MOOSE JAW -- It didn’t take very long for Central Cyclones distance running specialist Katie Rogers to make a statement in the South Central District track and field senior girls 1,500 metre race on Tuesday afternoon.
So sooner did the gun go off in the race at Gutheridge Field than did Rogers break from the pack like she was shot out of a cannon. By the time she hit the finish line on the first lap, Rogers was already 100 metres clear of the field. At the end of lap two, her lead was almost half the track. And by the time the final lap came and went Rogers had actually lapped three runners on her way to as comfortable a win as there can be.
All told, Rogers would finish a full minute clear of the field, crossing the line in four minutes, 37.65 seconds. Her dominance in the race immediately brought up questions of a potential record-setting run, and that was exactly the case: Rogers had broken the year-old mark of 4:49.78, set only a year ago by Peacock’s Nikolina Kapovic.
As it turns out, not only was that result not surprising, it was pretty much expected.
Rogers has been breaking records all season long, and Wednesday was no different as she also set new marks in the 800 metres (2:15.04) and 3,000 metres (10:04.94) on her way to winning the senior girls individual aggregate title.
“I was definitely a little bit tired from the 800 and 400 before but I knew that this was my last distance race in Central jersey so I just really wanted to see what I could do and I was happy to come away with the (personal best),” said Rogers, who also won the 400 metres but fell short of a record.
“The momentum feels really good after putting in lots of training. My indoor went well so I was hoping for a good outdoor season and I'm happy to be PBing right before provincials when it matters most.”
Rogers’ record in the 800m broke the mark of 2:18.10 set by Kailey Smith 20 years ago, while the 3,000 metres record broke Kapovic’s mark of 10:22.50 set last season.
The dominance has come with a price -- Rogers’ races this outdoor season have often seen her finishing pretty much the same as Districts: alone at the front from start to finish. It’s a far cry from what she was used to the previous two seasons, when her and Kapovic were often shoulder to shoulder with a sprint at the finish.
“I feel like showing up to races it's harder to be in the race mentality, it's more of like, how hard can I push?” Rogers said. “Whereas before it was always trying to win and I definitely had someone there to push me before. Now I'm just pushing myself, but I train alone so I know what it's like to be alone at the front. It’s definitely different.”
While Cornerstone Christian School throws specialist Ademide Adewumi didn’t have the volume of success Rogers did, it was still a continuation of a record-setting season on her own end.
Adewumi cleared 12.21 metres in the senior girls shot put to set a new district record in the event, breaking the old mark of 12.15 set by fellow Falcons standout Aliyah Block in 2022.
It wasn’t without a bit of drama, though, as Adewumi hadn’t been able to clear 12 metres on any of her first three throws -- and while the gold medal was never in doubt, the record had been the goal from the beginning.
But no sooner did coach Al Block arrive on the scene from supervising another event and offer a couple of quick words of encouragement than did Adewumi find another gear. And on her very next throw, the record was hers.
“I think everything just came together for that throw,” she said. “My coach was here, so that was nice, and I was able to get the one I needed.”
Much as it has been much of her career, Adewumi was well ahead of the competition, finishing two-and-a-half metres clear of Glentworth’s Katherine Robichaud. Knowing that a win is pretty much in the books just by showing up has left her in a similar position to Rogers, where personal goals become the biggest thing.
“I just make sure that I make a goal for myself, what distance I want to throw, whether I can break the record,” Adewumi said. “I think that helps a lot in how I do in the meet.”
The beautiful spring weather helped see five other records fall on the day.
Central’s Callum Seargeant set a new record of 13.76 seconds in the intermediate boys 100 metre hurdles, breaking the time of 14:37 set by the Cyclones’ Reid Weiss last season.
Weiss saw to it his name would remain in the record books, though, running 13.79 to break the junior boys 100m hurdles mark of 13:88 set by Vanier’s Zayden Anderson in 2024.
Peacock’s Jorja Grajczyk cracked one of the oldest records on the books, running 2:23.05 in the junior girls 800 metres to break the 2:23.50 record set by Bonnie Seaborg back in 1999.
The intermediate boys and girls tetrathlon also saw new records set, with Assiniboia’s Charlize Hillmer recording 1,956 points to set a new mark in the girls division, while Peacock’s Sam Gaucher had an 1,180 total for the record in the boys division.
The top two competitors from each event advance to the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association provincial championship in Moose Jaw during the June 6-7 weekend and you can check out all the South Central District results by clicking right here.
