When it comes to Alberta high-school track and field, every athlete strives to make it to the provincial competition - to represent their school and compete against the best in the province.
This weekend in Edmonton, the Alberta Schools Athletics Association hosted the 2016 Provincial Championships at Foote Field and one local school once again came out on top.
St. Paul Regional High School, Glendon School, and Mallaig School all had several athletes competing at the event this year and all three achieved impressive results. St. Paul Regional placed second among the best 3A schools in the province, Mallaig School managed to place fourth with a small group of talented athletes, and Glendon School struck gold, winning the 1A provincial banner by a large margin.
Glendon School dominated the weekend as the group amassed 173.5 points, doubling their opponents in second place who totaled 81 points.
Pole-vaulting was a big part of their win this year, with 12 athletes competing in the event, along with competing in other events too. Glendon School started its pole-vaulting program last year, and interest in the high intensity sport has increased among students.
Coach Daryn Galatiuk says the kids are learning quickly, and for many of them, it was only their second year trying out the event, and athletes did very well.
“It takes a different mindset to be a pole vaulter. I’d compare it to being a goaltender in hockey. You have to be a little bit crazy to try it and keep doing it. We had kids that tried pole and said, ‘No way I’m doing that’ and some kids loved it,” said Galatiuk.
Glendon’s athletes that placed in the top 10 in their category are as follows:
Karlee Voltner – Bronze – Junior Girls Pole Vault
Carson Doonanco – Gold – Senior Boys Pole Vault
Faith Janz – 6th – Intermediate Girls Pole Vault
Sydney Theroux – 8th – Intermediate Girls Pole Vault
Brooke McOuat – 7th – Senior Girls Shot-put
Savannah Mack – 6th – Shot-put- Junior Girls Shot-put
Blaine Lotsberg – 6th – Shot-put Junior Boys Shot-put
“I’m really proud of our success, and to win our seventh straight provincial title is really special,” said Galatiuk.
Mallaig School also had some strong performances from its athletes as well. Coach Brad Tillapaugh was very proud of the effort put in by their small group.
“I’m really happy with our results and I’m proud of my athletes for working as hard as they did. We did really well.”
Mallaig’s results are as follows:
Samantha Weinmeier – 4th – Intermediate Girls Javelin
Mienna Starosielski – 4th in 800m, and 5th in 400m, Senior Girls
Clay Kwiatkowski – 6th – Intermediate Boys Javelin
Bobbie Osborne – 10th – Junior Girls 3000m
St. Paul Regional High had a very good weekend, placing second among 3A schools. Regional amassed a total of 276.25 points, while Cochrane, the winners of this year’s event, had a total of 353.25.
Although Regional had 20 athletes competing, which was fewer athletes than Cochrane had, the St. Paul school had more total events.
Regional’s top 10 finishing athletes are as follows:
Courtney Hebert – Gold – Intermediate Girls Long Jump
Courtney Cole – Bronze – Intermediate Girls Pentathlon
Matthew Hawiuk – Bronze – Intermediate Boys Long Jump
Christian Laramee – 4th – Junior Boys Long Jump
Kurtlan Hladchuk – 4th – Senior Boys Shot-Put and Senior Boys Javelin
After a second place finish, Regional’s coach Brandon Strocki noted his team’s performance was “awesome” and was proud of their placing below a very strong Cochrane team.
