Mitch Calvert
Josh Strain will be making his second-straight appearance at the all-Ontarios early next month.
The Grade 11 student at Fort High cleared 1.80 metres to capture the senior boys’ high jump crown at the NWOSSAA track and field championships in Thunder Bay last week.
“I can definitely shoot for higher,” Strain vowed. “I think 100 percent I could get up to 1.90 [metres].”
Strain will have that chance in Toronto starting on June 4.
The Muskie athlete also finished third in the triple jump at 12.17 metres in Thunder Bay, but only the top two qualify for OFSAA.
“[The competition] was a bit harder at the senior level, but during my triple jump, they re-scheduled it early or something, so when I got there I didn’t get to stretch or anything and I think I may have pulled a muscle in my thigh,” Strain recalled.
“It didn’t affect me much in the high jump because you just kind of jog up and then jump, but it hurt my running in my other events,” he noted.
Last year, Strain qualified for OFSAA in all three of his disciplines en route to taking the junior boys’ points crown at NWOSSAA. But the unexpected injury put a wrench in his plans of duplicating that feat at the senior level.
The Muskie track and field team sent one of its largest contingents ever to the NWOSSAA final last Wednesday and Thursday—and the experience gained should bode well for the program moving forward.
Brett Jewell clocked a time of 35.8 seconds en route to an eighth-place finish in the junior boys’ 200-metre race while Marina Jewell finished seventh in the 800m junior girls’ race in a time of 3:00.3.
Cassandra Spade took eighth in the 1,500m Midget girls’ race (6:56.9) and was seventh in the 3,000m event (16:47.1).
Hailey O’Donnell finished eighth in the junior girls’ 1,500m run (6:21.3), with Caitlin Fitzgerald taking seventh in the junior girls’ 3,000m race (17:04.3).
As well, Britton Green had a sixth-place showing in the senior boys’ 3000m race, coming in at an impressive time of 10:44.1.
The long-distance runs don’t have qualifying stages.
“I have noticed a considerable change in both the athletes’ running times and competitive finishes,” Muskie co-coach Natasha Shack enthused.
“I am proud of the athletes,” she added. “They should be proud of themselves as they have worked hard this year.”
Other Muskies competing at NWOSSAA last week included Jennifer Spence (200m and 400m), Shenice McKelvie (100m and 200m), Deanna Saunders (800m, 1,500m, and 3,000m), Jake Smith (100m, 200m, long jump, and 4x400m relay), Dan Brunetta (800m, 1,500m, shotput, and 4x400m), Jake McTavish (1,500m, 3,000m, and 4x400m), and Tyler Abma (100m and shotput).
St. Patrick High School (Thunder Bay) took top spot in the team standings, with Fort High finishing 13th.
Fort High formed a running club this year with two practice sessions a week, and banded together to run in local events, including the Freeze Yer Gizzard 5K in January over in International Falls and the Energy Fitness Run here earlier this month.
The group next is off to the Willie Walleye 5K on June 6 in Baudette, Mn.
“The athletes have been running year-round as they chose not to stop running practice when the cross-country season was over in the fall,” Shack noted.
