Hello athletes
Congratulations to all athletes – Rebecca, Amanda, Vienna, Kamila, Paige, Hanna, Erika, Denise, Adrienne, Shaniah, Annika, Molly, Fiona, Jasper, Katy, Alex M, Carson, Cole, Liam, Evan, Thibaut, Andrew, Dawson, Scott, Adeem, Matthew and Thomas – who took time off from their Christmas/New Year’s break to compete in the Dino Classic. Despite the time off from training, you managed to produce some excellent results.
Here are some highlights from the meet:
Evan and Denise were participating in their first meet, and yet managed to compete very well. Denise was 4th of fourteen athletes in the 14 years 60m, finishing in 8.60s, the fastest 60m time recorded by a JD female athlete at the meet. Evan took on the challenging 600m, and ran very well, finishing in 1:43.79s. Well done Evan and Denise!
Of the athletes who competed at the Dino Opener in December and again at this meet, ten athletes managed to better their times from events that they had competed in at both meets, recording a personal best for this (2013-2014 track) year: Erika (60m and 150m), Molly (60m and 150m), Dawson (60m and 150m), Amanda (60m), Adrienne (60m), Carson (60m), Thibaut (150m), Scott (60m), Matthew (60m) and Thomas (60). In addition, veteran and JD captain Cole took just shy of 8 seconds off his 600m personal best from last year, finishing 4th of nine athletes in 1:37.34s. Well done athletes! Not so easy to record a PB after a break from training!
As usual, the coaches were watching for JD athletes who demonstrated good sportsmanship throughout the day and were pleased to note Fiona, Matthew and Alex M shaking the hands of their opponents at the 600m finish; Rebecca shaking the hand of the competitor next to her at the 1500m start; and Denise and Fiona cheering on Molly and Erika at the 60m start. Coach Blair and I also appreciated having Evan come and shake our hands at the end of the meet. We also were grateful for the leadership demonstrated by JD Captain Kamila, who led the warm-up for the 1200m runners.
I could not help but notice that some of the best warm-ups of the day were completed by two of JD’s youngest athletes, Matthew and Thomas, who warmed up thoroughly and without any supervision, for all of their events, but especially the 600m. Well done Matthew and Thomas!
A few more track records fell at this meet, thanks to the efforts of some JD athletes.
- For the second meet in a row, Matthew set a track record, this time in the 12yrs 600m, in which Matthew finished 1st of eight athletes in 1:55.93s, beating the old record by 2.89s. Well done Matthew!
- Both Shaniah and Annika beat the track record in the 14yrs 1200m, where the girls finished less than a second apart in 1st and 2nd place in 4:14.88s and 4:15.75s, respectively, beating the track record by 7.97s and 7.10s. Shaniah is the new record holder in the event. Well done Shaniah and Annika!
- Fiona beat the track record in the 14yrs 600m, finishing 2nd in 1:56.03s, beating the old record by 2.54s. Well done Fiona! A gutsy effort for your first 600m!
- Captain Kamila shattered the track record in the 15yrs 1200m, where she finished 1st of five athletes in 3:43.89s. Kamila beat the record by more than 18 seconds. Well done Kamila!
A few of my favourite moments:
- The tight race between Annika and Denise in their heat of the 150m.
- Watching Amanda and Paige run way out front and come 1st and 2nd in their heat of the 150m.
- The close race between Annika and Shaniah in the 1200m.
- The battle between Andrew, Thibaut and Scott in their heat of the 60m.
- Vienna’s 150m was one of the best races I have seen her run.
- Molly and Erika were both seeded in the fast heat of the 14yrs 60m, and both girls rose to the occasion, running PBs in that race.
- It is to Shaniah’s great credit that, despite still being decidedly under the weather as a result of some recent dental surgery, she won the 14yrs 1200m and set a track record in the process! “Very gritty!” as Coach Blair would say.
There were some impressive top 5 results at the meet:
- Kamila won the 15yrs 1200m.
- Matthew won the 12yrs 600m, finishing 1st of eight athletes.
- Shaniah won the 14yrs 1200m, while Annika finished less than a second behind her in 2nd place.
- Jasper was 2nd of eight athletes in the 13yrs 60m and 2nd of eight in the 150m.
- Alex M was 2nd of eight athletes in the 12yrs 60m, 3rd of seven in the 600m, and 5th of nine in the 150m.
- Fiona finished 2nd in the 600m.
- In his first attempt at the 600m, Dawson placed second.
- Liam was 2nd in the 15yrs 1200m.
- Vienna was 3rd of seventeen athletes in the 15yrs 150m and 5th of twenty in the 60m.
- Thibaut finished 3rd of ten athletes in both the 14yrs 60m and 150m.
- Scott was 4th of ten in the 14yrs 60m and 5th of ten in the 150m.
- Thomas was 4th of eleven athletes in the 12yrs 150m and 5th of eight athletes in the 600m.
- Erika was 4th of fifteen athletes in the 14yrs 150m and 7th of fourteen in the 60m.
- New athlete Denise was 4th of fourteen athletes in the 14yrs 60m and 7th of fifteen in the 150m.
- Cole was 4th of nine athletes in the 600m.
- Andrew was 4th of ten athletes in the 14yrs 150m and 5th of ten in the 60m.
- Molly was 5th of fourteen athletes in the 14yrs 60m and 6th of fifteen in the 150m
- Last, but certainly not least, JD Captain Kamila set her first indoor provincial record of the year. In the 1200m, Kamila finished in 3:43.89s, beating the record of 3:45.21s by 1.32s. Well done Kamila!
…and now some comments/observations from Coach Ed:
Sure, it was quieter than the December meet but there were highlights and emerging trends that bode well for the upcoming season.
Vienna looked good in the 60 and the 150 (3rd)
I thought Denise Chu ran well in the 60 and 150. Molly, Erika, and Hanna were right beside her too so look out when we do relays in February.
In the surprise 150 for midgets I saw good efforts by all our kids. That was a good idea, running the 150 for that age group, it’s so much faster than a 300 or even a 200. They really looked good! Amanda, Paige, Adeem, Evan – I was really happy with the effort I saw in all those 150s.
Again Thibaut was right in there in 60 and the 150. That 14 year old boy age group is one where the boys are sometimes far apart in physical development, 3rd in the 60m is a great place for him to be – the fastest in our group.
Jasper is nipping at the heels of the leaders in her age class, quite a showing for an athlete who is so new to the sport. Jasper’s in a good place.
We didn’t have too many boys in the 1200 but Liam did well.
The girls on the other hand were dominant! Kamila ran an amazing race, showing the composure and confidence of a much older athlete. Congratulations! I’m sure there are many more great races to come. Shaniah and Annika, one year back from Kamila, are real talents who have the benefit of training together in the club – so come race day they’ve already been there done that!
Rebecca ran 5:33 in the 1500 which means she can be competitive in any high school girls race. She finished strong, I can see real potential there.
Fiona can run well at any distance but I think as she gets stronger and moves up the distance she’ll find her ideal race.
Cole’s 1:37 in the 600 is a real breakthrough. He’s in the fastest group of midget boys in the province.
And what can you say about Matthew Fowlow’s 600. He was in control the whole race. Thomas was not far behind either.
