Congratulations to Team Alberta for their outstanding performance at the Western Canadian Midget and Youth Championships in Winnipeg this past weekend. The youth team captured the youth championship trophy with 457.5 points. Manitoba finished 2nd with 365.5 points, while Saskatchewan placed 3rd with 360 points. The Team Alberta midget team placed 2nd with 378 points, just 50 points behind Team Saskatchewan who finished 1st with 428 points. Team Manitoba was 3rd with 298 points.
The four JD athletes who were members of Team Alberta – Ellie Hirst, Katie Campbell, Nicholas Buettner and Austin Ost – all rose to the challenge and produced some truly outstanding results. All four athletes did the JD Group proud, with each winning at least one medal in their individual events. Between them, these four athletes contributed 72 points in their individual events to the Team Alberta total, and an additional 13 points as members of either 4x100m or medley relay teams. They recorded 11 personal best performances in their individual events, and captured 3 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze medals. For just four athletes, those are very impressive totals. Well done Ellie, Katie, Nicholasand Austin!
Team Alberta midget captain Austin won a gold medal in the javelin and bronze medals in the long jump, triple jump, shot put and discus. Given the calibre of the competition, that is a remarkable accomplishment. In addition to the gold and four bronze medals that he won in his individual events, Austin ran the 2nd leg for the midget boys’ medley relay team, which finished 3rd of five teams and captured the bronze medal.Austin achieved personal bests in four of his five individual events. In the long jump,Austin cleared 5.55m, a personal best of 36cm to capture the bronze medal. In the triple jump, Austin added another 35cm to his PB, clearing 11.65m to capture the bronze medal. In the discus throw, Austin added a remarkable 4.73m to his PB, capturing the bronze medal with a throw of 29.11m. In the shot put, Austin added more than half a metre to his PB, throwing the shot 10.47m to win the bronze medal. With those stellar results, Austin contributed an impressive 28 points to the Team Alberta point total. Congratulations Austin! We wish you continued success in Ottawa at the Legion National Track and Field Championships! Go well!
Ellie won the silver medal in the 300m and ran the 3rd legs for the gold-medal-winning midget girls’ medley relay team and the silver-medal-winning 4x100m relay team. Elliealso finished 4th of 24 midget athletes in both the 100m and 200m. Ellie ran a personal best of 13.22s in the 100m preliminary to qualify 5th of 24 athletes for the final, where she ran another personal best of 13.10 to finish just out of the medals in 4th place. In the 200m preliminary, Ellie ran a personal best of 27.35s to qualify 5th of 24 athletes for the final, where she ran another personal best of 27.29s to finish in 4th place. In the 300m, Ellieagain ran a personal best, finishing 2nd of twelve midget athletes in 42.12s to capture the silver medal. Ellie ran the 3rd leg for the gold-medal-winning medley relay team, which finished 1st of five midget teams in 4:23.06s, and the 3rd leg for the silver-medal-winning 4x100m relay team, which finished 2nd of seven teams in 51.89s. Ellie contributed 18 points to the Team Alberta total and the two relay teams that she was a member of contributed an additional 8 points. Well done Ellie! We also wish you much success at the Legion National Track and Field Championships! Go well!
Katie finished 5th in the 2000m, where she took almost three seconds off the PB that she had just established at the Provincial Championships. However, Katie’s most impressive performance of the meet came in the 1500m steeplechase, which she competed in without any training in the event. When the coaches decided in which events to enter each Team Alberta athlete, we discovered that we had no midget women steeplechase runners. We threw Katie in without consulting her and, without a word of complaint, Katiecompeted in the rather intimidating and demanding event. Not only did she compete, butKatie walked away with the silver medal, finishing the 1500m steeplechase in 5:40.38s. – an impressive time, especially given that Katie had no prior training other than a brief crash course that head coach Jason Lindsey gave her the night before the event. Needless to say, the Team Alberta coaches were most impressed. With her 2nd and 5thplace finishes, Katie contributed 13 points to the Team Alberta total. Well done Katie! What an outstanding end to your year. Congratulations!
Nicholas captured the silver medal in the 100m, where he finished 2nd of eighteen athletes in 11.82s. Nicholas also ran the 3rd leg for the midget boys’ medley relay team, which finished 1st of five teams in 3:54.05s to capture the gold medal. In the 300m,Nicholas took more than half a second off his PB, finishing in 40.26s. With those results in his individual events, Nicholas contributed 13 points to the Team Alberta point total, while the winning medley relay team that he was a member of contributed another 5 points. Well done Nicholas! An impressive end to a stellar year! Congratulations!
Holiday Monday 2nd August – no session – I will give you a workout to complete on your own.
I am currently working my way through the results from the Alberta Summer Games. An email will follow with those results.
I hope you are enjoying a wonderful summer. Robin
