Of the nine Westlock athletes who traveled to Foote Field in Edmonton for the provincial track and championships, just one brought home a medal — but all did very well in their events.
“Everybody was able to place Top 10 in one of their events, which I thought was just fantastic,” R.F. Staples track coach Meaghan McKenzie said.
The high point of the weekend was Grade-12 student Amelia Kulmatyski’s third-place finish the shot put — a very satisfying result considering she finished fourth place last year, just off the podium.
“Last year, going into the last round of throwing for shot put she had been in third, and somebody passed her in that last round,” she said.
“It was really close last year.”
While a gold medal is the ideal goal for any athlete going into a high-level meet, McKenzie said nobody has anything to hang their heads about considering the high level of competition.
“This year we had more athletes (at provincials) than we’ve sent in a long time, so that was great to see,” she said.
“For all of them to finish in the Top 10 in the province … it’s not a gold medal, but it’s pretty fantastic.”
She added that at the provincial level, many of the athletes train in track clubs, as well as with their schools, so for a group from small-town Westlock to get in there and compete with them is a big achievement in and of itself.
Looking back on the season as a whole, McKenzie said she’s been very happy with the commitment all of the field athletes have shown
“It was a lot to ask for them to train three times a week,” she said.
“With all the other sports and school commitments, I think they did really well.”
Next year’s team is shaping up to be even better than this version, she added, since many of them have already told her they want to train harder and start earlier in the year.
“It’s great to hear they want to be pushed even harder next year,” McKenzie said.
