A local track team has brought back top awards from a national competition at Harvard University in Boston.

BY ASHLEY CALLOWAY

Special to The Miami Herald

Wherever Miami Gardens Express runs, it leaves broken records in its path.

The track team, formerly known as the North Dade Track Club, took five boys to Harvard University to compete in the 2008 AAU Northeast Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship.

Led by coaches Corvin Lamb Sr. and Darius Lawshea, Miami Gardens Express placed 12 times in the Amateur Athletic Union competition, breaking seven records and tying one in the process.

''We weren't going there just to win; we were going there to set records in Boston,'' Lawshea said.

The team got closer to that goal with its first race. Ryan Champlin, Marquis Decius, Dawun Hylton and Camrin Lamb, all age 10, started off by breaking the record in the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:55.73.

Marquis and Camrin ran in the 55-meter race, taking first and second place, respectively. Marquis tied the indoor record with a time of 7.95.

A student at Downtown Miami Charter School, Marquis dreams with going to the Junior Olympics. His father, Waldo Decius, likes that the track team motivates his son.

When Marquis' grades began slipping last year, Decius told him he had to improve to run track. Marquis has now been on the Honor Roll for the whole year.

Like Marquis, Justin Brown, 9, also aspires to run in the Junior Olympics. At the competition in Boston, Justin took the gold and broke three records in the 55-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter sub-bantam (under-10) races. His times were 8.28, 29.44 and 1:08.67.

The Parkview Elementary student hopes to accomplish his other goals in the future, such as passing the FCAT.

''`Every time I think he's done his best, he surprises me with more,'' said Marek Brown, Justin's father.

The best is coming out in Justin's teammates, as well. In Boston, Dawun ran in the 400-meter race and set a record time of 1:06.78. Ryan, Marquis, Dawun and Camrin ran against one another in the 200-meter race, taking first, second, third and fourth places, respectively.

Ryan broke the record in that race with a time of 28.59 and broke another in the 800-meter race with 2:37.24. The fourth-grader, who now lives in Kennedale, Texas, joined Miami Gardens Express when his father, Tracy, met Lamb and Lawshea at a competition in Virginia.

Tracy Champlin said he was amazed at the talent he saw on the team and he kept in contact with Lawshea.

''Literally every time they step on a track, whether it is an indoor or an outdoor surface, they are subject to set a new record,'' Champlin said.

The Champlins have never lived in the Miami area, but Ryan competes in every qualifying match with Miami Gardens Express and runs with team members at state and national meets, his father said. Tracy Champlin, an entrepreneur, paid for the children and both coaches to fly to Boston for the championship.

''He believed in the kids, and he always thought they were something special,'' Lawshea said.

For many of the young athletes, it was their first time on a plane or seeing snow. When they arrived in Boston on Feb. 29, the team got into a snowball fight.

The same day, they visited Harvard to look at the indoor track and familiarize themselves with the field.

They practiced for about an hour and then went to their hotel to mentally prepare for the next day's races.

Besides getting the chance to compete, Lamb said the team also received other benefits from attending the competition.

''They were able to go into an environment that's outside of the four corners of the environment that they're from and meet new people, see new things and experience one of the oldest universities in America,'' Lamb said.

The coaches said the squad is now focusing on the Junior Olympic Games that will be held in Detroit in July.

The team, which practices at Miami Carol City and Dr. Michael Kropp high schools, has 150 members. It is hoping to build a website and start an umbrella organization that other teams can compete under.

Lamb would also like Miami Gardens Express to become an international team and compete overseas. The club is looking for sponsors to help financially, he said.

''To travel with the kids is a tremendous financial responsibility,'' Lamb said. ``We definitely need help from the community.''