Staff
The Brampton Bullets Indoor Track Meet was held at York University’s indoor 200m track on Saturday, January 20. The Meaford Coyotes Track Club brought 13 of their Grade 8-and-under members to the event to put their early winter training to the test.
After several weeks of harsh winter outdoor training, it was a refreshing experience to compete indoors. Of the 13 Coyotes that competed, six of them had never competed on an indoor track before, so it took some adjusting for them to deal with sharper turns, a rubber surface, lots of noise echos and very dry air, where it felt like their mouth was full of sand when they raced. They responded well and proved they were up for the test.
“In addition to the new experience, many of them also competed in an age group above them to be able to participate in an event long enough for them… we are not sprinters. So some were racing against kids three years older, which is huge when a seven-year-old competes against a ten-year-old. Their goal was to race the clock and see how fast they could run, not worrying about their placing,” explained team coach Kevin Hooper.
Outstanding performances were delivered by several Coyotes.
Madison Calder won two medals on the day. She began with a bronze medal performance in the Senior Girls 1500m and then out-sprinted her competition in the Senior Girls 800m to win gold. Freja Kulakowsky, in her first ever indoor meet, ran away from the pack in the Mite Girls 400m to claim gold. She moved up an age group to also win a bronze medal in the Tyke Girls 800m. Olivia Latham ran a powerful Tyke Girls 800m race to cross the line in second place. Kai Kulakowsky competed in his first indoor meet and came home with a silver medal in the Tyke Boys 800m. Rimyelle Grady and Liam Law were also introduced to the indoor track scene, but didn’t shy away. Rimyelle won bronze in the Tyke Girls 400m and Liam won a silver medal in the Mite Boys 400m race. Other Coyotes who ran exceptional races were Emmett and Nathan Leary, who both ran huge personal best performances.
“Overall it was a great day of racing and very promising for the bigger provincial races later in March. With some solid ground to finally train on now that the snow has melted, our Coyotes will improve by leaps and bounds,” said coach Hooper.
The Team will compete again on Saturday, February 10 at the Flying Angels Indoor MTA Meet held at York University.
