It's certainly been a summer to remember for the local track
and field contingent. Over the course of the past few months,
Sudbury and area athletes have been competing at events across
the country, with outstanding achievements and personal bests
seemingly a weekly occurrence.
Of course, I'm using my literary license to expand the scope of
"Greater Sudbury" just slightly west of the city lines as
Espanola phenom Caroline Ehrhardt has been front and center in
terms of putting Northern Ontario on the track and field map in
2008.
While ardent track enthusiasts were certainly aware of the
existence of this avid Grade 10 jumper, few could have
predicted the incredible scope of her accomplishments in the
matter of some six to eight weeks.
Heading into the OFSAA championships in Hamilton as a definite
medal contender, Ehrhardt showed the first glimpses of soaring
to unprecedented heights, literally and figuratively,
completely dominating the field in capturing gold in both the
junior girls long jump and triple jump.
Her newfound confidence came in handy just a few weeks later
when she easily handled the qualifying stage at the Legion
District H Meet, moving her on to provincials in July. In the
meantime, Ehrhardt and coach Jim Taylor opted to have her
participate in her first Senior Nationals, facing not only the
best female triple jumpers in the country, but also women who
were generally at least five to six years her elder.
Heading into the competition that would also serve as the
Canadian Olympic trials, Taylor and Ehrhardt had gazed
optimistically into their crystal ball, looking to a top-eight
finish as a very noteworthy goal, one which would see the Track
North athlete in the open women's triple jump final.
But neither could have predicted the events that would unfold
as Ehrhardt, caught up in the adrenaline that is a national
championship, launched herself 12.41 metres with her opening
jump, a distance that would leave her sitting third as the
final competitors jumped.
She followed the bronze medal performance with silver at the
Canadian Jr championships in both the long jump and triple
jump. She will close out an amazing summer by taking part in
the Legion National championships in Sherbrooke (Quebec) in
August.
While Caroline Ehrhardt has easily been "the story" of the
summer when it comes to local track and field, there have been
a number of very memorable results turned in. Part of the
beauty of individual sports, such as track and field, is that
the goal is often as much about pushing one's personal limits
as it is battling with the remaining competitors.
Not all athletes will have the potential to earn a medal at a
national caliber meet, but all athletes have the ability to
establish personal best jumps and times and throws that will
likely stick with them for years to come.
Following are a few other young athletes who have begun forging
some of the memories:
Serena San Cartier: The younger sister of current Indiana State
sophomore and Lo-Ellen Park track star Natasia San Cartier,
Serena secured the only medal for the SDSSA contingent that
took part in the OFSSA track and field championships. A
soon-to-be Grade 11 student at the south end school, San
Cartier returned from Hamilton with a Bronze medal, narrowly
missing out on Silver by just 2/100th of a second in the Jr
Girls 80m hurdles.
Ben Charbonneau: Now graduated from College Notre-Dame,
Charbonneau encountered a somewhat bittersweet experience as he
returned for a second straight appearance at the Canadian Jr
track and field championships in Abbotsford (B.C.). While his
best throw in the javelin this July (56.32 metres) was slightly
better than his top throw last year (56.20), the result left
him sitting 6th in the country after finishing fourth in 2007.
Andre Pelland: Another dedicated track athlete who has
continued his training despite moving on from the secondary
school ranks, the former Macdonald-Cartier Panther came ever so
close to breaking through the elusive 50-second plateau,
joining Charbonneau and Ehrhardt competing out West. Pelland
worked his way through to the "B" final of the 400m dash,
crossing the line in 50.08 seconds.
Benoit Bizier: There is something to be said for even-figured
elusive goals to strive for. In the case of this CND Alouettes
senior middle distance runner, it's the 2:00.00 flat mark in
the 800m race that keeps Bizier motivated through all of the
training sessions alongside Track North coach Darren Jermyn.
Bizier posted a personal best time of 2:00.15 at the OTFA
Supermeet in Ottawa in early June and should be pushed by the
competition when he joins Ehrhardt in Sherbrooke for Legion
Nationals.
In fairness, this only catches a small sampling of the
incredible track summer of 2008 - Madeleine Woods, Eric Roque,
Grace Thomson, Alannah MacLean, Kyle Beaudry, Jeremy Cooper,
Joe Burke and, of course, world age-group triathlon champion
Michael Hay, remain among those athletes whose accomplishments
we celebrate.
Accomplishments which will continue to put Sudbury on the map
at events far and wide.
Randy Pascal is the voice of Persona 10 Sports and the founder of SudburySports.com.
