Students from grades 7 to 9 from Athabasca, Thorhild, Grassland, Smoky Lake, Waskatenau and Boyle competed in the Junior Track Meet May 31 in Boyle.
A wide range of events took place, including racing, javalin, the long, high and triple jumps, as well as shot put and discuss. The Grade 9s were separated in Group A, while the Grade 8s and 7s were put into Groups B and C, respectively.
Organizer Darrell Bergmann said while Boyle typically does well at these event, its usually pretty even across all the schools who compete.
"We usually see close to 250 athletes every year," Bergmann said. "It's great to see everyone come out and get active in each event, and the competitors usually have a blast at this event."
Records were broken at the event as well.
One girl, 13-year-old Claire Francis from Edwin Parr Composite School in Athabasca, busted a record going back to 1966 in the 3000 metre run, getting a time of 12:25 in the Group C category.
"She beat the old record by 25 seconds," Bergmann said. "This girl really trains hard for her meets, but some of her abilities are just god-given talent. She's just so fast."
Francis said she is really pleased with her achievement.
"I really like running," she said. "While I do sprint, I like distance running more. My goal was to break the record in the 1500 and 3000 m runs, and I'm glad I got one of them."
While Francis did also finish first in the 1500 m run, she said she missed the record by only about four seconds.
"That was unfortunate," Francis added. "But I'm still proud of how I did, and I hope to continue competing when I get into high school as well."
Francis also took first in the 200 m run and the relay, and finished second in the 100 m run.
Her mother, EPC track and field coach Erin Francis, said she is really proud of her daughter.
"She had a really good day," her mom said. "I am proud of most things she does, and she performed really well at the meet."
Coach Francis also pointed out the awesome weather they had at the event.
"Darrell Bergmann was smart when he had postponed the event by one day," she said. "He saw the weather forecast called for rain on May 30, and that's what happened. So, he had it take place on the 31st instead, and it ended up being a good decision."
14-year-old Daisy Riving from Boyle School finished second in the long-jump in her category. She said she has been competing in track and field since the first grade.
"I still enjoy doing it," she said. "You usually have to train really hard, as I also compete in the 1500 m, the relay, as well as in the triple jump."
Another racer, 13-year-old Liam Day from Landing Trails Intermediate School in Athabasca, took second in the 800 m Group C boys event, and took first in the 3000 m C boys.
"I really trained hard to get to this point," said Day. "It's fun to participate, and I really like to compete, and I've been doing this since I was eight years old. So I really enjoy it."
It was also an enjoyable day for EPC student Jacob Hayward. At the end of the day, the 15-year-old took the gold medal in the Class A track category after finishing in first in the 100 m, the 200 m, as well as in both the long and high jumps.
"It can be tough to compete, as it often takes a lot of energy to do," said Hayward. "I've competed all throughout junior high, and now I am looking to continue competing at the high school level as well."
