Athletes in the 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games ran, jumped, threw and demonstrated their sheer athletic ability at the Chamney Running Track and Panteluk Athletic Field, during the athletics portion of the Games, from Monday to Wednesday. The competition was fierce, and the sun blazed down throughout the event, but Team South East, in several events, had a decent showing of medallists.
Medallists in athletics include Olivia Lawrence of Kennedy winning a silver medal in the female 100m sprint, and Joely Welburn of Balgonie winning a silver medal in both the female high jump and long jump events.
In the bronze mdals, Taylor Sargent of Carlyle earned a bronze medal in the female 100m hurdles, Bronwyn Douglas of Carnduff won a bronze in the female high jump event, Karli Colpitts of Carlyle earned bronze in female discus, Ethan Ohrt of Milestone won bronze in the male discus event and Danica Pedrick of Wilcox won bronze in the female pentathlon event.
Tuesday’s female pentathlon event tested the abilities of participants, consisting of 400m and 800m sprints, high jump, long jump and a shot put event. Participants performed in day-long gruelling heat that made the pentathlon’s many different events particularly challenging.
“I think it’s good because you get to do a variety of things, instead of one or two events. It’s all in one day, so it’s a test of athleticism and character,” said Pedrick, who powered through the final event, an 800m sprint, with an injury she sustained in the long jump. “The hardest was the 800m, because it’s the longest race, it’s still hot out, and its two laps around the track. You’ve already done four events, too.”
Coach Shelley Sargent of Carlyle said she thought both Pedrick and Gawryluik performed excellently, given that that neither had done a pentathlon before, noting that both gave it their all, and had a strong finish in the 800m sprint.
“The girls made sure they stayed hydrated, and they had five events in one day, so it took a lot out of them,” said Sargent. “It definitely builds up. The girls have to dig deep, and look inside and be mentally strong to be able to compete in a pentathlon. They both did an excellent job at that.”
“You want to become an all-around athlete to be in an event like this,” said Frankie Gawryluik of Weyburn, who placed 12th in the Tuesday’s female pentathlon event. “I felt it was one of my slower races, but it wasn’t too bad. I would say my best would be shot put. I tied for first, and got just below my personal best, so that was cool.”
Emily Coghill of Team Saskatoon took the gold in the female outdoor pentathlon, scoring 3,643 points, overall. Kalea Sauder of Team South West took gained a total of 3,028 points, earning her a silver medal. Pedrick won her bronze medal berth on the podium by accumulating a total of 2,866 points.
On Wednesday, Team South East did not medal in the female triple jump finals, but still put on a strong performance, with Morgan Fichter earning a fourth place standing, and Joely Welburn of Balgonie in fifth place.
Coach Shalane Haselhan said the finals were a competition among the top eight, and that Fichter of Estevan and Welburn had to compete against many others to get into the finals.
“After they got into the top eight, they really had to push it. Some of the girls were really jumping further later in the day than they did in the first three rounds,” said Haselhan. “Joely had an injury she was dealing with so she only did four jumps instead of six. Morgan did really well on the last jump. She really gave it hear all.”
“It wasn’t my best, but it was very close,” said Fichter. “I feel the best about my last jump. I tried my hardest and was fixing little things along the way. I was leaning back a lot on my run-up, so I was trying to lean forward more.”
Haselhan said that making small adjustments in their jumping and footing helped them through the rounds, and added that the athletes in first, second and third place were only separated by six cenitmetres, so Fichter and Welburn ending up in fourth and fifth was a significant accomplishment.
Alyson Edwards of Team Prairie Central took gold with a best jump distance of 11.21m, Kaliee Woitas of Team Regina won silver with a jump distance of 11.20m, and the bronze went to Jada Roach of team Saskatoon with a jump distance of 11.18m.
