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Regional dominates to capture 3A zones banner

After a very competitive St. Paul Athletics Association (SPAA) competition between the St. Paul area schools, the Regional track also played host to the Northeast Zones Track and Field competition on May 25. St.
Liam Krys was one of the St. Paul Regional Saints that brought their efforts to the home track field last week for the zones competition, in which the school captured the 3A
Liam Krys was one of the St. Paul Regional Saints that brought their efforts to the home track field last week for the zones competition, in which the school captured the 3A zones banner.

After a very competitive St. Paul Athletics Association (SPAA) competition between the St. Paul area schools, the Regional track also played host to the Northeast Zones Track and Field competition on May 25.

St. Paul Regional had another strong showing amongst the fierce competition, coming out with the 3A Zone Banner. Coach Brandon Strocki was proud of this team and the strong performance they put on.

“We had a really good day. We have 20 different athletes advancing to provincials with many of them competing in multiple events.”

Regional always aims to grab the Zones banner, and this year they did it in dominating fashion.

“Our goal is to win Zones, and to do it this year with almost double our opponent’s points (1,111 points to Cold Lake High School’s 613) is a great reflection of the athletes we have in this school,” said the coach.

Mallaig School’s Mienna Starosielski has been a household name in the track and field competitions over the last six years, as her athleticism has allowed her to claim many records at the SPAA and Zone level throughout the years.

Starosielski has also competed with the NEAT team, being mentored by five-time All-American medium distance runner Beata Swiegocka, who was cheering her on and running with her on the sidelines on the last lap of her 800m event at zones, last week.

On Wednesday, Starosielski chased the record in the 800m event. The time to beat was 2:29.30, and after a strong race, it appeared that she had beaten the record, although it was very close at the line. After an hour of issues with the technology that was used at the event, her time came in.

At an unbelievably close margin, Starosielski missed the record by a one hundredth of a second, coming in with a time of 2:29.31.

“It is obviously frustrating to have missed the 800 meter record . . . Even more frustrating is that the record has stood for 34 years, and knowing I have a best time of 2:23.32, I knew breaking the record was definitely attainable,” said Starosielski after the race. “Overall, I was pleased with my performance since I made a personal best in the 400 meter. I’m just really looking forward to competing at provincials.”

Glendon School had a strong day too, narrowly missing the 1A Zones banner by only a handful of points. St Mary’s of Vegreville came out on top in the 2A division, but the school had over 30 athletes competing at the event, compared to Glendon’s 20.

Coach Daryn Galatiuk was disappointed by the narrow loss due to a numbers game, but was very proud of his athletes’ performance.

“We came out with 11 events heading to provincials, as well as 12 pole vaulters, so although we missed the zones banner, things look good heading into provincials.”

This year’s provincial competition takes place in Edmonton, which brought a sigh of relief for many of the schools as last year’s competition was in Lethbridge, making for a long drive.

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