High marks in distance education
Niagara athletes dominate throwing events at Ontario track and field championships
Niagara athletes went the distance, all the way to the top step of the podium in three cases, in throwing events at the 2017 Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) Track and Field Championships.
High school students from the region won at least one medal in five divisions and were in contention in all but two of the 20 throwing categories at the threeday competition that wrapped up Saturday in Belleville.
Only junior boys discus and open boys para shot put didn’t feature someone from Niagara competing in the finals.
Nowhere was the domination in throwing events more evident than in senior girls discus, where Grace Tennant, South Lincoln, 50.48 metres; Trinity Trutti, Eastdale, 48.14; and Kambrie Luciani, Welland Centennial, 42.90; finished 1-2-3.
Tennant, who in the fall will begin attending Kent State University in Ohio on a track scholarship, earned a second gold medal as an early graduation present when she edged Tutti 13.88 metres to 13.44 in senior girls shotput.
Luciani nearly went home with a second medal but wound up placing fourth in senior girls javelin by less than a half-metre, 38.09 to 37.70.
Notre Dame’s Callan Saldutto, with a throw of 54.20 in midget boys discus, also won gold, while Governor Simcoe’s Kanice McLean, 2.5 metres, open girls para shot; and Simcoe’s Emma McDougall, 37.34, junior girls discus; earned silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Falling just short, with fourthplace finishes, were Curtis Egert, Notre Dame, senior boys javelin, 52.48; and Colin Ratcliffe, E.L. Crossley, midget boys javelin, 45.50.
Saldutto also competed in midget boys javelin finishing seventh.
His older sister Sarah jumped a record 5.84 metres for the gold medal in junior girls long jump. The previous record, 5.69 metres; was set in 2009.
She earned the silver in junior girls 80-metre hurdles in a time of 11.56.
Autumn Biggar and Owen Konkle both set OFSAA records on their way to winning gold on the final day of competition on Saturday.
Biggar’s jump of 1.76 in junior girls high jump beat the 1.75 standard set in 2007, while Konkle’s 2:18.91 in the open boys 800 intellectually impaired bested the record of 22:22.59 that he set at OFSAA last year.
Konkle earned a silver medal after he was edged 12.25 to 12.33 in the open boys 100 intellectually impaired.
Quinton Duemo of Saint Francis won the gold medal in the midget boys high jump with a leap of 1.85 metres.
Also wrapping up the high school track and field season with two provincial medals were Notre Dame’s Kendra Leger, silver, senior girls 100 hurdles, 13.68; silver, senior girls 100, 12.21; and Crossley’s Sofia Labricciosa, silver, midget girls 300 hurdles, 45.34; bronze, midget girls 400, 58.87.
Kanice McLean, Simcoe, won the silver in open girls 200 wheelchair in a time of 1:47.74.
Dante Kellar, also from Simcoe, finished the midget boys 400 in 51.35, fast enough to give him the bronze medal.
Also placing third at the Ontario championships was Sir Winston Churchill’s Noah Dommasch, who jumped 1.75 metres in midget boys high jump.
Tre Ford, Tyrell Ford, Joel Ingram and Owen Protulipac combined to give A.N. Myer the silver in the senior boys 4x100 relay.
Notre Dame, with 42 points; finished fourth overall in the girls team category behind Pickering Ajax, 53.50; Strathroy, 44; and Windsor Sandwich, 42.50.
The Welland school also placed fourth in the junior girls and senior girls points, while Crossley finished ninth in midget girls.
In the midget boys team category, Crossley finished seventh in midget boys and Saint Francis 10th.