Cochrane High School Cobras are hanging another provincial track-and-field banner from the Cobradome rafters.
Cobras defended their 3A (student population 749-1,250) track title June 5-6 in Lethbridge.
The school took 28 athletes to the meet, amassing 240 points, 21 points ahead of second-place Lacombe in the provincial 3A division.
“It was a really good weekend,” said elated Cobras track coach Esther Sieben. “It was a full team effort because everybody brought something to the table. Everybody pushed a little extra hard to make sure they were one or two places higher.”
The meet marked the first time Cobras borrowed an athlete from another school to fill out their 4x100 senior girl’s relay roster. Schools are allowed to share athletes in events as long as they come from the same Zone, in this case South Central Alberta Zone. Wearing Springbank Community High School green, senior sprinter Tegan Wilson took Callie Morris’s (rugby injury) place on Cobras 4x100 relay squad, which ran away from the field.
No.-2 provincial sprinter Emily Rendell is a Cobra. Wilson is three-time reigning girl’s 100-metre and 200-metre provincial champion. The duo book-ended the Cobras team – Wilson sprinting the opening 100 and Rendell taking the anchor leg – with Leah Polson and Mikaela McNab running the middle legs. The team finished 1.5 seconds ahead of silver-medallists Bishop O’Byrne of Calgary.
The track-and-field triumph culminates a Cobras season in which the school’s athletes excelled in football (provincial champions), soccer (girl’s Division and Zone champions, boy’s Division champions), volleyball (varsity girl’s 3A Zone champions), wrestling (provincial 3A champions) golf and curling.
“It’s that thing, we’re a small school,” coach McNab says. “Obviously, you have to get cross-athletes for sure.
“We have football players out there (quarterback Tae Gordon took provincial gold in junior boy’s javelin in Lethbridge.). We had a volleyball player out there running a 3,000 and a 1,500. You have soccer players. It’s just a great group of kids who are interested not only in track and competing but interested in doing something good for our school.”
Mackenzie Oshanek-Gladue, 6th, int. girl’s 800; 4th int. girl’s 3,000; 8th girl’s open 4x400
Emily Rendell, 1st, sr. girl’s 4x100 relay; 2nd girl’s 100, 4th 200; 8th girl’s open 4x400
Callie Morris, 7th, sr. girl’s discus
Callum Lympany, 6th, jr. boy’s 400; 6th jr. boy’s 800; 10th boy’s open 4x400
Matthew Clooten, 10th, jr. boy’s shotput
Tae Gordon, 1st, jr. boy’s javelin
Erik Nusl, 5th, int. boy’s 100m hurdles; 7th int. boy’s 4x100; 10th boy’s open 4x400
Tomas Rigaux, 6th, int. boy’s long jump; 7th int. boy’s 4x100; 10th boy’s open 4x400
Ethan Forrest, 9th, int. boy’s javelin; 7th int. boy’s 4x100
Leah Polson, 1st, sr. girl’s 4x100; 8th girl’s open 4x400
Mikaela McNab, 1st, sr. girl’s 4x100; 8th girl’s open 4x400
Thane Kondrat, 7th, int. boy’s 4x100
Kehinde Alawiye, 10th, boy’s open 4x400
Nathan Pilling, 1st, boy’s intell 100m
Brynn Anderson, 13th, jr. girl’s 3,000
Alanna Tilotson, 5th, int. girl’s 80m hurdles
Scott Haigh, 12th, sr. boy’s 200
Nelson Mitchel, 9th, sr. boy’s 3,000
(First-ever medals at provincials)
Alex Howells, 2nd, jr. boy’s 3,000
Laura Huck, 3rd, sr. girl’s 400
Sophia Nowicki, 5th, jr. girl’s 3,000
Tegan Wilson, 1st, sr. girl’s 100, 200, 4x100 relay (with CHS); 6th sr. girl’s long jump
