In a shortened track season due to some early May snowfalls, the Yorkton Regional High School still managed to produce two records in the 800 meter race as Jaden Porte and Kellie Onda-Inglis both set East Central district records at the annual meet, putting the pair in contention for medals this weekend in Moose Jaw at SHSAA Provincials.
Porte and Onda-Inglis both run full time for the Yorkton Legion Track Club, participating in indoor season in the winter and outdoor season in the spring and summer, giving the duo the edge of training year round. "When you look at the athletes that usually go on to set records at the district meet as well as have success provincially, it is usually the ones who make track their fulltime passion and compete outside of the school season," says Raiders track coach Duane Miller.
Miller points out that the short school track season not giving adequate time to train for non-full time athletes to reach personal bests is the main reason why non-fulltime track athletes struggle come provincial time.
For Onda-Inglis, a grade nine student, this weekend in Moose Jaw will be her first trip to SHSAA provincials. "I have never been to provincials before, so for me I am just preparing to enjoy the moment and see where things go from there," says Onda-Inglis on her expectations for this weekend, where the district record setter will be amongst the favorites after a very competitive time at districts.
Porte, who took quadruple gold at districts in addition to his record setting time in the 800, says that his indoor season results give him some confidence going into this weekend despite a stress fracture that had kept him from training for a period this spring. "During the indoor season only one person from Saskatchewan finished ahead of me all season, so I feel that I could definitely medal, but we will have to see what happens and what type of times I can come up with," says Porte on his outlook for provincials.
The Regional had a very strong team performance at districts, earning 28 gold medals, six silver medals and three bronze medals. Amongst those 28 golds were four athletes who got triple gold or better as Daniel Mandziuk took a sweep of the sprints with Senior gold in the 100, 200 and 400 meter events while Breanna Melnechenko did the same in the Senior Girls sprints. In the Senior Girls distance events, the YRHS took another sweep as Brandey Blahut took golds in the 800, 1500 and 3000 meter events while topping things off with a quadruple gold after winning the pole vault.
Despite being the strongest school at the event, Miller concedes that in track, individual success is often the primary focus over the results of a school. "In a sport like track and field where each event is individual based, it is hard to define what team success would be as a rule," explains Miller. Miller added that the individual success of multiple athletes was a victory for the Raiders as they saw 13 athletes win a district gold medal.
This weekend the Raiders will look to put up more names on their hallowed list of provincial champions that reside in their gym. With Porte and Onda-Inglis' record breaking 800 meter performances, their hopes may just lie in the long sprints come the weekend when the Raiders look for some glory in Moose Jaw at 2013 SHSAA provincials.
Raiders ECDAA podium finishes are as follows:
Midget Girls
Kellie Onda-Inglis: 800m - Gold Medal, 1500m - Gold Medal;
Emma Teneycke: Discus - Silver Medal;
Bailey Pelchat:Javelin - Gold Medal, Shot Put - Silver Medal.
Junior Girls
Amy Huang: 400m - Silver Medal;
Abby Schmalz:80m Hurdles - Silver Medal;
Zanna McCrea: Triple Jump - Bronze Medal;
Mackenzie Stachura: Discus - Bronze Medal;
Linda Toth: Shot Put - Silver Medal.
Senior Girls
Breanna Melnechenko: 100m - Gold Medal, 200m - Gold Medal, 400m - Gold Medal;
Brandey Blahut: 800m - Gold Medal, 1500m - Gold Medal, 3000m - Gold Medal, Pole Vault - Gold Medal.
Midget Boys
Cole Burkholder: 800m - Gold Medal, 1500m - Gold Medal;
Haylen Langelier: 3000m - Gold Medal;
TJ McBride 3000m - Silver Medal;
Peter Kozushka: Discus - Gold Medal, Shot Put - Gold Medal;
Caleb Bymak: Javelin - Gold Medal.
Senior Boys
Daniel Mandziuk: 100m - Gold Medal, 200m - Gold Medal, 400m - Gold Medal;
Braden Oystrick: Long Jump - Gold Medal, Triple Jump - Gold Medal;
Mike Kozushka: Shop Put - Bronze Medal.
Junior Boys
Brendan Weber: 100m - Gold Medal, 200m - Gold Medal;
Jaden Porte: 800m - Gold Medal, 1500m - Gold Medal, 3000m - Gold Medal, High Jump - Gold Medal.
