Hello athletes and parents!
I would like to congratulate all of the athletes – Adeem, Alex, Amelia, Andrew, Annette, Ben, Cole, Corrina, Grace, Ethan, Hanna, Harrison, John, Kamila, Kevin, Kiannah, Lisa, Maddy, Madison, Mehrdad, Mikenna, Molly, Morgan, Noah, Olivia, Patrick, Phillip, Rachel, Rathaine, Rhea, Robert, Ryan, Sarah, Savanna, Skylar, Taylor, Thomas and Tyra – who competed in the Spring Challenge and Combined Events Provincials this past weekend. Among them, these 38 athletes produced some outstanding results.
I was very impressed with JD’s newest athletes, who were competing in their first meet: Morgan, Madison, Mikenna, Olivia, Rachel and Ryan. Given how little time you had to train prior to this meet – I think Olivia had only had one starts session prior to the meet – I thought your starts were especially strong. I had feared that you all might arrive at the start line and forget how to pace off your starting positions. I was having nightmares picturing you all standing at the start, gazing blankly at the start line and then at me. Clearly, I underestimated you. You looked like old pros out on the track, pacing off you marks quickly and with confidence and remembering to take a couple of 20m practice starts. Well done new bantams! A great first meet!
Congratulations to our midget and youth team, who successfully defended our title of Calgary Spring Challenge club champions for this age category. This is the seventh year in a row (since the title has been awarded) that the CALTAF midgets (1998/1999) and youths (1996/1997) have claimed the title. Well done CALTAF midgets and youths! The University of Calgary Athletics Club (UCAC) claimed the “open” (1995 and older) title, while Edmonton Columbians claimed the peewee and bantam (2000/2001) title. As soon as the meet director confirms which ten CALTAF midgets and youths accumulated the most points based on their results throughout the weekend and made up the winning team, I will let you know. I will also hand out a championship T-shirt to each team member.
There were an impressive 42 personal best performances (PBs) amongst those JD athletes who had competed previously and had results to better.Mehrdad led the way with a remarkable 7 personal bests (100m, 200m heat, 200m final, 300m, LJ, HJ, TJ) – he recorded a personal best in every event that he had competed in previously. A remarkable achievement – well done Mehrdad! Harrison was not far behind, achieving 4 personal bests (100mH, pent 100mH, pent LJ, pent SP) , three of them while competing in the challenging pentathlon. Well done Harrison! Despite still battling a stubborn cold, Sarah also recorded 4 personal bests (100m, 200m, 300m, TJ) – in all of her running events and in the triple jump. Well done Sarah! Bantam Annette recorded 3 personal bests (80mH, 800m, 1200m), improving in all of the running events that she had competed in previously. Well done Annette! Despite having just returned from a three month exchange in France, Alex still managed to improve his times in all of the running events that he had competed in previously (200m, 300m, 800m). Well done Alex! Clearly not one to be intimated while competing up amongst older midget athletes, bantam Rathaine achieved two personal bests (JT, LJ). Hanna recorded 2 personal bests (pent 800m, pent HJ) while competing in the challenging pentathlon, while Adeem (150m, SP), Cole (800m, JT) and John (100m, HJ) also recorded two personal bests.Kiannah (200m), Kamila (1200m), Amelia (100m), Molly (LJ), Skylar (SP), Lisa (150m), Kevin (800m), Thomas (JT), Phillip (300m),Andrew (LJ), Noah (2000m) each achieved a personal best in one of their events. Well done athletes – it is great to see you being rewarded for your hard work at training sessions.
Some of the most impressive personal bests were: (Hanna: 7.47s in the 800m, after a long day of five pentathlon events), Cole (9.6m in the JT!! – I checked this twice to ensure that I was correct), Annette (12.31s in the 1200m), Rathaine (1.00m in the JT, 32cm in LJ), Skylar (46cm in SP),Harrison (59cm in the pent SP, 34cm in the pent LJ, 1.1s in the 100mH), Noah (5.52s in the 2000m), Sarah (just shy of 2s in the 300m),Thomas (just shy of a metre in the JT), Alex (9.55s in the 800m), Mehrdad (1.74s in the 200m, 31cm in LJ, 10cm in HJ, 35cm in TJ), John(10cm in HJ), Kamila (3.47s in the 1200m), and Adeem (89cm in SP). Well done athletes – those are some impressive PBs. I will have to remember to ask (throws coach) Michelle what was happening in the javelin competition – what a lot of improvement in that event!
Coach Blair and I were especially pleased to have two of JDs youngest and newest athletes – Mikenna and Ryan – take on the challenge of the 800m, the event that many consider to be the most challenging track event. Both athletes ran very well, and we hope that these young bantams will run the event many more times in the future. Well done Mikenna and Ryan! I was also impressed that Morgan, Ryan, Madison and Rachelentered a variety of events, including the high jump and/or sprint hurdles. It usually takes the coaches a while to convince new athletes to enter these events. Not so with this brave group – clearly a gutsy group of new bantams. Well done bantams!
Hanna, Harrison and Ben were the only midget athletes brave enough to tackle the pentathlon, a grueling one-day combined event of sprint hurdles, long jump, high jump, shot put and the 800m (women)/1000m (men). All three athletes competed very well, and Harrison finished 2nd of five midget athletes to capture the provincial silver medal with a total of 2325 points. Well done Harrison and all pentathletes!
It was wonderful to see Cam, who suffered a nasty fall and a broken arm during Thursday’s training session, at the meet on Saturday – sporting a bright pink cast and her usual cheerful smile. We wish you a speedy recovery Cam and look forward to your return.
The JD athletes captured a total of 35 medals on the weekend – one provincial championship medal in a combined event and 34 medals in non-championship individual events. Harrison captured the provincial silver medal in the pentathlon, the only JD athlete to win a provincial medal. In the non-championship events, JD athletes captured 8 gold (Hanna HT; Annette 800m & 1200m; Molly LJ; Skylar SP; Thomas JT; Mehrdad200mH & LJ), 15 silver (Molly, 80m, 80mH & 150m; Mehrdad 300m & youth TJ; Cole JT & DT; Rathaine JT & DT; Adeem DT & SP; Madison HJ;Annette 200mH; Hanna SP; and Kamila 1200m), and 11 bronze (Lisa 60m, 150m, & LJ; Rathaine SP & HT); Corrina 800m; Amelia DT;Annette 80mH; John LJ; Harrison 100mH; and Mehrdad (HJ). That is an impressive list of medals!
Here are a few individual highlights:
In her very first meet and high jump competition, bantam Madison cleared 1.25m to claim the silver medal. Madison was also 5th of sixteen athletes in the 80m hurdles, where she finished in 16.29s. Well done Madison! I see high jumping in your future! J
Bantam Rathaine competed up with the older midget athletes so that she was able to compete in some of the throws events that were not offered to bantams. Remarkably, Rathaine still captured four medals: silver in the discus with a throw of 23.28m, silver in the javelin with a 1.00m PB throw of 24.78m, bronze in the long jump with a 32cm PB jump of 3.81m and bronze in the shot put with a throw of 9.19m. Well done Rathaine – an outstanding achievement!
New bantam athlete Molly produced some outstanding results, especially given that she was competing with very sore shins. Molly captured four medals – gold in the long jump, where she placed 1st of thirty-five athletes, clearing a very impressive 4.13m; silver in the 80m, where she finished 2nd of 33 athletes in 11.32s; silver in the 80m hurdles, where she finished 2nd of sixteen athletes in 14.95s; and silver in the 150m, where she finished 2nd of thirty-two athletes in 21.61s. Well done Molly – remarkable results!
Bantam Annette added to her outstanding results from the indoor season with outstanding results at this meet. Annette captured four medals: gold in the 1200, where she finished 1st of sixteen athletes in a 12.31s personal best time of 4:11.52s; gold in the 800m, where she finished in a personal best time of 2:32.93s; silver in her first 200m hurdles competition, where she finished 2nd of ten athletes in 33.38s; and bronze in the 80m hurdles, where Annette finished in a 1.04s personal best time of 15.27s. Well done Annette – Coach Hayleigh will be impressed with those hurdle results, and it goes without saying that Coach Blair and I were delighted with your 800m and 1200m results. Another outstanding meet!
In his first attempt at the 200m hurdles, first-year midget Mehrdad set a new provincial record of 27.20s, beating the old record of 27.39s that was set in 2010. In addition to being a new provincial record, this time qualifies Mehrdad to compete at Legion Nationals in August as a member of Team Alberta. Mehrdad placed 1st of seven athletes to win the 200mH gold medal. Mehrdad also captured the gold medal in the long jump, clearing a 31cm PB of 5.34m to finish 1st of nine athletes. Mehrdad won the silver medal in the 300m, where he finished 2nd of seventeen athletes in a 1.15s PB of 39.83s. Despite having to compete against older athletes, Mehrdad also won the silver medal in the youth triple jump with a 35cm personal best jump of 10.94m. Last but not least, a 10cm PB jump of 1.55m earned Mehrdad the bronze medal in the high jump. Phew! Well doneMehrdad! An impressive list of accomplishments for any athlete, but especially a first-year midget who was competing against older midget athletes. Congratulations on a truly remarkable weekend!
Despite missing several weeks of training due to an unhappy knee, first-year midget Corrina ran a strong 800m that was just off her PB pace to finish 3rd of eleven athletes and capture the bronze medal. Although pleased with the result, Coach Blair and I were most happy that she managed to run the entire race without limping. J It is so good to see you back running. Well done Corrina!
Everyone knows that pentathletes dread that final/fifth event – for women, the 800m. Despite being tired after a long day of competition, first-year midget Hanna ran a very impressive race, finishing in 2:47.17s, more than a 7s PB. Hanna finished 3rd in that race, behind two second-year midgets. Well done Hanna!
In addition to the pentathlon on Sunday, Hanna competed in two events on Saturday and captured medals in both. In her first hammer throw competition, Hanna finished 1st of five athletes to win the gold medal with a throw of 33.35m. In the shot put, Hanna’s throw of 9.39m placed her 2nd of eight athletes and earned her the silver medal. Well done Hanna – an outstanding (and busy!) weekend!
First-year midget Kamila’s 3.47s personal best time of 3:42.88s in the 1200m placed her 2nd of ten athletes and earned her the silver medal. More importantly, Kamila’s time qualified her to compete as part of Team Alberta at Legion Nationals in Surrey in August. Congratulations Kamila!
Bantam Skylar’s 46cm PB throw of 8.01m in the shot put placed her 1st of twenty-nine athletes and earned her the gold medal. Well done Skylar!
First-year midget Cole enjoyed an excellent meet, with two PBs and two silver medals. In the javelin, a remarkable 9.6m personal best throw of 30.67m earned Cole the silver medal. In his first discus competition, Cole’s best throw of 24.20m also earned him the silver medal. Cole was also 6th of fourteen athletes in the 800m, where he finished in a personal best 2:20.41s. Well done Cole!
First-year midget Thomas captured the gold medal in the javelin with a 95cm PB throw of 33.62m. Well done Thomas!
Adeem added another 89cm to his PB in the shot put with a throw of 9.23m, which placed him 2nd of twenty-one athletes and earned him the silver medal. In his first discus competition, Adeem won the silver medal, finishing 2nd of nineteen athletes with a throw of 20.23m. Well doneAdeem!
First-year bantam Lisa took home three bronze medals, an impressive feat given that she was competing against the older bantams. In the 60m,Lisa placed 3rd of thirty-three athletes in 11.60s. In the 150m, Lisa took almost a second off her personal best, finishing 3rd of thirty-two athletes in 21.63s. Finally, in the long jump, Lisa cleared 3.85m to finish 3rd of thirty-five athletes. Well done Lisa!
In her first discus competition, first-year midget Amelia won the bronze medal with a throw of 17.41m. Well done Amelia!
New athlete Noah just missed the medals in the 2000m, where he finished in a 5.52s personal best time of 6:43.26s and placed 4th of twelve athletes. Teammate Ethan finished just behind Noah in 6:44.15s. Well done Noah and Ethan!
In addition to his provincial silver medal in the pentathlon, Harrison ran a 1.07s personal best time of 16.11 in the 100m hurdles to finish 3rd of eight athletes and claim the bronze medal. His time will allow Harrison to compete at Legion Nationals in Surrey in August, where the standard is 16.25s. Well done Harrison!
First-year midget John cleared 4.87m in the long jump to win the bronze medal. Well done John!
In her first attempt at the 300m, first-year midget Savanna finished in 46.52s to place 6th of fifteen athletes, 2nd of the 1999 athletes. Well done Savanna!
Congratulations again to all athletes. That is an impressive list of accomplishments. I am looking forward to watching you compete at New Balance Meet#2 this weekend. I will email the schedule to you on Friday. See you Thursday – the high jump, hurdles and throws coaches will be there.
Robin
