Amy Connelly would make a great role model for Madison Soulliere.
Connelly, an OFSAA bronze medal winner in 2017 and current junior girls high jump record holder in the city, will need to wait until Day 2 of the 2019 SDSSAA Track and Field Championships, being held at Laurentian University, to take a crack at the senior mark of 1.55 metres, held by Helena Havlovic (Lo-Ellen - 2015).
In the meantime, the ultra-talented senior at Confederation Secondary - Connelly is also targetting a potential post-secondary career in varsity volleyball once she leaves the home of the Chargers - garnered her first medal of the season, earning gold in the triple jump with a leap of 9.92 metres.
"My event is high jump," Connelly said Wednesday. "I do the other jumps just for fun. I still like them, but they're not my main focus."
Still, she would have enough focus on Wednesday at the Laurentian University track to earn a six-centimetre victory over Mani Cuza of Sudbury Secondary.
Only time will tell if the records that Connelly establishes will remain in place for long. While it was Eili Kleppe (Lockerby - 2009) that she would unseat, Madison Soulliere served notice that she could be right there on the heels of Connelly, capturing first place in the midget girls high jump by clearing the bar at 1.48 metres, just one centimetre better than the record that stood for a decade.
"I used to do long jump, used to be really good at long jump, but then in Grade 7, I started doing high jump at Mac Jack (Macdonald-Cartier)," noted the 14-year-old Grade 9 student at École secondaire catholique Champlain.
"I've done gymnastics and it seems to help my high jump, because the back arch is so much easier. At the beginning of practice for high jump, I always do a couple of bridges (back arches), stretch out my shoulders, and that always helps."
Joining Soulliere in working their way into the record book on Wednesday were Alison Symington of Lo-Ellen (MG - 800m - 2:24.92), Lauren Fearn of Lo-Ellen (JG - shot put - 11.81m), Adriana Duncan of Confederation (SG - shot put - 10.87m) and Kurtis Wennerstrom of Lo-Ellen (SB - triple jump - 13.61m).
As expected, the Lo-Ellen Park Knights are showing the way in the aggregate team standings, accumulating more than double their nearest rival with 502 points on Day 1. Behind them, however, an intriguing race for second place is being waged, with the Lasalle Lancers (234), Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes (215) and Lockerby Vikings (185.50) all in the mix.
Following is a listing of event winners from Wednesday:
Midget Girls Division
200m dash – Jasmine Savignac (Lasalle) – 28.43
800m – Alison Symington (Lo-Ellen) – 2:24.92
3000m – Avery Sutherland (Lo-Ellen) – 11:21.67
80m hurdles – Jasmine Savignac (Lasalle) – 14.10
High Jump – Madison Soulliere (Champlain) – 1.48m
Pole Vault – Chloe Rodrigue (Notre-Dame) – 1.90m
Discus – Emma Coutu (Notre-Dame) – 22.72m
Midget Boys Division
200m dash – Josh McKay (Lasalle) – 25.13
800m – Patrick Wiss (Lo-Ellen) – 2:16.17
3000m – Ian Mackenzie (Confederation) – 10:21.94
100m hurdles – Ethan Shoup (Lo-Ellen) – 16.34
High Jump – Ryan Rubic (Lively) – 1.69m
Pole Vault – Eli Gerhardt (Lockerby) – 2.40m
Long Jump – Brady Ducharme (Lockerby) – 5.25m
Javelin – Ryan Rubic (Lively) – 31.82m
Junior Girls Division
200m dash – Naomi Palmer (Sacre Coeur) – 27.78
800m – Kalila Bachiu (Lo-Ellen) – 2:28.39
3000m – Kalila Bachiu (Lo-Ellen) – 11:42.69
80m hurdles – Isabel Maki (Lo-Ellen) – 14.15
Long Jump – Chandyn Bachiu (Lo-Ellen) – 4.57m
Shot Put – Lauren Fearn (Lo-Ellen) – 11.81m
Javelin – Lauren Fearn (Lo-Ellen) – 32.36m
Junior Boys Division
200m dash – Devon Savignac (St Charles) – 24.36
800m – Tomasso Deni (St Charles) – 2:20.71
3000m – Austin Mashinter (Lo-Ellen) – 10:18.61
100m hurdles – Bryce Desabrais (Lo-Ellen) – 16.08
Pole Vault – Will Fabbro (Lo-Ellen) – 3.03m
Long Jump – Logan Spicer (Lo-Ellen) – 6.17m
Triple Jump – Brendan Lemay (Notre-Dame) – 11.68m
Shot Put – Matthew Gordon (Champlain) – 11.65m
Senior Girls Division
200m dash – Ariane Saumure (Macdonald-Cartier) – 27.53
800m – Natalie Marks de Chabris (Lo-Ellen) – 2:35.74
3000m – Meredith Kusnierczyk (Lo-Ellen) – 11:42.57
100m hurdles – Fiona Symington (Lo-Ellen) – 17.46
Pole Vault – Hannah Nykilchyk (Lockerby) – 2.60m
Triple Jump – Amy Connelly (Confederation) – 9.92m
Shot Put – Adriana Duncan (Confederation) – 10.87m
Discus – Angelina Lam (Marymount) – 28.07m
4 X 400m relay – Lo-Ellen Park – 4:21.25
Senior Boys Division
200m dash – Zach Mainville (Notre-Dame) – 23.12
800m – Kendyn Mashinter (Lo-Ellen) – 2:04.17
3000m – André Larocque (Notre-Dame) – 9:39.34
110m hurdles – Nick Burke (Lasalle) – 18.92
High Jump – Liam LaPierre (Lasalle) --1.70m
Pole Vault – Justin Watson (Notre-Dame) – 3.15m
Triple Jump – Kurtis Wennerstrom (Lo-Ellen) – 13.61m
Discus – Jacques Mathieu (Notre-Dame) – 34.70m
4 X 400m relay – Lo-Ellen Park – 3:53.34
Randy Pascal is the founder of SudburySports.com and a contributing sports writer for Sudbury.com.
