Strain shines at all-Ontario track meet

Fort High student Josh Strain represented his school at the all-Ontario track and field showdown in Hamilton this past weekend, competing in the long, high, and triple jump competitions.
Strain, 16, finished an impressive fourth in the high jump to go with a 16th-place showing in the triple jump and a 20th-place finish in the long jump.
Strain’s best high jump was 1.80 metres before falling short at 1.85 metres. Branden Wilhelm of Woodstock, Ont. won the event with a jump of two metres even.
Nevertheless, fourth place at a provincial meet is a big accomplishment and Strain was quite happy with his showing.
“I only qualified around 16th and I ended up in the top five, so I did way better than I was expected to,” he remarked. “My personal best was set at NWOSSAA and that was the first time I’ve jumped all year [1.73], so making 1.80 in Hamilton was pretty crazy.”
Strain represented the school in three events at NWOSSAA in Thunder Bay last month, placing in the top two in all three, including a first-place finish in the triple jump.
He also picked up the high points trophy in the junior boys’ age bracket—and carried some of that momentum into the OFSAA meet.
His best long jump in Hamilton was measured at 5.36 metres while his triple jump there was 12.01 metres.
Considering the stiff competition from across the province, Strain was ecstatic with his placings—and likely surprised many of his competitors from bigger markets.
“Yeah, lots of guys there have practised a lot and when I told them that I haven’t had any practice, they probably didn’t believe me but that was the truth.”
Strain actually qualified for the all-Ontarios last year in the long jump as a Grade 9 student, but it ended up being too short of notice for him to go. Not to be discouraged, he made it his goal to make it to the OFSAA finals this year—achieving that goal and then some.
Next up for Strain is a summer focused on furthering his training, specifically working on his vertical jump.
Fort High is still ill-equipped for practising the high jump, but changes soon may be on the horizon.
“I’m hoping maybe they get high jump equipment around here because they should have it,” Strain said. “Hopefully this will make the track team bigger, as usually it’s only around 10 or 12 people.”
Strain already has spoken to a few people who have expressed interest in helping him further his training, including current high school teacher and Muskie boys’ soccer coach Shane Beckett, who has experience in track from his own high school days.
“Now that I’ve gotten this far, I might as well try taking it somewhere,” Strain said matter-of-factly.