The Georgian Bay Coyotes Track club, which has been training young athletes in Meaford since 2010, has always taken pride in being able to provide local youth with opportunities to learn and compete and succeed in athletics. One of the club’s guiding principles is that through consistency, dedication, and hard work everyone can grow and improve in the sport of athletics. Even if you live in a small town such as Meaford, with a lot of hard work you can still compete against the best in the world.
Recently, members of the Georgian Bay Coyotes team travelled to Brampton to participate in a Team Ontario selection meet. The Minor Track Association of Ontario (MTA) will be taking 40 athletes ages 11-17 to compete at the International Youth Track & Field Championships in Landover, Maryland, USA. The MTA consists of almost 3,000 athletes who train and compete in athletics and are among the best in the province in their disciplines.
It was a long wait for some of the Coyote athletes but on June 28, the Team Ontario roster was released which included two Meaford residents who are long-time members of the Georgian Bay Coyotes Track Club: Emmett Leary and Ethan Mei.
Emmett Leary is one of the most seasoned Coyotes athletes, having been part of the team since 2016 when he joined at the age of 7. He is now in his eighth year with the club, having been part of the very small group that trained throughout the Covid-19 pandemic despite portions of it being virtual training. Over the years Emmett has earned 15 Ontario Provincial championship medals and has held two Ontario middle-distance age category running records as well. He is looking forward to his first International Championships competition in a few weeks’ time and will compete in the boys U14 age category in the 800m and 1500m races.
Ethan Mei is also one of the Georgian Bay Coyotes most seasoned athletes having also joined the club in 2016 at the age of 8. He is now in his eighth year with the club and was also part of the team that almost disappeared during the Covid-19 pandemic. Ethan has always taken his performance in running seriously and is really coming into his stride lately as he is dedicating more time to his craft and it is certainly showing. Ethan also has numerous Ontario Provincial Championship medals from the past few years and will also be participating in his first International competition in the boys U16 age category in the 800m and 1500m races.
As is often the case with athletics, there are several channels in which an athlete can be accepted to compete at a championship meet. In World Athletics, athletes are most formally chosen as they are the winners of qualifying competitions, but in many cases athletes can also be permitted to compete if they have met the qualifying times for their races. This is actually the more difficult route for an athlete to go as the qualifying times are set with incredibly difficult standards in order to prevent an influx of athletes from competing.
As this is the case, the Georgian Bay Coyotes are pleased to announce that one additional Meaford athlete will be competing at the International Youth Track & Field Championships. Over the past year of competition, Isabel Spence has met the qualifying times and performance standards to compete as an open class athlete and as such will compete as a member of the Coyotes. Isabel joined the Coyotes in early 2022 and has quickly become one of the leaders among the team. Her work ethic and dedication to the sport of athletics has seen her quickly emerge as the top middle distance runner, for her age, in the Grey Bruce area, having won her first Provincial championship medal in March of this year and also recently claiming gold in each and every middle-distance race at the Bluewater District School Board track and field meet. She will compete in the girls U14 category in the 800m, 1500m and 3000m races.
“It is with great pride that the Georgian Bay Coyotes wish these three athletes the best as they compete in their first International competition,” said the club.
For information about the team or to help support the cost of funding these athletes to compete please visit their website at www.georgianbaycoyotes.com
