Cochrane High will be sending yet another large contingency of about 70 athletes to the zone track and field championships next Tuesday following another dominating performance at the Rocky View Schools divisional championships, May 14.

The Cobras topped all four male and female categories to accumulate 641.83 points with W. H. Croxford their closest rival with 372 points.

Cobras Head coach Esther Sieben was impressed with how her school's athletes performed and she gave kudos to those from other Rocky View Schools. She was particularly impressed with how W. H. Croxford is climbing the ranks.

Bobcat Kyle Edwards faced stiffed competition from two Croxford runners in the senior boys 3000. He claimed the bronze.

"It was a really good meet," says Sieben. "There were a lot of good quality athletes there that you can tell they'll be moving all the way to provincials. They just put it all out there and didn't hold back."

Cochrane High student body continues to embrace track and field events and their team includes many multi-sport athletes. So not to conflict with other school athletic programs, practices are held in the morning at 7:30 a.m.

With a late spring, it was a little more challenging to prepare for the meet by all teams, but Cochrane High worked around it. 

"We did what we could to get the kids prepared but it was a little more chaotic than usual because we didn't have our time outdoors to get our runways done and our full sprinting form down. We just didn't seem to have Mother Nature's cooperation.

Bow Valley High School also had several strong individual performances, placing fourth in both intermediate and seniors divisions.

About 70 Cochrane High athletes will be advancing to next Tuesday's zone championships.Cochrane athletes will be returning to the Foothills Athletic Park to compete in the ASAA South Central Zone senior high championship, May 22, followed by the junior championships on May 29, also at Foothills.

Top three finishers in all events are eligible to compete this year and that opens the doors for more athletes to get one more crack at making the provincials.

"It works out in our favour because we had a lot of good third place performances," says Sieben.

Still, with the zones being held at the same time as the national volleyball championships being hosted by Edmonton, some athletes will have to forego the zones.

"We maybe won't have as strong a team as last year but I still think we'll be competitive. We have a deep and diverse group of athletes, so we'll do OK."

The provincial championships are being hosted by Red Deer, June 1-2. The Cobras are reigning 3A provincial champions.