Cochrane Athletes Advance to Zone Track and Field Finals

Several local high school athletes are advancing to the South Central 3A zone track and field finals after competing at the Rocky View Schools divisional meet earlier this week.

The Cochrane High School team once again won the divisional banner with 529.5 points. 183 more than the second place George McDougall High of Airdrie. They have high hopes of being repeat winners at the zone level on May 22 at Calgary's Foothill track. 

Esther Sieben, head coach of the CHS track team, says they are sending about 30 athletes to compete in 60 events in the zones. They aspire to advance as many athletes as possible to the provincials to defend their title.

"It's going to be a good zone championship and if half of those kids move on to provincials we might have a go at the provincial banner," says Sieben.

It's a long road to the provincials, she notes. Training begins in March and poor weather has forced them indoors for much of it. Still, the work ethic remains.

"The kids work hard," says Sieben. "They're jumping, they're throwing and practising relay changes. We may not have any club track athletes in our school but we definitely put in the hours of training and make sure everybody is ready to go."

Making the provincials is huge for the athletes, she says.

"The kids who move on realize they are top 16 in the province and they're so excited to get there. Even if you're competing for that last point, it's still a point for your team."

Cochrane High has dominated track and field in Rocky View Schools and the zone for the last two decades. They've won the last three consecutive 3A provincial banners and numerous others before.

Athletes from the Bow Valley High School had many stellar performances and 12 are advancing to the zone finals. They finished sixth out of 16 teams at the divisional meet.