Message from Robin:
Hello athletes and parents!
I would like to offer my heartiest congratulations to the JD athletes – Brent, Nathan, Patrick, Sean, Sahad, Max, Addy, Harry, Ben, Graeme, Matt, Quinn, Siri, Anna, Delainy, Sarah, Madelaine, Emma, Kate, Mia, Marissa, Kiannah, Caitlin and Lauren – who competed in the Dino Opener yesterday. Among them, these twenty-four athletes produced some excellent results. Here are the highlights:
While I was delighted with the results, I was especially pleased to see the wonderful sportsmanship displayed by the JD athletes, particularly the bantam girls – Anna, Delainy, Sarah, Madelaine, Emma, Kate, Mia, Marissa, Kiannah, Caitlin and Lauren – who, whenever they weren’t competing, circled the track, shouting encouragement not only to their JD teammates, but also the senior CALTAF athletes from the Provincial and National Development Groups. Well done ladies! You are a great credit to the JD Group. It also warmed my heart to see the athletes offering Quinn their support after she fell victim to the unforgiving false start rule, where midget athletes are disqualified from a race after one false start.
Given that it was the first meet of the indoor season and, for many JD athletes, their first meet ever, I thought that the athletes looked remarkably composed out on the track. It was good to see you warming up thoroughly without supervision and arriving at the start line on time and ready to race. Congratulations especially to JD’s newest athletes: Sahad, Addy, Harry, Graeme, Matt, Quinn, Sarah, Kate, Marissa, Kiannah, Caitlin and Lauren. Well done!
Our veteran athletes – those who competed with CALTAF last year – showed some remarkable improvement since their last meet, with Nathan, Max, Ben, Delainy, Madelaine and Emmaall recording a personal best in one of their individual events. Brent, Sean and Anna achieved personal best performances in both of their individual events. Meanwhile, our new athletes recorded some excellent results, setting some tough standards to better at future meets.
The JD athletes recorded thirty top-five finishes in their individual events and an additional four top-five finishes in the 4x200m relays.
- Veteran Mia won the 150m for 12-year-old girls, finishing 1st of 10 athletes in 22.79s. Mia also finished 3rd of 12 athletes in the 60m, where she finished in 9.19s. Well done Mia!
- Our 13-and-under girls’ 4x200m relay team of Mia to Sarah to Marissa to Emmaplaced 1st of 5 teams, finishing in an impressive 2:04.24s. Well done ladies!
- Our 13-and-under boys’ 4x200m relay team of Max to Addy to Patrick to Sahad also placed 1st of 5 teams, finishing in 2:05.93s. Well done boys!
- Veteran Ben had an outstanding meet, finishing 2nd in both the 12-year-old boys’ 60m and 150m. In the 150m, Ben finished in a personal best time of 22.71s. Well done Ben!
- In her very first meet, Marissa produced some outstanding results. In the 12-year-old girls’ 800m, Marissa finished 2nd of 9 athletes in a time of 2:53.82s, while in the 60m, she finished 4th of 12 athletes in 9.25s. Well done Marissa! An impressive start to the season for a new athlete.
- Veteran Emma also had an impressive meet, finishing 2nd of 12 athletes in the 12-year-old girls’ 60m and 4th of 10 girls in the 150m. In the 60m, Emma finished in 9.13s, a PB of almost a full second. Well done Emma!
- New athlete Sahad ran an excellent race in the 13-year-old boys’ 800m, where he finished 2nd of 5 athletes in an impressive time of 2:38.89s. Sahad also finished the 60m in 9.31s. Well done Sahad!
- Our 13-and-under boys’ relay team of veterans Delainy to Madelaine to Anna to the lone boy on the team, Nathan, ran a very impressive race, finishing 2nd of five teams and beating three all-boys teams in a time of 2:08.59s. Well done ladies and Nathan!
- In his first attempt at the 800m, veteran Max finished 3rd in a time of 2:43.63s. Max was also 6th in the 13-year-old boys’ 60m, where he finished in a personal best time of 9.28s. Well done Max!
- New athlete Addy had an outstanding meet, finishing 3rd in the 13-year-old boys’ 150m in a time of 22.75s, and 4th of 9 athletes in the 60m, where Addy finished in 9.19s. Well done Addy!
- New athlete Harry also recorded some excellent results, finishing 3rd in the 60m in a time of 9.53s and 4th of 13 athletes in the challenging 800m, where Harry finished in 2:48.48 – an impressive time for a first year bantam. Well done Harry!
- Veteran Sean had an outstanding meet, recording personal bests in both of his events. In the 60m, Sean finished 3rd of nine 13-year-old boys in a personal best time of 9.16s, while in the 800m, Sean took 2.07s off his PB, finishing 4th in 2:53.34s. Well done Sean!
- Veteran Anna recorded personal bests in both the 13-year-old girls’ 60m and 150m. In the 150m, Anna finished 3rd in a personal best 23.25s, while in the 60m, Anna finished 5th in a personal best 9.45s. Well done Anna!
- New athlete Matt finished strongly in the 150m, placing 3rd in a time of 26.57s. Well done Matt!
- New athlete Sarah looked very strong in the challenging 800m, where she finished 3rdof five 13-year-old athletes in 2:47.86s. Sarah was also 6th in the 60m, where she finished in 9.45s. Well done Sarah!
- In her very first meet, Caitlin placed 3rd of 9 athletes in the 12-year-old girls’ 800m. Caitlin finished the challenging distance in 2:56.75s, an impressive time for a first-year bantam. Well done Caitlin!
- In his very first meet, Graeme took on the challenging 800m and finished 5th of thirteen 12-year-old athletes in an impressive time of 2:50.79s. Well done Graeme!
- New athlete Quinn recovered very well from her false start in the 60m to place 4th of 11 athletes in the 14-year-old girls 300m. Quinn finished the 300m in 48.16s. Well done Quinn!
- Veteran Delainy took almost half a second off her PB in the 60m, where she finished 4th of eight 13-year-old girls in a time of 9.28s. Delainy was also 4th in the 800m. Well done Delainy!
- Veteran Madelaine finished 4th in the 150m and 7th in the 60m, where she ran a personal best time of 9.52s. Well done Madelaine!
- Our 13-and-under boys’ relay team of Sean to Harry to Matt to Ben placed 4th of five teams, finishing in 2:12.92s. Well done boys!
- JD’s youngest athlete, Lauren walked away with three green ribbons for her 5th place finishes in the 60m, 150m and 4x200m relay. Well done Lauren!
- In her first meet, Kiannah took on the challenging 800m, where she finished sixth. Kiannah was also 10th in the 60m, where she finished in 10.23s. Well done Kiannah!
- Veteran Brent recorded personal bests in both of his individual events, finishing the 60m in 8.52s, a PB by almost a full second. Brent also took 1.19s off his 300 time, where he finished in 46.66s. Well done Brent!
- Veteran Nathan recorded a personal best 9.37s in the 60m, a PB of almost half a second. Well done Nathan!
- New athlete Kate showed great determination out on the track and set some tough standards to challenge herself with in future meets. Well done Kate!
- Veteran Siri finished 6th in the 14-year-old girls’ 300m and 7th in the 60m. Well done Siri!
- Veteran Patrick finished 5th in the 150m, and was 7th in his first attempt at the 60m. Well done Patrick!
- Our 13-and-under girls’ 4x200m relay team of Caitlin to Lauren to Kiannah to Katewere the youngest team on the track and, although they finished last, they ran a very good race. Well done ladies!
- Our 14-and-older men’s relay team of Quinn to Siri to Brent to Emily were also the youngest team in their race, and they kept up very well with the older, all-boys teams, finishing in 1:57.82s. Well done ladies and Brent!
What a great start to the indoor season. Well done all of you! I am looking forward to our next meet, the Dino Classic, on Saturday 8th January. I will be asking for entries before we break for the holidays. Please watch your emails!
Our last session before Christmas will be held on Saturday, 18th December, at which time we will meet from 10 to 12 noon (rather than our usual time of 10 to 11:30am). The training session will be followed by pizza and other treats. We will resume training on Monday, 3rd January.
I will see you all tomorrow (Monday) for our regular training session. Congratulations again, athletes – well done! Robin
