Broken records and podium finishes highlighted end-of-season track and field meets across the Interlake.
École Stonewall Centennial School won the large school Interlake School Division Middle School divisional banner June 2 in Stonewall. Grosse Isle won the small school banner. Pictured left: ESC Grade 5 and 6 athletes; right: ESC Grade 7 and 8 athletes
Stonewall played host to the Interlake School Division middle school divisional championships on June 2, where some of the region’s athletes found great success.
From École Stonewall Centennial School, Preston Burns broke the junior boys 100-metre divisional record with a time of 11.94 seconds, surpassing the previous mark of 12.06 set by Noel Bartley of Stony Mountain School in 1992.
Lianne Beirnes (Centennial) also set a new intermediate girls 100-metre record with a time of 12.95 seconds, eclipsing Lauren Anderson’s previous record of 13.02 set in 2004.
Centennial’s junior boys relay team of Burns, Matthew Evans, Zach Lamb and Kolsen Jira ran a time of 55.34 seconds, breaking the previous record of 56.34 set by their own school in 2018.
Gaia Turner (Centennial) recorded a divisional-record jump of 1.47 metres in the Grade 8 girls high jump, edging the previous mark of 1.46 metres set by Lisa Urbanski of Stony Mountain School in 1981.
“I have some teachers at school who are really supportive,” said Turner. “At second break at school, all the high jumpers go to the gym and practise. They sometimes film my jump so I can slow it down and get a better look at what I am doing. Also, all my coaches at my club in Beausejour are awesome. They give me lots of good tips and encouragement. They have taught me all the basics of high jump, like the knee drive, using your arms and arching your back, but they have also taught me that attitude is key to success.”
Azzam Ball of Grosse Isle School also broke a record in the primary boys discus with a throw of 30.45 metres.
His performance helped Grosse Isle capture the small-school banner, while Centennial’s record-setting performances helped secure the large-school banner.
Following the meet, the division named its athletes of the meet. Zachary Schram (Stony Mountain), Beirnes (Centennial), Lamb (Centennial), Jocelyn Hueging (Woodlands School), Ball (Grosse Isle), Emma Fingas-Green (Centennial) and Callia Cook (Teulon Elementary School) all received the honour.
The divisional championships were followed by the Athletics Manitoba Provincial Junior High Championships on June 9 at the University of Manitoba. The event featured Grade 7 to 9 athletes who had earned podium finishes at divisional meets across Manitoba.
Headlining the day’s performances was Lacey Learning, an independent athlete from Collège Stonewall Collegiate, who captured three gold medals in the Grade 9 girls triple jump, long jump and 100 metres.
It capped a strong season that saw her break the previous zone record in junior varsity girls triple jump with a leap of 10.74 metres, nearly a full metre farther than the previous mark.
“I’m very happy with how I performed at zones,” said Learning. “It’s given me some motivation to see how far I can go in track and field, not just in triple jump but in other events too.”
Other provincial podium finishes included Turner (Centennial), who placed first in Grade 8 girls high jump and second in Grade 8 girls long jump; Molly Beachell (Grosse Isle), who placed second in Grade 7 girls high jump; and Claire Sugimoto (Centennial), who placed second in Grade 8 girls discus.
