BY SCOTT
HADDOW
Not only did Sudbury high school athletes have to battle each
other at the 66th city high school track and field
championships last week, they had to deal with Mother Nature,
who was packing a harsh one-two punch.
Scorching heat kept the competitors sweating while standing
still, as the mercury hit 30 degrees during the two-day event
at the Laurentian Track.
A wicked wind came along as well and did its best to disrupt
the normal flow of things, whipping up small grains of sand
into the mouths and eyes of the athletes throughout both
days.
Despite the conditions, the almost 600 young athletes still put
forth their best as gold medals were at stake, and more
importantly, coveted trips to the Northern Ontario Secondary
School Association (NOSSA) Championships were also up for
grabs.
Lo-Ellen Park, and their army of 113 participants, again
dominated the event, finishing with a total of 1,063 points,
believed to be one of the highest total scores ever
compiled.
Lockerby was a distant second with 537 points.
Lo-Ellen claimed the overall aggregate title as well as the
boys' and girls' city banners.
Winners and top finishers will now move onto the NOSSA
Championships which will be contested in North Bay
Thursday and Friday.
A small contingent of athletes earned triple gold medals.
Lo-Ellen's Natasia and Serena SanCartier, Ross Proudfoot and
Stephane Jacques all scored the hat trick with three gold
medals apiece.
Natasia was tops in senior girls' 100-metre hurdles, 400-m
hurdles and 400-m run. Serena finished first in midget girls'
200-m, 80-m hurdles and 300-m hurdles. Proudfoot was first in
midget boys' 800-m, 1,500-m and 3,000-m. Jacques was first in
junior boys' 1,500-m, 3,000-m and the 2,000-m steeplechase.
Champlain's Julie Hebert was tops in junior girls' shot-put,
discus and javelin.
Proudfoot was overwhelmed winning three events.
"It feels really good to qualify for NOSSA and get the chance
to compete at an even higher level," said the 14-year-old. "It
shows me all my hard work and time is paying off. I'm hoping
for more of the same at NOSSA."
Serena SanCartier set new city records for the midget girls'
80-m hurdles (12.81) and the 300-m (48.95).
"I didn't expect to do that well," said the Grade 9 student.
"I'll take it. Records are nice to set. It shows I'm doing
something right. It was really exciting to win three events and
move onto NOSSA. All the training was definitely worth it. I'll
do my own thing at NOSSA and see what happens."
Lasalle's Phillip Wood won the senior boys' long jump after a
heated battle with teammate Jerry Kitenge. Wood's best was 6.12
metres, while Kitenge managed 6.00 metres.
"It's a real big confidence booster for me heading into NOSSA,"
said Wood. "I had to really work on my form and there's still
work to be done. I wanted to win the city title...I had high
expectations. I did my best and it was good enough. I'm looking
to do a personal best jump at NOSSA and move onto OFSAA...it
will be tough."
Lo-Ellen's Josh Haslam showed his awesome strength by taking
gold in the junior boys' shot put and discus.
"It means a lot to win....especially the shot put because I
didn't compete in it last year," said Haslam. "I didn't think I
would do so well in shot-put because I have never thrown it
that far in practice. I tried really hard to win and I did.
It's a big deal to go to NOSSA. There will be even better competition and I'm looking forward to the challenge."
Lo-Ellen's Greg Lakanen was one of many athletes who set new
city records. He set his in senior boys' high jump with a leap
of 3.24-metres. The old record was 3.16-m.
"I won this event last year and tried for the record but came
up short," said the 17-year-old. "This year I wanted to come
out stronger and get my name in the record books. It feels
great. I practiced a lot and helped coach, so that helped me a
lot. I've never won at NOSSA and I've been there several times
and came in second in my events. I hope this is my year and I
win NOSSA."
Lo-Ellen's Rebecca Johnston took first place in the senior
girls' 100-m and 200-m. Sacre-Coeur's Celine Loyer, Johnston's
top rival, was second in both races.
"This was my last city championships, so it meant a lot for me
to win my events," said Johnston. "It was amazing to qualify
for NOSSA again. I'm looking to keep winning there and set new
personal best times. Overall, my last year was special and I
had a lot of fun over the years."
Lo-Ellen's Renee Jacques, who won the senior girls' 3000-m
race, was glad to be part of her team's powerful showing at the
meet.
"It's great how our school did," said the Grade 12 student.
"Our coach Colin Ward puts in a lot of time with everyone, so
it's nice the team gave him and the other coaches something
back to reward his efforts with us."
In the other marquee event, the senior boys' 100-m dash,
Notre-Dame's Eric Roque earned first place.
"It feels really good to win...I just came in and ran as fast
as I could," said Roque. "I wanted to win really bad. "
Full results of all winners can be seen at
www.rainbowschools.ca/sdssaa/
Follow track and field results link.
