Trail Track and Field Club (TTFC) athletes rose to the occasion, despite an uncertain summer of COVID restrictions and meet cancellations.
TTFC coach Kylie Lakevold said the team hit their stride at the season-ending event hosted by the University of Calgary, after training hard throughout the spring and summer.
“We attended the Calgary Summer Finale Meet on August 21 with our high school U16 and U18 athletes to end our summer season,” said Lakevold. “We are beyond proud of these six athletes and what they accomplished.”
U18 athlete Jendaya Shields took home a medal of every colour, winning gold in shot put, silver in Javelin and the bronze medal in long jump with a personal best (PB) of 4.39 m.
Sadie Joyce, U18, won gold in high jump with a PB of 1.60 m and her 4.75 m long jump earned her a silver medal.
Connor Nagle, U18, outjumped all competitors with a 6.13-m long jump to win the gold medal and a PB. He followed that up with another gold and PB in triple jump that measured 12.24 m or just over 40-ft. Nagle also tied his PB in high jump with a height of 1.70 m.
U16 Makenna Gallon earned the silver medal in high jump, a bronze medal in long jump, and a PB in hammer throw.
U16 athlete Grady McAuley captured gold and tied his PB in high jump with a leap of 1.65 m, and narrowly missed at 1.68 m. He also set a PB in long jump at 4.52 m and the 100-m sprint by nearly half a second.
Ellery Shields, competing in U16, claimed the silver medal in shot put.
Teams earned points for up to 10 athletes on their roster depending on how they placed in each event; given the Trail Track and Field team only had six athletes their results were outstanding.
“The biggest surprise of all is that out of 12 track and field teams that competed our team placed fourth in the overall team rankings and narrowly missed a third place team prize by three points!” added Lakevold.
The team completed their summer training by visiting West Kootenay native and former Olympian Joe Cecchini at the WinSport Ice House in Calgary.
Cecchini competed for Italy in skeleton at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and spent time with the Trail athletes, teaching them fundamental skeleton skills at the Ice House track.
With the culmination of the summer season, Athletics Canada ranked the top U16 and U18 athletes based on results from sanctioned meets.
The competitive U18 athletes from the Trail Track and Field were among the best with Jendaya Shields ranked #2 in BC and #8 in Canada in shot put, and #6 in BC in Javelin.
Sadie Joyce is ranked #2 in BC and #7 in Canada in high jump and #8 in BC in Long Jump.
Connor Nagle came in at #4 in BC and #15 in Canada in triple jump, #6 in BC in long jump and #10 in BC in high jump.
U16 athletes are ranked provincially with the following results: Grady McAuley is ranked #5 in BC in high jump, Ellery Shields #9 in shot put, and Makenna Gallon #11 in Hammer.
The club has experienced incredible growth this summer and the Junior Development cohort is now full for the rest of the outdoor season.
Registrations for the indoor season will be opening soon and there are spots available for the high school aged cohort.
For more information email trailtrackclub@gmail.com.
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