It may not have been the athlete combination that the Raiders thought would bring them 800 meter success at 2013 SHSAA Track Provincials, but the YRHS track team still got their two medals they expected out of the event as Cole Burkholder joined Jaden Porte at the podium as the two took silver in Moose Jaw over the weekend to give the city its only individual medals for 2013.
The two Yorkton Legion Track Club athletes took gold at East Central Districts, with Porte setting a record time in Junior Boys and Burkholder winning the Midget race, setting the table for their impressive podium finishes. Kellie Onda-Onglis, who set the record in Midget Girls at districts, settled for fifth place at provincials, preventing a triple podium finish in the 800, but the success of Burkholder and Porte will have the school smiling this week.
Burkholder said that after his gold finish in the home meet he expected to finish on the podium, but he was pleasantly surprised at how well he performed. "Winning gold at districts you obviously begin to get the thoughts in your mind that you have a real good shot at medalling but I was blown away with how close I came to winning gold and am really happy with my silver medal," says Burkholder.
Porte, the record setter, was confident heading into provincials after a successful indoor season and was also pleased to finish off a year of hard work with a medal for his school, saying, "I trained hard all year and was in the top two of most meets so this result was expected but I was still really happy to finish my year on the podium." Porte also mentioned that after finishing the rest of the club season in the 800 meters, he will be shifting his focus onto distance and cross country, dropping the long sprints for next year. Porte showed that his promise in the distance events in Moose Jaw, narrowly missing another medal with a fourth place finish in the 1500 meter race.
The other two Raiders medals came as part of the East Central's relay teams as Caleb Bymak and Brendan Weber won bronze in the 4 x 100 meter relay in the Midget and Junior boys events respectively.
Four other fourth place finishes prevented the YRHS from having a more impressive medal haul, but the near medal finishes, despite being a bitter pill to swallow for the individual athletes, led the YRHS to finish 7th amongst 4A schools in the SHSAA's new team points system, designed to create a focus on team success in an event that is often dominated by individuals who run track year round for city clubs.
"I think what we saw this season in terms of results was indicative of how things usually go when it comes to provincials" says Miller on the Raiders results. "We had two of our full time track athletes garner our only individual medals and that is often how it goes when the shift from districts to provincials makes the talent pool much, much deeper, and with a handful of fourth, and fifth place finishes we saw that our school could have very well had more medals than we ended up with," says Miller.
Those near misses will be an initial letdown, especially for senior athletes who move on this summer. Daniel Mandziuk, a volleyball and basketball star at the YRHS for example finished fourth in the 400 meter sprints as well as in the 4 x 400 meter relay, but Miller mentioned that athletes who finish so highly should put it all in perspective and hold their heads high. "When you look at the big picture, if you finish in the top ten, top five, or reach your personal best on the big stage at provincials with the best athletes in Saskatchewan surrounding you, should be proud at where you sit amongst everyone and that you did your best, and that is what I hope a lot of our athletes will do given time" says Miller.
Miller also praised the new scoring system, saying it is nice that top ten finishes and personal bests will have added weight as well as being able to see how the YRHS stacks up against other 4A schools in the province. Next season the Raiders will be returning all four of their medal winners to the track program, something that bodes well for the YRHS, who will be hoping to add some gold medal banners to the hallowed walls of the Regional gym in 2014.
Top 8 Finishes at SHSAA Provincials:
Midget Girls
Kellie Onda-Inglis: 800m - 5th Place; Pole Vault - 7th Place.
Midget Boys
Cole Burkholder: 800m - Silver Medal;1500m - 4th Place.
Caleb Bymak:Midget Boys 4x100m Relay - Bronze Medal.
Brodie Ottenbreit Pole Vault - 5th Place
Junior Boys
Brendan Weber: 100m - 4th Place; Junior Boys 4x100m Relay - Bronze Medal.
Jaden Porte: 800m - Silver Medal; 1500m - 4th Place.
Earl Langan: Shot Put - 6th Place.
Senior Boys
Daniel Mandziuk: 200m - 7th Place; 400m - 4th Place; Boys Open 4x400m Relay - 4th Place.
