Emerging track and field athletes from the Cochrane area have capped off the season by climbing the podium at the Legion's National Youth Track and Field Championships and winning three medals at the Tri-Provincial Championships.

At the Legion Nationals in Sherbrooke, QC, QC, Erik Solomon won silver in the U16 javelin and bronze as part of the Alberta 4x100 U16 boys relay team. Additionally, he won gold with Team Alberta in U16 javelin at the Tri-Provincials.

Jett Hasiuk won a silver medal as part of Alberta's U18 boys 4x400m relay team at the nationals and was 0.01 seconds away from medalling in the 400m in an almost dead heat.

Athletes of the Cochrane Endurance Project competing for Team Alberta at the Tri-Provincials in Sherwood Park. Raimo Sollitt won silver in the 1,200m U16 steeplechase and Caden Jones won bronze in the U18 2,000m steeple.

Erik SolomonErik Solomon won silver and bronze at the Canada Summer Games. (contributed)

Solomon, 15, only took up javelin this past season with the Cochrane High track and field team.

"They were throwing the javelin, so I thought I'd like to throw a giant spear, what's not to love about that? So I went out and I tried throwing and it went pretty well. I did it for our first track meet and kept doing it after that and love it."

While new to track and field, he has other siblings who have competed in the past that piqued his interest. He is inspired to go as far as possible in track and field. In addition to being a member of the Cochrane High Cobras, he trains with the Calgary Spartans.

At the Tri-Provincials, he won gold with a 45m throw. At the nationals, he landed an impressive 56.03m throw in his first attempt that paved the way to the silver medal.

Alberta's 4x100m U16 boys relay team came third with a time of 45.72 seconds, 0.46 seconds behind the gold medal Ottawa Lions team.

Solomon is looking forward to the high school volleyball and rodeo seasons.

Jett Hasiuk with relay teamJett Hasiuk, second from left, with fellow members of the U18 4x400m relay team. (contributed)

Jett Hasiuk, 16, broke the 50-second mark for the first time in the 400m preliminary round, then dropped it further in the final to establish a new personal best of 48.88 seconds. Only 0.03 seconds separated second from fourth in the final.

"The competition pushed me to my best limits because there's always someone better out there, love to race them, and I did so much better in that atmosphere," says Hasiuk. "I feel as the level of competition goes up, I just keep getting better and better. Everything increases."

"It was amazing. A couple of days together with a team, you get to meet awesome people, make new friends in the track world, from different provinces, and even some coaches."

Alberta's 4x400 U18 boys team had a time of 3:25.62 min. just 1.14 seconds behind the gold medal team from British Columbia.

The national medal is in addition to the three gold medals he won at the ASAA High School Provincial Championships in the 200/400/800m.

Hasiuk also competed with the U16 Team Alberta South volleyball team at the Canada Cup in July.

He's taking a break now but when classes return at Cochrane High, training gets underway for the volleyball season. He's also training for the indoor track season with the Caltaf club.

Both Solomon and Hasiuk heaped praise on the Royal Canadian Legion for the experience the nationals offered.

With the support of generous sponsors, the Legion has organized and coordinated the national youth championship for 43 years. It is designed to give young Canadians 17 and under a chance to compete against the best, develop confidence, and better understand the diversity of other sports-minded youth across Canada.

Flights and accommodations are provided for the athletes and while in Sherbrooke they toured points of interest.

"It was a very good experience and I'm very grateful for the opportunity," says Solomon.

"I want to give a huge thank you to the Legions and Volleyball Canada for making all this happen," says Hasiuk. "Nationals this year was an amazing experience, and I'm very grateful to have the opportunity for that."

Cochrane High's Esther Sieben, also with the Calgary Warriors, was one of the coaches for Team Alberta.

caden and raimoCaden Jones and Raimo Sollitt medalled in steeplechase at the Tri-Provincials in Sherwood Park.

CEP athletes continued to excel at steeplechase and recorded personal bests with Team Alberta in the Tri-Provincials.

Raimo Sollitt won silver in the U16 boys 1,200m steeplechase.

Caden Jones won bronze in the U18 2,000m steeplechase with a personal best of 6:45.94, shaving over 10 seconds off his previous best. 

CEF head coach Travis Cummings called it a great way to end the season. Cross-country training begins at the end of August.