The Foothills Falcons captured the divisional track and field meet, but it seemed like it was the host Holy Trinity Academy Knights who had the wings.
The Falcons won the Foothills divisional track meet on May 16 in Okotoks followed by Holy Trinity Academy (HTA) in second and the Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartans third.
“I think it was the field events that won if for us,” Falcons coach Carolyn Lenstra said. “Our throwers and jumpers pulled through for us, but HTA definitely dominated on the track — especially with the relays and their middle distance runners.”
The Okotoks areas will be well represented at the South Central Zone meet today (May 23) in Calgary because the top two athletes in each event at divisionals advanced to zones. Foothills Falcon Rory Forrester will have a busy day as he qualified for zones in three events in the Junior division.
“Rory is a very good athlete and I expect him to have a real good chance to advance to provincials, especially in the long jump,” said Lenstra.
Forrester won the Junior boys long jump with a leap of 5.48m.
“My first jump I went ahead of everybody with a 4.94 metres and I was able to improve that to 5.48,” Forrester said. “I was happy with my day because I am going to zones in three events... I think I should do okay at zones, especially in the long jump, I’ve got a lot of help from my coach Dillon Popkes.
Forrester is a member of the Okotoks Dawgs Academy and credits his speed training in baseball for his success in track and field.
Another Dawg, pitcher Erin Smith, won the Junior boys javelin despite having to balk on the approach to his winning throw of 39.51m. He had to pull up because someone cut across the throwing area.
“I just noticed him right at the end so I held on to the javelin and went running past the (foul) line,” Smith said. “They gave me a re-throw and that’s when I had my best one.”
Smith also finished second in the Junior boys discus and shot put to qualify for zones. He was beaten by Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartan Coltan Beattie in both events, who will also be going on to zones.
Foothills Falcon Alex Ivan finished first in the Senior boys 200m and the 400m. Ivan, who won the bronze medal in the 400m at the high school provincials last year, easily won the 400m at divisionals in a time of 51.38 seconds, more than six seconds ahead of second-place Tariq Hammond of HTA.
Ivan was also ran the second leg of the Falcons Senior boys 4x400m relay which easily won at zones in a time of 3:49.09. The team consists of Josh Koshman, Ivan, Devin Bablitz and anchor Tibor Van den Wildenbergh.
“Alex gave us a really big lead but I was still a little nervous because Michael (HTA anchor Michael Quick) is pretty quick,” Van den Wildenbergh said. “He gained on me, but we won by quite a bit.”
The Falcons finished in a time of 3:49.09 while the Knights clocked in at 4:00.75.
Fast Knights
So much for the so-called clunky Knights in armour. The HTA Knights had speed to burn at the divisionals meet. They won five of the six 4x100m relays. None of them may have been a surer bet than the Knights’ Intermediate team. Three of the four members on the team, Nolan Benesh, Ryder Stone and Braeden Salverda, had finished first, second and third respectively in the Intermediate boys 100m final. Their fourth runner, Hunter Cooper was first in the 200m.
The team’s anchor, Stone, could have jogged to the finish line when he go the baton.
“It felt nice not to have to gain anything because the guys had given me a pretty big lead,” Stone said. “All I focused on was my form and hanging on to the baton.”
Stone said the team was confident they had a good chance of winning.
“We just didn’t want to mess up the exchange,” Stone said. “Even if we had to stop before getting the baton, we weren’t going to miss it.”
The Knights finished in a time of 46.94 seconds while Foothills Composite was second at 52.34. The Knights also won the Senior girls 4x100m relay.
“We have the same team as last year,” said the team’s third runner Emily Vacy-Lyle. “Last year we made it to the zone finals but area hand-offs were bad. We are going to work on our handoffs before zones. Our goal is to get to provincials.”
The team consisted of Melissa Bass, Emma Bibault, Emily Vacy-Lye and Evelyn Vacy-Lyle. Bibault also easily won the Senior girls 800m and 1,500m in a time of 2:18.03 and 5:09.15 respectively. She has been to provincials each of the past two years.
“My goal is to make it on the podium this year,” she said. “I have been focusing on my track all year.”
Michael Quick, who won the Junior boys 1,500m gold medal at high school provincials last year, easily won the Intermediate boys 800m and 1,500m this year.
Quick’s time in the Intermediate boys 800m was 1:59.53 and in the 1,500m his time was 4:12.53.
Long-distance Spartans
A Strathcona-Tweedsmuir Spartan (STS) was practically running by herself in the Junior girls 3,000m. Claudia Belanger completed the race in 11:19.84, nearly a minute ahead of HTA’s Claire Thorimbert at 12:04.
“It is hard to run by yourself because I like to have someone to push me,” said Belanger a Millarville resident.
“My fastest time in the 3,000m is 10:22. I didn’t want to kill myself today, I know I will be pushed at zones and provincials — if I can get to provincials.”
Belanger also won the 1,500m in a time of 5:08.94.
Her STS teammate Gillian Ceyhan finished second in a time of 5:23.57.
“I didn’t let myself worry about Claudia,” said Ceyhan, who lives in the Heritage Pointe area.
“I just concentrated on my own race and finishing second to get to zones.”
She is also going to zones in the Junior girls 800m after finishing first at 2:30.20 just ahead of Foothills Falcon Natalie Valleau. However, a pretty good Senior finished ahead of her.
“Emma (Bibault) was also in that race because there were no Senior girls,” Ceyhan said.
The other schools competing at divisionals were the Edison Eagles and Notre Dame Collegiate. Highwood High School and Oilfields High School did not have track and field teams this year.
