It was a great day on the track and field front in Barrhead on May 29, as Westlock’s junior high athletes put on a show.
Leading the way was the team from R.F. Staples, which won the divisional banner thanks to the 33 students who placed first or second to earn a spot at the June 5 zone meet in St. Albert.
“The meet went really well,” said phys-ed teacher Dean Fagnan. “We’re going to be taking a good cross section of athletes to zones.”
Leading the way for R.F. Staples was Mariah Letts, who won the senior girls’ 100 metre, 200 metre, long jump and triple jump events.
The next most successful athletes were Nathanael Tabert (junior boys), Kurtis Prodaniuk (junior boys) and Danielle Weston (senior girls) who each won three events of their own.
Led by those four athletes, the R.F. Staples team is looking to be a force to be reckoned with at the zone meet.
In total, the school is sending 16 boys and 17 girls to St. Albert, with at least one athlete competing in each of the 12 disciplines.
Although St. Mary School sent fewer athletes to Barrhead than R.F. Staples had qualify for zones, coach Darcy Romanuik said the meet was a solid success for the school. “It was a good day,” he said. “I think our athletes represented themselves very well.”
St. Mary sent 27 athletes to the divisional meet, and seven of them earned a top-two finish in at least one event to book a spot at the zone meet.
Much like last year, leading the way was Austin Watamaniuk in the intermediate boys’ division. Watamaniuk won the 400 metre and triple jump events, and finished second in the long jump.
The second most decorated athlete was Geraldine Soh, who took second in the intermediate girls’ long jump and triple jump.
When speculating about how the seven St. Mary athletes will do in St. Albert, Romanuik said the hope is for medals, but he recognizes that’s not always going to happen. Instead, he has more noble goals for the competitors.
“Show yourself off in a positive sportsmanship manner and let the results happen,” he said.
