Record-setting farewell for Eastdale teen
Trinity Tutti left the high school track and field stage in recordsetting fashion Saturday.
The Eastdale student, already the holder of three Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) throwing records at the midget girls level and one each at junior and senior, added one more to her remarkable resume before calling it a career.
Tutti, Welland’s female athlete of the year for 2017, won gold in senior girls shot put with a throw of 15.24 metres. Brittany Crew set the previous mark of 14.86 metres six years ago while attending Birchmount Park Collegiate in Scarborough.
It was the Cooks Mills resident’s second record-setting gold in as many days at the OFSAA track and field championships in Toronto. Tutti’s throw of 52.77 metres in the senior girls discus bettered the 50.48 gold standard set last year by Grace Tennant of the former South Lincoln Secondary School.
Tutti, who plans on taking a year off school and focusing on training after graduating from Eastdale later this month, came into her fourth — and final — OFSAA holding records for midget girls discus, javelin and shot put, all set in 2015, as well as the record-holder for junior girls shot put, set in 2016.
Beamsville’s Owen Konkle also returned home from the threeday competition held at York University with two gold medals. He set the pace in the boys 800 intellectual in a time of 2:15.82, breaking his year-old record of 2:18.91 in the process, and needed only 12.06 to run the boys 100 intellectual.
Brian Knechtel, also from Beamsville, placed third and was awarded the bronze medal in the boys 800 intellectual.
Governor Simcoe’s Mia Friesen won gold in junior girls 80 hurdles with a time of 11.92.
In the midget girls division, Welland Centennial’s Sierra Skotniski won gold in shot put, with a throw of 13.01 metres; and bronze in discus.
Kate Knafelc of E.L. Crossley completed the open girls 1,500 steeplechase in 5:03.85, fast enough to earn her the gold medal.
Callan Saldutto of Notre Dame was a triple threat — and a triple medallist — in throwing events in the junior boys division. He earned silver in discus, finished right behind Simcoe’s Nathan D’Costa, the silver medallist in javelin; and also was awarded the bronze in discus.
Sir Winston Churchill had a double medallist in both track and field: Eric Campbell, 800, 1,500, midget boys, both silver; Noah Dommasch, high jump, triple jump, junior boys, both bronze.
Eden’s Zoe Phillips raced to the silver medal in the junior girls 400, as did Churchill’s Eric Campbell in the midget boys 800, Beamsville’s Autumn Biggar in the senior girls high jump and St. Catharines Collegiate’s Cassandra Kemp in the girls 800 intellectual.
Bronze medals were awarded to Campbell Lee of Holy Cross, senior boys 1,500; and Kanice McLean of Simcoe, girls 200 wheelchair.
Notre Dame, with 29 points; and Churchill, with 28; finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the final standings for boys teams. Thousand Islands Secondary School of Brockville dominated this division with 86 points overall.
Windsor’s Sandwich Secondary School edged Pickering Dunbarton 58 points to 52 for OFSAA bragging rights in girls events. Crossley, with 24 points, placed 11th despite topping Dunbarton by a 13-10 margin in the open girls category.