| Monday, February 23 2009 - Junior Speedsters Improve In Ohio |
This past weekend, seven Speed River junior members competed at the Rubber City Indoor Open at the University of Akron in Ohio. Over 500 Ohio high school athletes competed in this event. High school track and field in the United States is taken very seriously: it is comparable to Junior Hockey Leagues in Canada. Despite being intimidated by the magnitude of the event, the River’s young athletes rose to the opportunity of competing against some of the best high school athletes in the US.
Marisa Cornwall (Guelph, ON) finished 13th in the top seeded section of the girls 200m dash in a highly competitive field. Cornwall’s time of 27.62 is a very competitive time for this time of the year. Cornwall also finished 21st in a field of 77 athletes in the 60m dash with a respectable time of 8.48. Teammates Emily Gordon (Guelph, ON) and Shannon Harding (Aberfoyle, ON) completed the 200m distance with personal best times of 29.17 and 30.29, respectively. Both Gordon and Harding improved their 200m times by over 1 second since the last time they competed in early December.
Twin sisters Heather and Lesley Rayner (Guelph, ON), and teammate Amber Ozols (Guelph, ON) all competed in the girls 400m. The Rayner sisters improved their personal best times to 1:02.51 and 1:03.55 to finish 11th and 13th in the top section of the 400m dash. Ozols, who has been focusing on her high school volleyball season at J.F. Ross since January, cruised her way to a new indoor personal best of 1:09.68. Lesley Rayner and Amber Ozols also competed in the girls 60m hurdles in preparation for the 400m intermediate hurdles event during the outdoor season.
Although spending the weekend with 6 girls, sole male member of the Speed River junior sprints and hurdles group, Charlie Sutton (Guelph) was able to focus on his performance by sprinting his way to a new personal best time of 53.35 in the 400m dash. Sutton also managed a time of 7.72 seconds in the 60m dash.
The group will now compete at the Indoor Junior Provincial Championships on March 7th and 8th at York University against some of the best junior athletes in Ontario.The outdoor season looks very promising for our junior sprinters who will be aiming to qualify for the High School Provincial Championships (OFSAA) in June, and the Canadian Junior and Youth Track and Field Championships during the summer.
Any high school athlete interested in joining the club should contact Max Paquette for more information. |
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| Monday, February 2 2009 - Watson Impresses at Penn State |
Rob Watson of the Speed River Track and Field Club put on quite a performance at the Penn State National Inviational in State College, Pennsylvania. Watson, last year’s Olympic Trials Champion in the 3000 meter steeplechase narrowly missed two time Olympian Robert Gary’s field house record in the 3000 meters with a 7:59.49 clocking. Watson did however record the fastest time by a Canadian so far this year.
“(The Race) worked out perfectly, sub eight is kind of a barrier so I am pretty happy.” commented Watson after the race.
Watson’s teammates Taylor Milne and Tim Konoval did not fare as well. Milne was with Watson most of the race before fading badly over the last kilometer to finish in 8:22.48, while Konoval finished in 8:31.35.
Video of the race is available on flotrack, as well as a post race interview with Watson |
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