Grade 10 student Nicholas Bertoia accomplished something that hasn’t happened in a long time Saturday in Saskatoon.
Thanks to a throw of 35.80 metres in the junior boys discus event at Griffiths Stadium, Bertoia brought home a gold medal from the SHSAA high school track and field championships to Cut Knife High School.
“From what I understand, it’s been quite awhile since we’ve had someone finish in first place at a provincial event,” Bertoia said. “To be able to bring the gold medal back from Saskatoon was an awesome feeling.”
Having already won a bronze medal in the midget boys discus competition at last year’s provincial championships in Regina, Bertoia used some of the lessons that he learned from that meet towards his second trip to the event.
“The biggest thing I was focused on was my nerves,” Bertoia said.
“I remember last year that my hand was shaking really badly before I made my first throw, so I had to sit there for a couple of seconds and calm myself down. That was in the back of my mind when I arrived in Saskatoon.”
Bertoia’s second throw of the event proved to be the winning one, but he wasn’t convinced that it would be enough to get the gold medal.
“I felt like the throw was okay, but it wasn’t quite my best, as I was hoping to get around the 40 metre mark to get a qualifying mark for the tri-provincial meet and the Legion Nationals later this year,” Bertoia said.
“There were a number of really strong throwers behind me and I figured that I would still need to have a farther throw in order to win, but it turned out to be enough.”
With two straight medals at the provincials, Bertoia is now preparing to move up into the senior ranks for next season as a Grade 11 student.
“I’m hoping to continue do throw well over the next couple of years and maybe compete for a university,” Bertoia said.
“I’ll be working on my technique and getting some more muscle for when I enter Grade 11, as there will be some really good guys that I’ll be competing with.”
