with six points and Cole Aragon, Benjamin Jacobs and Jack Nordstrom tied for third with four points each. Brandon Pierpoint scored 16 points to win the 9-year-old division, followed by Alex Reiner (12 points) and Max Chorin (8 points). In the 10-11 group, Joe Levin and Cole Feldman tied for first place with 12 points apiece, Bryce Sexton was second with 10 and Parker Schoop was third with four points. In the 10-11-year-olds’ 40-yard dash, Elise Sanchez won in 6.41 seconds, followed by Nicholas Steele (6.97) and Christian Sanchez (7.25).