Track and field provincials saw local schools and students shine, as Glendon School captured the 1A track and field banner for the eighth time in a row, St. Paul Regional High School came in second among 3A schools and several students had podium finishes, with one athlete bringing home gold.
A total of 11 athletes and one para athlete competed to help Glendon School collect a first place among 1A schools with 158 points, with the next closest 1A school being Eckville with 85 points. Coach Daryn Galatiuk said for the school to place in the top 20 of all schools, at #18, was “pretty cool,” particularly with only 55 kids eligible to compete in high school.
“Any time as a small school you medal, it’s incredible,” he said, noting the school had four students bring home medals and another four fourth place finishes. “I was ecstatic.”
In men’s senior pole vault, Carson Doonanco received a silver medal for making a 3.15 m. jump, while Brett Foley nabbed a bronze, making a 2.60 m jump in the men’s junior pole vault category. Among female athletes, Paxton Gamblin and Karlee Voltner joined with Father Mercredi para athletes in a 4 x 100 metre relay unified category, with the group gaining a bronze.
Just coming shy of a medal result with fourth place finishes were Wyatt Doonanco in senior pole vault, Brooke McOuat in shot put, and Brooke Skrypichayko in javelin and discus, but the school’s total points helped them keep the banner streak alive.
“It’s going to end sometime,” noted Galatiuk – but until then, the athletes will enjoy the continuing taste of success.
The desire to do well and surpass past benchmarks is a driver for track and field athletes, and it was no different for past medalists and Regional athletes Courtney Hebert and Matthew Hawiuk.
“Being our Grade 12 year, both of us had pretty high expectations,” said Hebert, of the pair’s trips to provincials, noting that in the past two years, she had won gold in the long jump category before and had set her sights on excelling this year as well.
Twenty-two Saints advanced to the provincial competition, competing in 31 events, with Hebert getting bronze in senior long jump with a jump of 4.88 m, and a bronze in the triple jump category (10.51 m). At the time, she was disappointed not to have done better, but said, “I’m still happy to have medaled, especially in both events.”
Hawiuk, who captured bronze in long jump last year, was also hoping for better. In early rounds, he faulted on his first two jumps, but managed to pull out a good jump in his third attempt to advance to the top eight, where everyone jumped again three more times. On his third time, he made a 6.55 metre jump, shy of his personal best of 6.94, but good enough to claim the gold in his very last jump as a high school athlete.
“It feels really good, just because I’ve been striving for it for the last two years – just to get it on the last possible time, in Grade 12 feels pretty good,” he said.
While some may be hanging up their track and field competition shoes following provincials, Hawiuk and Hebert note they’re lucky, as they will continue to compete with the Grant McEwan and University of Alberta teams respectively.
“Speaking for myself, this is one of my favourite sports and it’ll be fun to continue it at the post-secondary level,” she said.
St. Paul Regional High School coach Hank Smid was pleased with his students’ efforts and for the medal finishes, noting, “Those are two huge highlights for us for the weekend.”
He noted that once the school saw the entries, it was clear 3A competitor Cochrane would be tough to beat, with 35 athletes competing in 55 events. Cochrane would collect just over 300 points, 130 points more than St. Paul.
“Regardless, we were very happy with what our team achieved,” said Smid, as he noted that the school had athletes come just shy of medals at fourth, sixth and seventh place finishes. Saints athletes also came out with personal and season bests, “and even if they didn’t, we knew they tried their best. We’re proud of each of them.”
One more athlete brought home a medal as Ecole Mallaig’s Samantha Weinmeier collected a bronze in the javelin throw 500 g intermediate category.
