With track meets kicking off just shy of two weeks ago, Head Coach, Travis Cummings says the St. Tim's Thunder Junior High Track and Field Team certainly did not disappoint at the U of C, Calgary Spring Challenge Track Meet on May 11-12. Coming home with multiple personal bests, top ten placings, lots of team points, and valuable competition experience, Cummings was happy with how the athletes performed. 

On the junior side, the team excelled in long jump, throws, and mid-distance running. Coach Cummings shares the highlight of the meet for many of our young Thunder athletes was the 1500m battle between Assistant Coach Jess Kaiser and Thunder alumnus Sophia Nowicki (now running for UCAC) in the senior women's division. Nowicki narrowly outkicked Kaiser in the last 150m to run a new PB of 4:51, while Kaiser also PB'd in just over 4:53. The race set the tone for a great weekend of performances from the entire track team. While many of the junior athletes did extremely well, the midget 800 squad of Darci Petersen, Makenna Myatt, Holly Moores, Emily Carvalho, and Grace Boston turned in multiple top 10 performances lead by a big personal best from Darci. Rookie, William Pittario who ran his first race on the track also had a top performance in Sunday's 800's, and brought home a silver medal in bantam boys.

When it comes to the Thunder senior team, athletes kicked things off at Divisionals last Wednesday (May 16) and although it was hot, a good ratio of athletes qualified for City Championships. "We had sixteen kids at divisional's and eleven of them qualified for City's. Lots of personal bests and some elite performances and I think of few of them will have a decent shot at making provincials."

Giving special props to the efforts of Maggie Brolsma, Cummings says she did outstanding. "Maggie was victorious in the intermediate girls 1500m and 3000m, and was also a member of the girls 4x100m relay team that qualified for City Championships. The 5 year veteran of the St. Timothy's Track & Field program has matured into an invaluable contributor in distance running."

Other senior athletes noted were Josh Novak who won a bronze medal in the Senior boys 800m, two silvers in the 1500m and 3000m races and is also a member of the boys 4x400m relay team that placed 4th overall. Scott Delsing placed 2nd in the boys 1500m and 3000m races, and also had a big day in javelin, winning bronze. New to track, Isaiah Springer won bronze in the 800m and 1500m, and ran anchor on the 4x400m relay team. Eric Swedlo won silver in the 800m and ran 3rd leg on the 4x400m relay team. On the intermediate girl's side, Mikenna Spademan won bronze in triple jump with a big personal best jump, and anchored the 4x100m relay team to a 5th place finish."

This was one of the first competitions for the athletes who are looking to qualify for the Alberta Summer Games being held in Grande Prairie, July 18-22, with the main qualifier being the CALTAF Track Classic June 15-17. Next up for the Junior High squad is the Calgary Separate School District City Championships at Glenmore Stadium on June 11 while the high school team competes at the Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association's City Championship showcase this Saturday (May 26). Any qualifiers from that meet they will move onto provincials in Red Deer, June 1st and 2nd.

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