The ten JD athletes – Brent, Jasmine, Ellie, Maria, Melissa, Antha, Chase, Emily, Anna and Mia – who traveled to the Golden Bear Open in Edmonton this past weekend all competed very well. There were many PBs and the team came home with five gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze medal. Well done athletes!
Here are some highlights:
Although only a first-year midget and having to compete against older athletes, Chase had an outstanding meet, winning two gold and two silver medals. In the 2000m, Chase won the gold medal, finishing 1st of six athletes in 7:23.19s. In the 1200m, Chase placed 2nd of eleven athletes, winning the silver medal in 4:05.71s. In long jump,Chase added another 25cm to her PB, clearing 4.36m to finish 2nd of twenty-six midget athletes and capture the silver medal. Chase was also 5th of twelve athletes in the 800m and 7th of twenty athletes in the 300m, where she finished in a personal best time of 45.55s. Not surprisingly, Chase spent Saturday evening at Athletics Alberta’s 2009 Awards Ceremony, where Chase was presented with an Alberta Top 10 Bantam Award for her results from the 2008-2009 competitive year. Congratulations Chase on both your outstanding results from the weekend and your award. Well done and well deserved!
Our midget 4x200m relay team of Jasmine to Ellie to Chase to Nicole Squires from CALTAF’s Power and Speed Group were responsible for the remaining gold medals. The team finished 1st of six entries, which included four teams from Saskatchewan and our younger CALTAF team. Jasmine got the team off to a great start, not allowing her opponents to make up any of the stagger. The remaining team members held and slightly increased the lead, and the team finished more than three seconds ahead of the silver-medal-winning team from Saskatchewan. This bodes well for the provincial relay championships, which will be held in Edmonton in February. Our younger team of Melissa toMia to Anna to Emily also ran very well, with the two bantams, Mia and Anna, putting up a valiant fight against the older midgets. Well done ladies!
The bronze medal was won by Maria in the shot put competition. Although this was her first shot put competition,Maria finished 3rd of eleven midgets with a throw of 8.06m. In her first 60m hurdle competition, Maria ran a very strong race, finishing in 11.88s.
In her first out-of-town meet, Ellie produced some outstanding results. In addition to running the second leg for the gold-medal-winning relay team, Ellie was 5th of twenty midget athletes in the 300m in a personal best time of 44.85s, 6th of thirty-three midget athletes in her first attempt at the 200m in 28.51s, and 11th of forty-five athletes in the 60m in a personal best time of 8.69s. In her first-ever attempt at the high jump, Ellie cleared 1.30m to finish 11th. Well doneEllie!
In addition to establishing an insurmountable lead for her team in the 4x200m relay, Jasmine ran a PB time of 29.71s in the 200m, where she finished 12th of thirty-three athletes. Jasmine also achieved a personal best performance of 47.07s in the 300m, where she finished 11th of twenty athletes. Well done Jasmine!
Brent also had an outstanding meet, recording personal best performances in all of his individual events – the 60m, 60m hurdles, 800m and shot put. In addition, in his first high jump competition, Brent cleared 1.30m, while in his first attempt at the 1200m, Brent finished 11th in 4:06.80s. Well done Brent!
The PB of the meet goes to first-year midget Antha, whose results in several events demonstrate just how much stronger she is becoming. Antha took an amazing 6.55 seconds off her PB in the 300m, where she finished in 49.81s. Antha also added another 17cm to her PB in long jump and another 25cm to her PB in high jump, where she finished 11th and cleared 1.30m. Well done Antha!
In her very first high jump competition and with only a couple of training sessions under her belt, first-year midgetEmily cleared 1.35m and finished 4th of nineteen athletes. Emily also ran a PB of 11.81s in the 60m hurdles and was 14th of twenty-six athletes in her first long jump competition, clearing 3.92m. Well done Emily!
To my delight, Melissa finally agreed to run a 300m, where she finished in a very respectable time of 49.02s. In her very first high jump competition, Melissa also did very well, clearing 1.25m. Well done Melissa!
Last but certainly not least, our two youngest athletes, Anna and Mia, were the busiest athletes, competing in the bantam multiple events. Both athletes did very well, and I was especially pleased that both Anna and Mia were willing to try most of the events offered, including the high jump and the challenging and dreaded 800m, where both girls ran very well. Well done ladies! You showed a lot of composure for such young athletes
Despite being a first-year bantam, Mia was 7th of 32 bantam athletes in the 60m, where she finished in 9.27s. In her first 60m hurdle competition, Mia finished an impressive 8th of seventeen athletes in a time of 12.88s. Mia was also 8th of twenty-two athletes in the long jump, where she cleared 3.44m. Well done Mia!
In her first high jump competition, Anna cleared 1.05m. She must have enjoyed the competition, because I watched later as she and Emily practiced the high jump for over an hour. I love your enthusiasm Anna and Emily!
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention how pleased I was to witness many acts of kindness and good sportsmanship during the meet. Brent took the time to shake the hands of all of the volunteers and officials at the high jump, much to the obvious delight and surprise of the recipients of his thanks. Chase cheered on her nervous teammates, Melissa, Emily, Antha and Ellie, as they competed in the high jump for the first time, while Annaoffered Mia moral support as she competed in the hurdles for the first time, and Emily came to find me when she feared that Maria was missing the long jump competition. Thank you all for watching out for each other. It was good to see you working together to ensure that everyone enjoyed a successful weekend.
–Robin
