The high school track and field season officially kicked off this past Thursday, May 12 with the first competition of the season.
The high school season is short and incredibly difficult, with each meet determining the qualifiers for the next meet; each of which draws athletes from a larger geographical area until ultimately, the athletes get to compete at OFSAA; the Ontario high school championships only a few short weeks after the season begins. Athletes need to be able to run just hard enough to qualify for their next race and not tire themselves out too much as competitions are often less than a week apart and recovery time is short.
On May 12, athletes from our local school board poured into Kincardine for the Bluewater Athletic Association (BAA) meet. The Georgian Bay Coyotes Track club had six athletes competing at this year’s meet; four competing for St. Mary’s High School in Owen Sound and two competing for GBCS in Meaford.
In the Novice boy’s category, Ethan Mei finished first in the 1500m, Haiden Green finished second in the 3000m and third in the 800m, Denon Taylor finished first in the 400m and fourth in the 800m, and Wes Brown finished seventh in the 800m.
In the Novice girl’s category Lindy Kingston finished fourth in the 800m, sixth in the 1500m and first as part of her school’s 4 x 400m relay team. Vani Mahajan finished second in the 800m, third in the 1500m and second as part of her school’s 4 x 100m relay team.
“Overall, it was a great day for our Coyote Athletes with five athletes qualifying to compete at CWOSSA (Central Western Ontario Secondary School Athletics) this upcoming Wednesday, May 18 in Brantford. We wish them success as CWOSSA is one of Ontario’s most difficult regions to progress through,” said the Coyotes.
