Congratulations for the five JD athletes, Shaniah, Erika, Hanna, Cole and Liam, who competed last weekend at the Legion National Midget & Youth Championships in Langley, BC. Four out of our five athletes had at least one top ten finish, and there were many PBs as the athletes were pushed to the limit by top-level competition.
CALTAF as a whole also performed very well, and I would like to extend congratulations to Meghan Lim and Mehrdad Shokoohi, who are the newest national champions from our club. Well done!
JD’s top finisher was first-year midget Shaniah, who placed fourth in the 1500m steeplechase, breaking her own provincial record for girls 14 & under by over five seconds! She missed the Alberta record for girls 15 & under by 0.45 seconds….I have a feeling that record will not last through next year. She also crushed her personal best in the 2000m, running 13 seconds faster than she had ever run before to finish in 6:49.52. Shaniah is one of our most dedicated and hardworking athletes, and it was great to see her rewarded for that. Congratulations Shaniah!
Shaniah in the 2000m
The award for the biggest PB of the meet has to go to Liam, who took 25(!) seconds off of his 1500m steeplechase PB to finish seventh in 4:41.21. Liam has been working really hard at his steeplechase the past few weeks, going from stepping over the barriers rather awkwardly to hurdling them quite efficiently. His general endurance has also improved quite a bit this outdoor season, which was evident in the 1200m, where he took 3 seconds off his PB to finish in 3:28.51. A number of the boys in our group have been trying to crack the 3:30 barrier in the 1200m this season, and Liam turned out to be the one who finally did it. Way to go Liam!
Liam anchoring the medley relay
JD captain Cole closed out a phenomenal season with two PBs (300m and 800m) and a 9th place finish in the very competitive 800m. The 800m was a thrilling finish as you can see from the picture below, with Cole beating out the Team Quebec athlete by 0.06 seconds and losing to the BC athlete by 0.01 seconds. 2:04 is an outstanding 800m time for a midget and Cole already let me know that he is going under 2:00 next year. Can’t wait to see it!
Cole in the home stretch of the 800m
Cole and Liam also ran a medley relay with John Zeng of CALTAF’s sprints group and Mehrdad Shokoohi of our multi-events group. The boys ran a great race, finishing 6th overall, ahead of several provincial all-star teams. Cole in particular ran a great leg, leading off with a 54.2 second 400m and keeping pace with the eventual gold and silver medallists from Team Ontario and Team Alberta. One year ago, the boys would have won a silver medal, as the club relay was separate from the provincial team relay, but this year the two were combined, much to our chagrin!
I also want to congratulate Hanna and first-year midget Erika on their performances, even though it was a tough meet for both of them. Erika aggravated a troublesome back injury in her 200m hurdles, but got some valuable experience at the national level that will serve her well as a second-year midget a year from now. Hanna placed 8th in the hammer throw, and it gives you an idea of what a strong thrower she is when 8th in the country is a bad day at the office! Congratulations girls, you both had great seasons overall!
Photos credit: Kellie Gray.
