Staff
The Meaford Coyotes Track Club sent 17 young members to Toronto to compete at the 2018 Minor Track Association Provincial Track and Field Indoor Championships on March 24-25 at York University.
The Grade 8-and-under runners were hungry to pick up where the older Coyotes left off a few weeks ago and were on the prowl for personal best times and a chance to step onto the podium.
After a lengthy delay at the beginning of the meet on Saturday, the Coyotes came out howling. They began their attack early as Thornbury’s Grade 4 student, Kaj Kulalowsky, won gold in the Tyke Boys 1200m, knocking nine seconds off his previous personal best time. Meaford’s Emmett Leary and Brennan Law were close behind in 6th and 8th spots. Leary took 14 seconds off his best time and Law carved 13 seconds off his best. Grade 2 Thornbury student Freja Kulakowsky had a great finishing sprint to take silver in the Mite Girls 400m race. Meaford’s Kara Tichbourne (Grade 7) out-sprinted a pack to take 4th spot in the Senior Girls 1500m.
Sunday morning had an electric atmosphere among the Coyotes as they were more relaxed and excited to make their presence known, with all 17 runners competing in their respective 800m events. Freja Kulakowsky earned her second silver medal of the meet in her Mite Girls 800m race. Meaford’s Liam Law, a Grade 1 SVE student, kept the energy going as he earned bronze in the Mite Boys event, taking eight seconds off his best time. Meaford team mate Nathan Leary took 4th and chopped off 13 seconds from his previous best.
More personal best improvements continued on Sunday with Grade 3 Rimyelle Grady of Desboro in the Tyke Girls 800m and Skyler Carefoot of Owen Sound in the Atom Girls 800m. McKenna Karn, a Grade 7 Coldwater student, had her best race in a long time as she ran a perfectly paced 800m race to knock eight seconds off her previous best. The Coyotes’ final medal on the day came from Collingwood’s Madison Calder (Grade 8) as she unleashed a finishing sprint to snatch bronze in the Senior Girls 800m.
“Overall it was a great weekend!” beamed team coach Kevin Hooper. “We won one gold, two silver and two bronze medals. We also had 14 personal best performances, had seven ‘Top 5’ placings, and had lots to cheer about! Several of our Coyotes just missed running a personal best time by less than two seconds.”
The Coyotes are now on a very well deserved two week break. The team begins their Spring/Summer program on Saturday, April 7. For more information about the team or if you are interested in joining the Coyotes, visit their website at www.meafordcoyotes.com.
Photo: 17 members of the Meaford Coyotes Track Club competed at the 2018 MTA Indoor Track and Field Championships held in Toronto on March 24-25
