Congratulations to the JD athletes – Rebecca, Grace Chalmers, Vienna, Savanna, Anna, Hanna, Erika, Tyra, Denise, Adrienne, Shaniah, Annika, Molly, Eddy, Jasper, Katy, Maddie, Penny, Cole, Liam Murray, Alex Oglinzanu, Evan, Thibaut, Andrew, Scott, Adeem, Ryan, Max, Thomas and Matthew – who competed in the 2014 Spring Challenge/Combined Events Provincials this past weekend. Despite the (at times) rather challenging/appalling conditions, which included a cold north wind, rain and then snow, these 30 athletes produced some truly outstanding results.
I would like to begin by acknowledging the performances of bantam (2001/2002) athletes Penny and Max, who were competing in their first meet. Remarkably, both won medals. First-year bantam Penny won a gold in the 4x100m relay, where she ran a very impressive anchor leg for her team. Penny was also 4th overall in the 150m, 1st of the first-year bantams. Max captured the bronze medals in the long jump, where he cleared 3.95m to finish 3rd of thirty-one athletes, and in the 4x100m relay, where he ran the first leg, and got his team off to a strong start. Well done Max and Penny!
The coaches would especially like to acknowledge the performance of Katy this weekend, who led the bantams by competing in an impressive nine individual events. As coaches, we encourage the younger athletes to compete in a variety of events. Some are more willing than others. Katy was an inspiration this weekend, competing in the 80m, 80m hurdles, 150m, 200m hurdles, 800m, high jump, long jump, shot put and discus. Of those events, five (80m, 80m hurdles, 200m hurdles, 800m and discus) were new to Katy. Well done Katy! We admire your willingness to try new events. Matthew also demonstrated his adventuresome spirit, competing in eight events, while Maddie competed in seven.
Congratulations to the ten CALTAF midget (1999/2000) and youth (1997/1998) athletes, whose combined points from their results in their individual events earned them the title of 2014 Calgary Spring Challenge Champions. This is the 8th year in a row that the CALTAF midgets and youths have captured the Spring Challenge title for their age category (14 to 17 years). With their performances in the individual events, the ten CALTAF midget and youth athletes accumulated an impressive 221 points to finish 1st of twenty-three clubs. The members of the winning CALTAF team from the JD Group are: Cole (4th with 22 points), Adeem (6th with 20pts), Erika (8th with 19pts) and Hanna and Shaniah (each 9th with 13pts). Other members of CALTAF’s winning team are: Rathaine Randle, JD alumnus and member of CALTAF’s throws group (1st with 35pts), Haylie Leote of CALTAF’s Multiple Events Group (2nd with 30pts), Nathan Kalmakoff, JD alumnus and member of CALTAF’s Throws Group (3rd with 28pts), Kiannah Wright, JD alumnus and member of CALTAF’s Multiple Events Group (5th with 21pts), and Thomas Huard, JD alumnus and member of CALTAF’s Sprints and Hurdle Group (6th with 20 points). Congratulations to the JD members of the 2014 Spring Challenge Championship team – Cole, Adeem, Erika, Hanna and Shaniah. You will be presented with your 2014 Spring Challenge Champion T-shirt this week during a training session.
Congratulations also to the ten CALTAF peewee (2003 and later) and bantam (2001/2002) athletes, whose combined points from their results in their individual events placed them an impressive 4th of fourteen clubs – the best finish ever by CALTAF’s peewees and bantams. With their performances in the individual events, the ten CALTAF peewees and bantams accumulated an impressive 154 points. The members of the 4th place team from the JD Group are: Jasper (1st with an impressive 32 points), Maddie (3rd with 14pts), Matthew (4th with 13.5pts), Max (5th with 12.5pts) and Penny (7th with 6pts). The remaining members of the team were from CALTAF’s Cheetahs group. Congratulations to our peewee and bantam athletes for their fine performances and our best finish ever.
There was an unprecedented 50 personal best performances by the JD athletes this past weekend.
The following athletes led the way, each achieving a personal best in all of the events that they competed in:
Cole (300m, 800m, 1200m, javelin), Jasper (150m, high jump, long jump, shot put), Erika (100m final, 200m heat, 300m), Evan (200m heat, 300m, long jump), Tyra (300m, long jump), Molly (100m heat, 200m final) and Liam (800m, 1200m).
Other athletes who achieved personal bests include:
Matthew, with an impressive four personal best performances (150m, 800m, high jump, shot put); Eden (150m, high jump, shot put) and Thibaut (200m, high jump, shot put), each with 3 personal bests; Katy ( 150m, long jump), Annika (300m, 2000m), Hanna (hammer, pentathlon), Andrew (100m, high jump), Ryan (150m, 800m), Scott (200m, shot put) and Adeem (100m hurdles final, 200m), all with 2 personal bests; and Grace (200m), Vienna (200m), Rebecca (1500m), Anna (800m), Maddie (high jump) and Thomas (long jump).
Some of the most impressive personal best performances include:
We had our first JD athlete qualify to compete at Legions Nationals in Langley in August. Hanna won the gold medal in the hammer throw competition with a 44cm personal best throw of 41.10m, surpassing the Legion standard of 30.0m by more than ten metres. Hanna, the only midget athlete brave enough to enter the challenging pentathlon, also added 32 points to her PB in the pentathlon. Well done Hanna! That hammer throw result is simply outstanding!
One of the most impressive moments at the meet for me came during the midget 200m heats. I happened to look over towards the high jump venue and observed bantam athletes Katy, Penny, Maddie, Eden and Jasper lined up and practicing their starts. Every time the gun would sound for a midget race, these five young athletes would race each other for about 15m. The result was that each of the girls ran an outstanding 150m, which followed the midget 200m. A very impressive display of good work ethics! Katy took more than 2s off her PB (Coach Blair warned Katy that she would likely never again manage to take 2s off a PB in a short sprint); Jasper won the event with a ~1s PB; Eden took 1.5s off her PB; 1st year bantam Penny placed 4th of twenty-four athletes, and Maddie, who had not run the event previously, finished eleventh. There is a lesson here that your teammates would do well to learn. A good warm-up will often produce a great result! Well done ladies!
Jasper was justifiably excited about her result in the long jump, where she cleared a 30cm personal best 4.22m to win the event. That is simply an outstanding result for a bantam athlete. No other bantam competitor – male or female – cleared four metres. Not only that, it was the second longest jump of all of the CALTAF athletes, bettered only by 8cm by 2nd year midget Evan. Although the Athletics Alberta rankings have not yet been updated, this will rank Jasper 1st in the province in the long jump. Jasper also added another 5cm to her PB in the high jump, where she cleared 1.40m to capture the bronze medal. In addition, Jasper took almost a second off her PB in the 150m to finish 1st of twenty-four athletes and capture the gold medal. Well done Jasper! Very impressive results!
Cole is one of JD’s hardest working athletes, and his dedication and strong work ethic showed in the impressive list of personal bests that he achieved over the weekend. Cole took more than 8 seconds off his PB in the 1200m, where he finished 4th of fifteen athletes in 3:38.64s. Cole won the bronze medal in the 300m, where he finished in a personal best 40.56s. Cole also captured the bronze medal in the 800m, where he finished in a 1.26s personal best 2:12.28s. Finally, just to demonstrate how versatile he is, Cole added another 3.5m to his PB in the javelin, with a throw of 34.60m. Of Cole’s weekend, Coach Ed commented, “Cole raced into the lead midget group in this meet. I’m looking forward to watching those times drop each time out. A decent javelin too.” The coaches will miss Cole’s leadership next year, when he moves to one of the senior CALTAF groups.
Anna ran an outstanding 800m, with a particularly strong second lap, finishing 2nd of eight athletes in 2:37.08s, a personal best of 3.6s.
First-year midget Erika crept ever closer to achieving the Legion standard in the 300m, running a personal best 43.92s, less than half a second off the standard required to compete at Legion Nationals in Langley in August. Despite having spent the week prior to the meet on a school trip in Quebec and suffering from a distinct lack of sleep, Erika enjoyed an outstanding weekend, with three personal best performances, two gold medals, one silver medal and a bronze medal. Coach Ed noted that Erika “showed grittiness running all the sprints 100, 200, and 300.”
Every time Tyra runs the 300m, she shaves time off her PB, this time taking 1.5s off her previous best.
First-year midget Annika looked very confident in the 2000m, and took a remarkable 16.76s off her PB, winning the bronze medal in a personal best 7:22.19s.
Despite being shut up in the results shed most of the weekend, Coach Ed noted that Eden added 31cm to her PB in the shot put. Her throw of 5.55m placed her 6th of twenty athletes. About Eden’s throw and the throws in general, Coach Ed wrote, “That’s great – we are outdoors now so more people should be looking at the throws. It’s not just shot put, there’s javelin, discus and even hammer too. The hammer is such a crazy event!”
Maddie added 10cm to her PB in the high jump, clearing 1.20m.
Grace took more than a second off her PB in the 200m, which allowed her to qualify for the final, where she finished sixth.
Vienna took more than 2s off her PB in the 200m.
Liam enjoyed an outstanding meet, taking more than 11s off his PB in the 1200m, and almost 4s off his PB in the 800m.
Ryan took almost 10s off his PB in the 800m, and more than a second off his PB in the 150m.
First-year bantam Matthew added an impressive 15cm to his PB in the high jump, clearing 1.25m to place 4th of twenty athletes.
JD athletes captured an impressive 43 medals in the individual events and relays at this meet: 20 gold medals, 8 silver medals and 15 bronze medals.
Our gold medalists include: 3-time gold medalist Jasper (150m, long jump, 4x100m ); two-time gold medalists Maddie (80m hurdles, 4x100m), Hanna (hammer, 4x100m), first-year midget Erika (4x100m, 4x400m), Cole (4x100m, 4x400m) and Alex (4x100m, 4x400m); and Grace (4x100m), first-year midget Annika (4x400m), first-year midget Shaniah (4x400m), first-year midget Molly (4x400m), first-year bantam Penny (4x100m), Liam (4x400m) and Evan (4x400m). Well done athletes!
Our silver medalists include: Anna (800m), first-year midget Erika (300m), first-year midget Denise (high jump), first-year midget Shaniah (2000m), Evan (4x100m), first-year midget Thibaut (4x100m), first-year midget Andrew (4x100m) and first year-midget Scott (4x100m). Congratulations silver medalists!
Our bronze medal winners are: two time bronze medalists Jasper (80m, high jump), Cole (300m, 800m), Max (long jump, 4x100m) and first-year bantam Matthew (1200m, 4x100m); and first-year midget Erika (200m), first-year midget Annika (2000m), Adeem (discus), Vienna (4x100m), Savanna (4x100m), first-year midget Denise (4x100m) and first-year midget Molly (4x100m). Well done athletes!
Congratulations to all medalists! Well done!
Other notes/highlights from the weekend:
The CALTAF midget women dominated the 200m, with four of the 8th spots in the 200m final claimed by CALTAF athletes – Grace, first-year midget Molly, first-year midget Erika and Haylie (of CALTAF’s Multiple Events Group)! It was so impressive to see all of those CALTAF singlets at the start of the 200m final. The girls finished 1st (Haylie), 3rd (Erika), 5th (Molly) and 6th (Grace). Well done ladies!
I was delighted to observe Jasper, Eden and Maddie cheering wildly from the stands as Katy competed in the 200m hurdles for the first time. When I acknowledged this display of good sportsmanship, Eden informed me that the bantam girls have a policy that, if they are not competing, then they are cheering for their teammates who are. What lovely team spirit!
Despite a long break to recover from a speed skating injury, first-year midget Molly produced some outstanding results, qualifying for both the 200m and 100m finals, where she finished 5th and 6th overall. An impressive feat at any time for a first-year athlete, but particularly after a long break in training!
Regarding the midget women’s 4x100m relay, Coach Ed wrote, “I couldn’t believe the snow during the 4x100m relays. We have so many runners, we had some great teams! We took 1st and 3rd, and everyone who ran (Erika, Grace, Hanna, Haylie, Vienna, Denise, Savanna and Molly) should be proud.”
From Coach Ed: “Shaniah worked hard and looked strong. It’s very competitive right now in that age group of girls distance runners – everyone is fast! So that just makes everyone faster and she’s in great shape, a few more races and who knows?”
Despite being out of commission at the moment with injuries/growing issues, both Kamila and Corrina came out to cheer on and support their teammates.
The most organized athlete of the meet had to be Maddie, who was seen frequently referring to a hard copy of the schedule, which was carefully organized into a duotang folder.
The athlete most prepared for the poor weather was Katy, who always followed her coaches’ instructions to leave her sweats on at the start line until the very last minute, and who was bundled up in a blanket between her throws and jumps. I think Katy was the only athlete who didn’t suffer in the cold and snow on Saturday. I was impressed that a number of athletes brought blankets. I couldn’t help but notice Thibaut bundled up in the CALTAF tent in a very fetching blanket that was covered in big red hearts.
Despite feeling decidedly unwell on Sunday, Erika would not let her teammates down and ran the 4x400m relay – not an easy event at the best of times, but especially when you are not feeling 100%.
If I had to pick one group who stood out this weekend for all of the right reasons, it would be the bantam girls – Eden, Jasper, Katy, Maddie and Penny. The girls were focused, disciplined and incredibly well prepared for their events, and it showed in their results, which were outstanding. Coach Blair also noted that “all of the bantam girls did really well.”
From Coach Ed: “Andrew’s 1.35m high jump is huge. The guy’s got springs!”
Blair and I had been looking forward to the midget boys’ 800m, because we knew it was going to be an interesting race. Evan made it interesting by going out hard and challenging teammates Cole, Alex and Liam to catch him. Coach Ed clearly made the same observation, commenting that, “Evan is looking stronger and more and more like he means business. He ran a great 800m – that’s how you have to do it – go out hard and get in the race!” Cole ran a very strategic race, coming on strong in the last 100m to win the bronze medal. Liam ran a personal best and made Evan work hard to stay ahead of Liam in the final 50m. It was a very memorable event, with all four CALTAF athletes finishing within 10s of each other.
Doug and Carol Kyle, who founded CALTAF more than 50 years ago and were at the meet to watch the high jump competitions, were clearly delighted when our bantam high jumpers, Ryan and Matthew, shook their hands at the end of their high jump competition. Carol still officiates at high jump competitions, and Doug is often seen working as a track official.
Blair and I could not help but notice that Katy ran with a big smile all weekend.
The parent volunteers at long jump on Saturday, who had endured a long day of raking the pit in driving rain and then snow, looked quite surprised and very pleased when Jasper and Maddie took the time to shake their hands and thank them for their efforts at the end of their long jump competition.
Savanna ran an outstanding 1200m, finishing 5th in 4:04.97s. Blair and I have decided that she is a tough competitor, who always rises to the challenge at meets. Savanna was also 5th in the 300m. Coach Ed commented that, “Annika and Savanna ran well. Like I said, there is a big group of good midget runners right now. Guess what? Our girls are good runners too!”
Thibaut was 3rd of the 2000m athletes in both the 100m (12.83) and 200m (26.67). Coaches Ed and Blair felt that his 100m was especially impressive, with Coach Ed commenting, “Thibaut continues to progress into the “fast guys” group. I think he surprises himself each time out!” Thibaut should expect to be setting the pace for his teammates at training sessions over the next few weeks. J
Despite a false start in the 100m heat – a tough and discouraging way to start a meet – Grace bounced back and went on to run a PB and qualify for the final in the 200m and help her 4x100m team win the gold.
In his first attempt at the 800m, Max ran the first 200m in 30s. To his credit, despite the very fast start, Max was able to hold on and win his heat in 2:42.58s, finishing 9th of twenty-seven athletes overall.
First-year bantam Penny was leading the 800m, until a leg cramp forced her out of the race.
I could not help but admire the midget boys 4x100m relay runners – Cole, Alex, Andrew, Thibaut, Scott and Evan – whose race at the end of the day on Saturday kept being delayed by the officials. The boys were left standing on the track for almost 30 minutes at the peak of the blizzard while the officials allowed the peewees and bantams to run – to the extent that Blair and I considered pulling the two midget teams for fear that the athletes might injure themselves by running when they were so cold. The boys hung in there, and went on to win the gold and silver medals.
The athletes and coaches would like to thank all of the parents and siblings who, despite the rather unpleasant conditions, came out to cheer on the athletes. A special thank you to the mothers who came out on Mother’s Day to support the team. We are most grateful for your continued support. Thank you to Debbie Thirnbeck & Melanie Molloy for the photos!
Thank you also to the parents who gave up their weekend to work as officials or helpers, either on the track or at the field event venues. We would not be able to hold these meets were it not for your willingness to volunteer your time. Again, we are most grateful. Congratulations again to all athletes who competed at the Spring Challenge – well done! What a great start to the outdoor season!
