On Saturday March 3rd and Sunday March 4th, the Athletics Ontario U14, U16 and U20 Provincial Indoor Track and Field Championships were held at York University in Toronto. The Meaford Coyotes Track Club sent down a small but mighty team to lace up against Ontario’s best and they didn’t disappoint.
In the two days of competition, our 7 runners competed in 10 different events. On day 1, five of our runners ran in 4 different races where they posted 5 huge personal best times, won 1 gold medal and two silver medals. Day 2 was equally as impressive. Our 7 runners ran in 6 different races and posted 5 more personal best times as well as earning 2 silver medals and just missing a bronze by 4/100th of a second. So when it comes to distance races, nobody messes with a Coyote!
Our Coyotes performed simply amazing. In the U16 Boys events, Ethan Pentland of Durham won gold in the 1200m and silver in the 800m races. Meaford’s Kara Tichbourne won double silver in the U14 800m and 1200m races. Thornbury’s Devlin Gillis won silver in his u14 1200m event. He knocked 29 seconds off his best 1200m time and 5 seconds off his 800m previous best. Team Mate Rohan Egan dropped his 1200m best time by whopping 32 seconds while Tichbourne dropped her 1200m best by 5 seconds. Meaford’s Spencer Book moved up an age group to compete in the U20 to shave another 7 seconds off his 1500m time. Collingwood’s Hailey Abbott finally broke the 2:30 barrier with her 2 second PB in her 800m, while Book and Pentland draw closer to that 2:00 elusive barrier, each running personal best time of 2:01 in their respective 800m races.
Overall it was an outstanding weekend of racing, with everyone gaining valuable racing experience and learning more about what they need to work on in their training to get even faster. Our “Grade 8 and Under” Coyotes return to action March 24-25 for the Minor Track Association Provincial Championships in Toronto.
Results: [* = Personal Best Time]
U14 Girls 800m
Kara Tichbourne [13yo] – 2nd/15 @ 2:29.05
U14 Boys 800m:
Devlin Gillis [13yo] – 4th/8 @ 2:26.71* – missed 3rd by 4/100th of a second
Rohan Egan [13yo] – 5th/8 @ 2:40.30*
U16 Girls 800m
Hailey Abbott [14yo] – 12th/37 @ 2:28.38*
U16 Boys 800m
Ethan Pentland [15yo] – 2nd/35 @ 2:01.35* – missed 1st by 5/100th of a second
U20 Girls 800m
Julia Latham [18yo] – 55th/61 @ 2:42.03
U20 Boys 800m
Spencer Book [16yo] – 18th/67 @ 2:01.02*
U14 Girls 1200m
Kara Tichbourne [13yo] – 2nd/19 @ 3:54.53* – missed 1st by 13/100th of a second
U14 Boys 1200m
Devlin Gillis [13yo] – 2nd/10 @ 3:50.87* – missed 1st by 8/100th of a second
Rohan Egan [13yo] – 6th/10 @ 4:10.72*
U16 Boys 1200m
Ethan Pentland [15yo] – 1st/3:16.94* – missed provincial record by 2 seconds
U20 Boys 1500m
Spencer Book [16yo] – 19th/65 @ 4:15.15*