Results from the Dino Opener

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From left: Phillip John Alex and Tom celebrating their new track record in the 4x200m relay (photo courtesy of Coach Ed)

I would like to congratulate all of the JD athletes – Madeline, Ella, Kiannah, Caitlin, Corrina, Deia, Cam, Kamila, Hanna, Lauren, Annette, Lisa, Kyle, Isaac, Harry, Cole, Tom, Ben, Phillip, Alex, John, Andrew and Patrick – who competed at the Dino Opener yesterday. Among them, these twenty-three athletes produced some outstanding results. The athletes have been looking very strong during our training sessions, so I was expecting them to run well. However, to say that they ran well would be an understatement. The athletes far exceeded my expectations. They had a great day! My heartiest congratulations to you all! What a great start to the indoor season. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Given that this was the first meet of the year, and that the group includes so many new athletes who were competing in their first meet, I was very impressed with the way all athletes carried on like seasoned veterans. Coach Ed noted that, “all of the kids who were in their first track meet looked well prepared.” You warmed up when you were supposed to, cooled down and stretched after your events, arrived at the start line in plenty of time, and looked remarkably composed out on the track. All of this was done with little supervision, allowing the coaches to focus on coaching the JD athletes who were on the track. It was very impressive! I would especially like to congratulate the group’s youngest athletes – Annette, Lisa, Andrew and Patrick – who looked like old pros out on the track. Well done athletes!
  • I would like to acknowledge the many displays of good sportsmanship that I saw during the meet – words of encouragement to opponents at the start line and handshakes at the finish line. At the end of the meet, the official at the start line made a point of coming to find me and telling me how well behaved the CALTAF JD athletes were. Thank you all for being such fine ambassadors for CALTAF. Coach Hayleigh commented on how supportive the athletes were of each other, and I agree that it was heartwarming to hear you cheering each other on from the sidelines and congratulating each other at the finish line.
  • The team of Alex to Phillip to John to Tom shattered the track record set in 2011 in the 12-13 years 4x200m relay, finishing 1st of five teams in 1:51.40s, beating the old record by an impressive 15.31s. Congratulations to the new record holders in the 12-13 years boys 4x200m relay! Coach Blair, who was a member of the (2000) CALTAF team that currently holds the provincial record (1:44.50s) in the indoor 4x200m relay for first-year midgets, is a little worried about his record! In that same relay race, our much younger team of Cole to Ben to Patrick to Andrew finished less than a second off the old record pace in 2:07.32s. Well done boys!
  • Our two teams in the girls’ 12-13 years 4x200m relay finished 1st and 2nd of seven teams. Congratulations to the team of Kamila to Lisa to Annette to Corrina who finished 1st in 2:04.68s and to the team of Deia to Hanna to Cam to Lauren who placed 2nd in 2:08.43s. Well done ladies!
  • The most impressive display of strategic running came from one of the group’s youngest athletes, Annette, who tucked herself in behind the leader for the first three laps of her 800m race and then took off on the final lap, winning easily in an impressive 2:42.52s. Annette missed the track record by less than a second. Coach Michelle wrote that, “Annette had an awesome race” and her fellow coaches could not agree more. Well done Annette!
  • One of the most determined and confident runs came from Kamila in the 800m. Kamila took the lead early in the race and never looked back, finishing 1st of eleven 13-year-old athletes in a very impressive 2:29.14s. Well done Kamila! I think you are the only athlete I have ever seen run an entire 800m with a big smile on your face!
  • Annette demonstrated what a versatile athlete she is by winning the 800m and coming 2nd of seventeen athletes in the 60m, where she finished in an impressive 9.14s. Well done Annette!
  • Kamila and Corrina both beat the track record in the 800m. Kamila beat the record by an impressive 10.71s and, having finished 1st in the race, will be the new record holder in that event. Corrina took 3.19s off the old record, and finished an impressive 4th of eleven athletes in 2:36.66s. Corrina demonstrated in the 60m that she also has great speed, placing 9th of twenty-four athletes in 9.24s. Well done ladies!
  • Tom and John, two of JD’s new athletes, accomplished something that I do not think any CALTAF athlete has done before. They beat the track records in all of their events – both their two individual events and in the relay, as outlined above. A remarkable feat! Tom placed 2nd of fifteen 13-year-old athletes in the 60m in a time of 8.01s, beating the old record by more than a third of a second. In the 150m, Tom finished 2nd of nine athletes in 19.44s, beating the record of 20.75s. John also beat the meet records in both the 60m and 150m, finishing 4th of fifteen athletes in the 60m in 8.17s and 5th of nine athletes in the 150m in 20.23s. Well done boys!
  • Somehow, there was a mix-up at the start line of the girls 13-years 150m, and Deia missed her race. The officials threw Deia into the next race on the track, which happened to be the 150m heat with the 13-year-old boys who had the fastest seed times. Not one to be intimidated, Deia did her best to keep up with the boys and ran a PB (personal best) 24.49s. Well done Deia!
  • Despite having to run up with the older, university-aged athletes, the relay team of Ella to Madeline to Kiannah to Caitlin ran a strong race. Well done ladies!
  • It is clear to me that JD’s veteran athletes have improved remarkably during the year that I was in Africa. Kiannah was very impressive coming out of the blocks in the 60m, while Caitlin surprised me with her speed in the 4x200m relay. Harrison, who had little time to practice the 60m hurdles before the meet, took a full second off his PB (personal best), finishing in 4th in 10.17s. Hanna looked very strong in both the 60m, where she finished 3rd of twenty-four athletes in 8.77s, and the 150m, where she placed 4th of twenty-one athletes in a personal best 21.77s. Madeline ran a strong 800m, taking more than 8 seconds off her personal best, while Lauren and Cam ran personal bests in the 60m. Well done veterans – Kiannah, Caitlin, Harrison, Madeline, Lauren, Cam and Hanna.
  • Lisa, one of our newest and youngest athletes, demonstrated her speed and strength by coming second in both of her races. Lisa finished 2nd of eleven 11-year-old athletes in the 60m in 9.20s, and was 2nd of nine athletes in the 150m, where she finished in 23.51s. Well done Lisa!
  • Coach Blair commented that our final training session before the meet, where we devoted much time to 60m starts and waterfall starts for the 800m and 4x200m relay, was time well spent, and I could not have agreed more. Time and again, the JD athletes were first out at the start and a step ahead before the races had barely begun. Well doneathletes – you looked very impressive at the start.
  • In the 13-year-old boys’ 60m, Tom (8.01s), John (8.17s), Phillip (8.24s) and Alex (8.34s) all beat the track record of 8.36s. Well done boys!
  • Coach Ed was impressed with Ella’s performance throughout the meet, commenting that, “I thought Ella did very well for a newbie moving into a very competitive age group.”
  • In the 14-year-old boys 60m, Harrison (8.26s) beat the track record of 8.27s. Coach Ed’s comment regarding Harrison’s 60m was, ” Harrison’s 60m was the best I’ve ever seen him.”
  • One of the gutsiest displays of the meet came in the 14-15 years 4x200m relay. Kyle, despite battling pneumonia since October, came out and ran the 4x200m knowing that if he didn’t, our lack of an extra runner would mean that three of his teammates would not have the opportunity to run the relay. As it turned out, another athlete on the team was ill and missed the entire meet, so the team was still short a runner. Alex, who had already run the 60m, 800m and 4x200m offered to run the 4x200m relay a second time and, despite all of his earlier running, ran a very impressive anchor leg for the team. A very well earned first-place relay ribbon for Kyle and Alex, and teammates Isaac andHarrison, who also ran very well.
  • Isaac impressed his coaches with his speed, both in the relay and his individual events. In the 200m, Isaac finished in 30.06s, beating the track record of 30.62s. Well doneIsaac!
  • It was good to see so many JD athletes competing in the 800m, considered by many to be the most challenging event in track. In their respective races, Annette and Kamilafinished 1st, Andrew was 2nd, Alex was 3rd, Corrina and Cole were 4th, Ben was 5th, Madeline was 6th, Lauren was 7th and Cam was 8th. Coach Ed commented that hethought “the 800s were exceptionally good and that the (distance) group looks strong.” Well done 800m runners! Coach Blair was very impressed with your effort!

Congratulations again to all athletes who participated in the meet. You should be delighted with those results. The coaches are most impressed! Well done!

A few of you did not pick up your ribbons. I have them and will hand them out this week.

Thank you to all the parents who showed up to cheer on the athletes. The coaches and athletes appreciate your support. Thank you also to those dedicated parents who endured a very long day as volunteer officials at the meet. We are most grateful.

Our next meet is on Saturday 5th January. It is the second meet of the Calgary Indoor Series, the Dino Classic. I will send out an email before the holiday break asking for entries. In the meantime, the full meet info is on page 5 of the attached information.

Coaches Hayleigh, Blair and I will see you tomorrow/Monday for our training session. Knowing that you will still be tired from the competition, we will have fun with some recovery running, hurdles and high jump. Have a good rest today – you have earned it. J Robin

Robin Barclay