Congratulations to all who competed this past weekend at OFSAA. Those in attendance witnessed some spectacular performances both on the track and in the field. As with most championship meets, there are ups and downs, exciting results and surprise winners. Here are a few stories from the weekend...
Marcel Scheele was golden in Senior Boys 2000mSC Photo cred: Athletics Canada
Josh Mather was struggling through the rounds in javelin; the thought of this being his last OFSAA weighing heavy on his mind. Sitting in 3rd after 5 throws, Josh cleared his mind and launched a 62.26m throw FOR THE WIN! This was over 5m further than his previous best throw on the day. Talk about rising to the challenge in the 11th hour!
Kaylyn Hall laid down an absolutely huge personal best in the heats of the senior girls 100mH of 13.60s. I think she wanted to send a message after what she felt was a disappointing finish at regionals. With less than favourable wind conditions in the final and a not so great start out of the blocks, she found herself chasing the field down the entire race. It was until the last hurdle, where Kaylyn managed to take the lead and hang on for gold.
Megan Langhorn might take the award for most emotional win of the weekend. In what is being talked about as the most competitive junior girls pole vault competition in OFSAA history, Megan found herself on top of the podium with a new 15cm personal best vault of 3.30m. When she went over to celebrate with coach Dave Collins, she was heard saying "this never happens to me!" Cue tears. Teammate Monica Grigore was also involved in the excitement in this event. On her last attempt over 3.30m, she cleared the bar, but unfortunately couldn't push the pole away hard enough and it fell back onto the bar, knocking it down. With every reason to be upset, she showed incredible sportsmanship and celebrated her teammate's victory.
Tight finishes made for some exciting racing on the mid-distance and distance side of things. Will Stewart came into the 800 ranked 6th and managed a strong lean in the final to take the number 1 spot in blistering new pb of 1:51.78, only 0.07s ahead of 2nd. Evan Burke battled hard down the homestretch in the senior boys 3000m, taking the silver medal with a huge pb of 8:26.76, missing the top of the podium by a mere 0.44s
Megan Langhorn won the junior girls pole vault with a new pb of 3.30m. Coach Dave Collins (also teacher at Oakridge) is one happy guy!
BY THE NUMBERS...
Gold: 5
Silver: 2
Bronze: 4
Total Medals: 11
Here are our medalists...
Clarissa Sladek (Medway) - Bronze Junior Girls 3000m
Emma Hendriksen (Holy Cross) - Bronze Junior Girls High Jump
Megan Langhorn (Oakridge) - Gold Junior Girls Pole Vault
Lucy Tesseyman (Banting) - Silver Junior Girls Discus
Makayla Roy (Stratford NW) - Bronze Junior Girls Javelin
Owen McDonald (Strathroy) - Bronze Junior Boys Pole Vault
Kaylyn Hall (Beal) - Gold Senior Girls 100mH
Marcel Scheele (St. Mary's DCVI) - Gold Senior Boys 2000mSC
Evan Burke (South) - Silver Senior Boys 3000m
Will Stewart (Banting) - Gold Senior Boys 800m
Josh Mather (Strathroy) - Gold Senior Boys Javelin
Josh Mather won senior boys javelin on his last throw!
Full results of our club members...
Junior Girls
Clarissa Sladek (Medway) – 9th 1500m (4:48.45), Bronze 3000m (10:18.58)
Emma Hendriksen (Holy Cross) – 5th 80mH (12.38), Bronze High Jump (1.63m), 4th Long Jump (5.17m)
Monica Grigore (Oakridge) – 4th Pole Vault (3.20m)
Megan Langhorn (Oakridge) – Gold Pole Vault (3.30m)
Lily Spoozak (CCH) – 9th Discus (29.28m)
Lucy Tesseyman (Banting) - Silver Discus (34.68m)
Makayla Roy (Straford NW) - Bronze Javelin (39.51m)
Junior Boys
Owen McDonald (Strathroy) – 16th 400m (52.66), Bronze Pole Vault (3.60m)
Chris Caruso (Oakridge) - 4th Pole Vault (3.60m)
Matthew Mason (Laurier) - 12th 3000m (9:19.35)
Justin Sanders (STA) – 20th 3000m (9:32.34)
Senior Girls
Kaylyn Hall (Beal) – Gold 100mH (14.07s)
Sabrena Small (Laurier) – 18th 100m (12.74s), 18th 200m (26.50s)
Zoe Burke (South) – 11th 3000m (10:11.12)
Olivia Walker (CCH) – 7th Pole Vault (3.15m)
Christy Rizzo (Saunders) - 5th Pole Vault (3.40m)
Chloe Knox (Lucas) – 6th Triple Jump (11.55m), 5th Long Jump (5.48m)
Natasha Gubbels (St. Andre Bessette) – 9th Shot Put (10.80m)
Laura Kelly (Laurier) – 16th Javelin (30.63m)
Alison Stephens (Chatham-Kent) - 4th Discus (37.01m)
Senior Boys
Marcel Scheele (St Mary's DCVI) - Gold 2000mSC (5:52.53), 9th 3000m (8:39.00)
Adrian Livingston (Msg. Bruyere) – 14th 100m (11.08s)
Evan Burke (South) - Silver 3000m (8:26.76)
Eric Gareau (Msg. Bruyere) – 6th 1500m (3:56.19), 11th 800m (1:56.58)
Will Stewart (Banting) – Gold 800m (1:51.78)
Josh Mather (Strathroy) - Gold Javelin (62.26m), 9th Discus (41.87m)
Owen Mueller (STA) – 8th Discus (44.62m)
With the high school season now over, many athletes look towards AO's and Nationals. Best of luck the rest of the outdoor club season!