Madill athletes break records at local track and field meet - May 23, 2019

F.E. Madill School’s track and field squad of 33 athletes competed at the Huron Perth championships held at St. Anne’s Secondary School in Clinton on May 14 and 15.

Madill athletes accumulated 34 personal best performances, numerous podium finishes, three second place team finishes, and the overall team second place finish. In addition, Madill athletes shattered four Huron-Perth records and set two new Madill records. The team may have been small but quality of performances was high.

Abby Kraayenbrink shattered two meet records. Her first one came in the Junior Girls’ 1,500-metre race which she ran in 4:58.49 to break the existing record of Elizabeth Drake from St. Michael Catholic Secondary School in Stratford by two seconds.

The next day she eclipsed yet another record in the 3,000-metre running event, finishing it in 10:33.51, over 37 seconds faster then the previous mark. She won three first places finishes earning the individual Junior Girls Huron-Perth Champion award.

Ryan Jacklin continued his onslaught on the record books smashing two meet records. In the Senior Boys shot put he put the 12-pound shot 18.65 metres to beat an old and distinguished record of 18.47 metres set by Johnny Neilson of Seaforth High School set in 1979.

In the discus, Jacklin hurled the implement 53.43 metres for another meet record (previously 47.25 metres, held by Joe Melady of Goderich District Collegiate Institute).

Distance runners Bronwyn Garniss, Avery Harding, Mackenzie Finch, Abby Kraayenbrink, Brooke Jez and Steven Schraa formed a strong component of the team earning 16 top three-finishes in their events.

On the track, Grace McCurdy skimmed the sprint hurdles to win the event. Matt Oldridge blazed the 100-metre dash to win the Junior Boys event. Matt Darrell placed a solid second in all three of his track events (400-metre hurdles and the 200- and  400-metre races).

In the jumping pits, Madill athletes again excelled with Jaime Newell, Matt Oldridge, and Austin Eadie all earning top performances in the long jump and triple jump events.

In the throwing circles and javelin runway, Madill had top throws from Hanna VanStuyvenburg, Carly Frank, Christina Schraa, Breelle Shaw, Aiden Purdy, Carson Heise, and Ryan Jacklin. 

The team prepares now for the Western Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association (WOSSAA) track and field meet, the next step in the athletes’ long quest to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships.

In all, 32 Madill athletes advance to WOSSAA to be held next week at TD Waterhouse Stadium at University of Western Ontario in London. From WOSSAA, five athletes in each event qualify for OFSAA West Regionals to be held at Hespeler Secondary School in Cambridge on May 31 and June 1.