St. Tim’s Senior High Track & Field team had solid results at the Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association (CSHSAA) City Track Championships May 26th at Foothills Stadium.
The team was led by bronze medal performances from Mikenna Spademan in the Intermediate Girls triple jump and Josh Novak in the Senior Boys 800m. Both had personal best performances and set the tone for the rest of the team. Other top finishers included Scott Delsing in the Intermediate Boys 3,000m, Maggie Brolsma in the Intermediate Girls 3,000m and 1,500m, Eric Swedlo and Isaiah Springer in the Intermediate Boys 1,500m and 800m, and the Intermediate Girls 4x100m relay team made up of Mikenna Spademan, Maggie Brolsma, Kennedy Michalski and Natashe Le. The Open Boys 4x400m relay team of Eric Swedlo, Scott Delsing, Isaiah Springer and Josh Novak also had a strong performance on the day. School records were set by Elijah Springer in the 400m and the boys 4x400m relay also smashed our school record.
"I thought it was great that Josh Novak ended his high school track career on a high note. It was the first time he won a medal at cities and came pretty close to making provincials ... I think it was a good way for him to go out. I think it was pretty motivating for the younger athletes so it was good," said Thunder head coach Travis Cummings of senior high team's efforts at City Championships. "Mikenna Spademan has been consistent all season and had some pretty big jumps in the triple (jump) this year, so it was also good for her to end the season off on a high note. Both of them (Novak and Spademan) showed some good leadership for the people that are going to be around next year. Both of them got deserving efforts so I was really happy for that and those performances really set the tone for the rest of the day." "We have a lot of personal bests and top four or five finishes so it was really great to see everyone compete to the best of their abilities."The St. Tim’s junior high track & field followed up and bested the senior high team’s efforts June 11 at Glenmore Athletic Park. The team dominated the Calgary Catholic Tier II City Championship meet, winning a total of 22 medals. There were many standout performances, with every relay team ending off the championships with a medal; a huge feat for the relatively small track program. The Grade 7 boys 4x100m relay team of Trenton Spademan, Ethan Clazie, Nick Hooper, and Liam Keyes won a bronze medal, the Grade 9 Co-Ed 4x100m relay team of Darci Petersen, Emily Carvalho, Jacob Mate, and Liam McCullough also won a bronze medal. The Grade 8 Co-Ed 4x100m relay of Caleb Blough, Jonah Springer, Holly Moores, and Makenna Myatt won a silver medal after the first place team in their team division was disqualified for an illegal exchange ... the top relay result came from the very strong Grade 9 Girls 4x100m relay team of Grace Boston, Carling Bremner, Miranda Hobbs, and Brianna Reis. The girls won their competition in very convincing fashion.
Individual results did not disappoint either as St. Timothy's newly-crowned Junior High Athletes of the Year Darci Petersen and Jacob Mate proved their worth. Mate dominated the Grade 9 boys shot put, winning by a large margin, he also placed fourth in the 800m. Darci Petersen won the Grade 9 Girls 800m and 300m. Liam McCullough won the gold medal in a dominating performance the in Grade 9 boys 800m while Bella Fauth won a bronze medal in Grade 8 girls long jump. Shae Jeffries took home a silver medal in the Grade 8 girls long jump while Grade 9 student Grace Boston finished third in the Grade 9 Girls 800m and second in the 300m ... her teammate Emily Carvalho took second in the Grade 9 Girls 800m and third in the 300m.
Holly Moores won a gold medal in the Grade 8 girls 800m and silver in the 300m with Makenna Myatt bringing back a silver medal in the Grade 8 girls 800m. Sadie Kupery won bronze in the Grade 9 girls discus while Trenton Spademan had a dominating tape to tape win in Grade 7 boys 800m to win the gold in his event. Brianna Reis won two silver medals in the Grade 9 girls long jump and 100m while Miranda Hobbs blew the competition away in the Grade 9 girls 200m, winning the gold medal by a large margin. St. Timothy had podium sweeps in the Grade 9 Girls 800m and 300m made up of a team of three in Darci Peterson, Emily Carvalho and Grace Boston. The Thunder also finished one-two finish in the Grade 8 girls 800m due to outstanding performances by Holly Moores and Mikenna Spademan.
"We're looking really good with all our Grade 9s coming up next year ... our high school team is going to be really strong," Cummings said of his junior high team. "I was happiest with our relays. We had really good exchanges and we've only had relays for the last two years so its something the students have been working on at lunch and on their own quite a bit so it was nice to see the ahrd work pay off. All of our relay teams won medals so it really bodes well for when they join the high school ranks next year and the years to follow."Next up for select Junior and Senior Athletes is the Alberta Summer Games Trials June 15-17 at the CALTAF Track Classic at Foothills Stadium, and for those who qualify, the Games are taking place June 18-22 in Grande Prairie.
