This past weekend nearly 1,400 student athletes from all around the province met at Yorkton鈥檚 Century Field for the 2015 Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association (SHSAA) Provincial Track and Field Meet for two days of exciting athletic events, making it the largest event student population wise that the SHSAA puts on out of their 10 activities.
This was the third time that Yorkton has hosted this event and according to SHSAA Executive Director Kevin Vollet the third time really was the charm. 鈥淭his is the third time that Yorkton has held a provincial SHSAA track championship and the two previous ones were outstanding,鈥� offered Vollet. 鈥淏ut this is the first one since the track was redone and the bunker was built and really it just keeps getting better.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great time whenever we come to Yorkton but to have that new bunker and to see how well-run everything is, we鈥檙e happy we came back to Yorkton in the rotation.鈥�
The rotation Vollet mentioned is one that the SHSAA uses to decide who will host the next provincial championships. In addition to Yorkton, Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw and Prince Albert are also in the rotation, which is different when compared to the rotation for events such as volleyball. 鈥淚f it was a volleyball championship then we鈥檇 have a rotation of 14 for the 14 districts,鈥� suggested Vollet, continuing, 鈥淏ut for track we have to have an all-weather track. Right now we have Sasktoon, Regina, Prince Albert, Yorkton, Moose Jaw and a couple others around the province that aren鈥檛 in our rotation because of logistical things such as enough hotels to house the amount of people we have competing or participating.鈥�
According to Vollet Yorkton has come up in the rotation before, but was bumped because of the projects they were undertaking to improve the facilities. 鈥淲hen the rotation came up for Yorkton we did end up bumping it a year or two to this year because of some of the fix ups they wanted to do here at their facility,鈥� said Executive Director Vollet. 鈥淭hey wanted to redo the track and of course the bunker with washroom facilities and that sort of thing.
鈥淭hey did bump a couple of years but once they said they were ready we had absolutely no hesitation whatsoever to come to the people in the East Central, especially Duane Miller and Curtis Spelay who are outstanding individuals that got together a large amount of volunteers that are seen throughout the complex here this weekend.鈥�
Provincial medallists
Several local athletes had strong performances at the 2015 SHSAA Track and Field Provincial Championship.
Kelsey Haczkewicz (YRHS) picked up a gold medal junior girls鈥� 800m run and a bronze in the junior girls鈥� 400m while Jennifer Haczkewicz (YRHS) won the silver medal in the junior girls鈥� high jump competition.
Justine Zarowny (SHHS) took home the bronze medal in the junor girls鈥� 3000m and a bronze in the 1500m junior girls鈥� race.
Reagan Fedak (Foam Lake) captured the silver medal in senior girls鈥� shot put while Danielle Fedak (Foam Lake) took home second place honours in junior girls鈥� discus.
Cole Burkholder (YRHS) finished just behind James Hough (Legacy Christian) to take silver in the senior boys鈥� 800m run.
Caleb Bymak (YRHS) won the bronze medal in the boys鈥� open Quadrathlon. Denton Dietz (Kamsack) won a bronze medal in the midget boys鈥� 100m hurdles event and a silver medal in the midget boys鈥� long jump while Brendon Weber (YRHS) took gold medal honours on the senior boys鈥� 100m dash.
Other Yorkton results
Alex Flaman (YRHS) finished sixth in the junior girls鈥� 800m and fifth in both the junor girls鈥� 1500m run and pole vault events.
Olivia Tomcala (YRHS) finished just off the podium in fourth place in the senior girls鈥� long jump while Valentina Roetheli (YRHS) finished seventh in the senior girls鈥� 3000m run.
Reid Perepeluk (YRHS) finished fourth overall in the midget boys鈥� shot put competition.
Jaret Porte (YRHS) made the final but finished eighth overall in the junior boys鈥� 200m dashDerek Campbell (YRHS) finished in fourth place in the junior boys鈥� 3000m run while Brendon Weber (YRHS) also took home a fourth place finish at the competition but in the senior boys鈥� 200m dash.
Emma Hoffert (YRHS) finished sixth overall in the junior girls鈥� pole vault while Derek Campbell (YRHS) ended up in fifth place in the junior boys鈥� 1500m run.
Ben Fetsch (SHHS) and Evan LaJambe (SHHS) both tied for sixth place in the junior boys鈥� pole vault event while Jonah Sutter (SHHS) also had a sixth place finish with his coming in the junior boys鈥� long jump.
