On Sunday, June 22, six Georgian Bay Coyote runners travelled to the Terry Fox Stadium in Brampton to participate in the annual Brampton Racers track meet. The meet was one of the Minor Track Association’s smaller events this year, due perhaps to the fact that heat warnings were issued, and the day was the hottest day of the year at this point, rising to a stifling 34 degrees Celsius without the humidity or the rubber track being considered. Despite these factors, our young athletes performed extremely well.
To start the day, the trio of Atom girls, Madelyn Moores, Avery McPhatter, and Iris Herman raced the 1500m. Avery and Iris both set out aiming to break the illusive six-minute barrier that they have been narrowing in on for some time now. Both girls raced very well and incredibly, Iris stopped the clock at exactly 6:00.00. Avery was only eight-tenths of a second behind her. While they will both have to try again to crack that six-minute mark, they both came away with new personal best times. Madelyn Moores crossed the line just before Iris and Avery and the girls took home 3rd, 4th and 5th places respectively.
Coyotes’ Senior Boys Nathan Leary and Coby Robertson were next to toe the line for the 1500m race. Nathan ran a steady race, and though he was a touch off his personal best, he managed to cross the line in 3rd place. Coby held a strong pace throughout and bested his previous time by two seconds, taking 5th place overall.
Atom girl Mila Dolan laced up next, racing the 400m. She was put in the faster of two heats and her determination to compete saw her pushing hard to the end, earning a three-second personal best and a fourth-place finish.
After the lunch break, all four of the Coyotes Atom girls warmed up to race the 800m run. Temperatures had risen to their height by this point of the day, and it was difficult for the girls to complete the warm-up without breaks. Fortunately, Coach Lindsay brought a cooler full of ice and sponges for the kids to get some relief from the heat. The 800m race was run as a single heat, so all four Coyotes were in the mix. Mila Dolan took off hard, showing a powerful stride throughout the race. She finished with a strong sprint and took first place, lowering her personal best time by two seconds. Madelyn Moores paced herself carefully and had a strong finishing kick, taking third place and knocking over four seconds off her previous best time. Avery crossed in sixth and Iris took eighth place. Incredibly, these young ladies racked up enough team points to place the Coyotes in third place out of the 17 teams competing in the Atom girls category.
To end the day, Senior boy Nathan Leary also competed in the 800m race. His heat was combined with some Intermediate-aged boys which made for some great competition. Nathan went out hard, chasing these older boys and held his pace. The Brampton racer behind him worked hard to gain ground, but Nathan was able to increase the gap over the last two hundred meters, finishing in first place against his Senior competitors. He lowered his best time by a second and a half. The Senior boys combined score was also fairly remarkable. Coby and Nathan earned enough points combined to place the Coyotes in 5th place out of the 12 competing teams in the Senior boys category.
“Our Coyotes took a challenging day and faced it head on. They didn’t shy away from the difficult task they faced, and they were rewarded for their efforts. Six new personal bests, four medals and five ribbons proved that these Coyotes could rise to the challenge,” said team coaches.
To find out more about the club, please visit their website at: www.georgianbaycoyotes.com
