It pays to have the only track in town.
F.H. Collins Secondary had the upper hand once again at the Yukon Schools’ Athletic Association Track and Field Meet at the high school on Wednesday.
As host of the annual meet, F.H. Collins had the most athletes compete, which helped increase its number of podium finishes.
Athletes from F.H. Collins won approximately 55 ribbons, about nine more than Porter Creek Secondary School and about 24 more than Vanier Catholic Secondary School. (A few results went missing following the meet.)
An estimated 65 athletes competed for F.H. Collins, 55 from Porter Creek and 50 from Vanier.
RELATED:View results here.
See the slideshow from of event.
F.H. Collins’ Dominic Korn helped boost his school’s ribbon intake. The Grade 11 competitor took first in the senior boys’ high jump, javelin, 4x100-metre relay and the 100-metre - the crowning jewel of track races.
Korn competed at the Nike High School Grand Prix three weeks ago in Toronto and improved his performance in two events.
“It’s fun to be outside, miss school a little bit, and track’s fun,” said Korn. “The 100-metre was nice because in Toronto Scott Peterson made it to the final and I didn’t, and then I beat him here. So I feel I could have done better in Toronto ... but maybe next year.”
For first in the high jump, Korn cleared 162 centimetres. “In Toronto I couldn’t clear 159, so it’s a personal best,” he said.
Though outdone in the 100-metre, Peterson still left with a pocketful of ribbons.
The Porter Creek student claimed first in the 200-metre, long jump and shot put.
As a Grade 12 competitor, Wednesday was Peterson’s final time competing at the meet.
“I’ll miss it a lot, but it was a great experience,” said Peterson. “It’s a lot of fun every year.”
Peterson won a bronze in the 100-metre at the Nike Grand Prix in Toronto and hopes to compete in track at the Canada Summer Games in August.
“I’m not sure what events I want to do, but probably some of the sprinting ones - the 100-metre.”
While numbers were slightly up overall, with about 10 more athletes than last year, the senior girls division saw a large drop with just eight competitors. Porter Creek didn’t have a single senior girl competitor at the event.
That was disappointing for F.H. Collins’ Camille Galloway, who was competing in the division.
“It’s always my favourite day of the year, but it sucks that people our age don’t go in it anymore,” said Galloway. “There was only four of us in the 100-metre and three of us in the 200-metre.
“It’s all about the year, what kids get involved. It seems like the younger kids are getting more involved, so maybe in a couple years it’ll be big again.”
She might be right.
First-time competitor Sarah Hougen, a Grade 8 entry for F.H. Collins, had never competed in track before.
After winning in three events, she’s already planning to return next year.
“It was really fun,” said Hougen. “I just really like to run, so it was just fun overall.
“I’m definitely going to do it next year.”
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com