On Wednesday, the Loyalist track and field team travelled to Pauline Johnson Collegiate and Vocational School in Brantford to participate in the Debbie Miller Classic Invitational.
The day started with an exciting result in the Junior Boys’ Discus. Steele, Donville, and Beattie swept the podium, finishing first, second, and third respectively. The early result was a sign of things to come as the Loyalists’ dominated the throwing events. Steele would follow his victory in discus with second-place finishes in both the Junior Boys Shot Put and Javelin competitions. Although Malabre would fail to qualify for the top eight finals in shot put, he improved on each of his throws and gained experience in a new event, javelin. Donville, a newcomer to shotput, would place fourth in the event and also have a strong showing in javelin, finishing sixth.
RLA continued their excellent performances in the Senior Boys’ Division in the field events. With Hansen’s last throw in the javelin event, he dramatically moved from third to first, hitting a personal best in the process. Although Hansen failed to qualify for the finals in the shot put and discus events, he gained valuable competition experience ahead of Zone Championships.
On the track, the Loyalists faced stiff competition, cold, windy weather, and large fields in each event. Jolly-Blackned entered the Novice Boys’ 400 m and 1500 m races. New to the 400 m distance, Jolly-Blackned would finish 15th in a time of 1:12. Jolly-Blackned would finish stronger in the 1500 m event, ending up in 13th.
Beattie and Kim would represent the Loyalists on the track in the Junior Boys’ Division. Beattie (5:28) and Kim (5:31) would finish in ninth and tenth respectively in the 1500 m competition after running strong races. Kim would also compete in the 400 m and earn RLA another top ten finish, placing tenth with a time of 1:07.
Finally, our Senior Boys’ track team consisted of Barry, Li Z, Quinn, Owens, Gravel-Pucillo, and Whitehouse. Barry would have the best result of the group, finishing tenth in the 1500 m with a time of 4:59. Li, Z. had strong showings in the 100 m (13:05) and 400 m (1:03) races. Finishing first in his heat in both races, massive fields would see him finish 18th and 19th positions in the events. Quinn ran hard in both the 400 m and 1500 m races, finishing the 1500 m in 5:21 – good enough for 20th in the event. Owens would get out to a storming start in the 400 m race. Unfortunately, he would not be able to maintain his pace around the final straightaway. A valuable lesson about pacing was learned as he finished in an impressive 1:05. Gravel-Pucillo, running the 400 m distance for the first time, found an event he enjoys. Lastly, Whitehouse represented the Loyalist colours proudly and ran good races in the 400 m and 1500 m races despite his poor choice of foot apparel for the day.
Up next, RLA travels to Welland Centennial Secondary School on Tuesday for the SOSSA Zone Three Championship.
Thank you for your time and continued support,
Captain Krywulak
