Joey Payeur
The Muskies’ latest jaunt to the OFSAA track-and-field championships is all about hang time—whether it be throwing an object through the air or themselves.
Jacob Empey and Sekina Scheibler will carry the black-and-gold banner into Windsor for the all-Ontarios that begin tomorrow without their normal coaches, but with big potential and bigger hopes.
Empey will go for gold in the senior boys’ long jump and triple jump.
Scheibler, meanwhile, will try to become the first individual Muskie athlete to win two provincial gold medals when he takes aim in the junior boys’ discus after winning the Midget boys’ crown at OFSAA last year.
The two punched their ticket to OFSAA last week at the NWOSSAA championships in Thunder Bay, where Empey took gold in the long jump (5.68m) and silver in the triple jump (11.48m) while Scheibler set a new meet record in the discus (48.45m).
Scheibler also won silver in the long jump (5.59m) and shot put (12.51m), but his distances in those events weren’t good enough to make the top four qualifiers out of the NWOSSAA and NOSSA regions combined.
“Sekina knew he hadn’t trained as much for the other two [because of Football Canada Cup obligations],” noted Muskie co-coach John Dutton.
“He competed [last] Tuesday, had to do weight training for football Tuesday night, and then compete [again] Wednesday,” Dutton said.
“So when it came to the shot put, he had no arm to throw.”
But about that discus. . . .
“He shattered the record by five metres and he can throw further,” Dutton said of Scheibler, who competes tomorrow afternoon at OFSAA.
“His first throw was OK and the second one was identical, but the next one the officials watched sail over their heads,” he grinned.
“They said, ‘We better move farther back’ at that point.”
As for Empey, he set a personal best of 5.61m in the long jump at the Harry McMaster Classic in Dryden the previous week, then had to better that in Thunder Bay as the runner-up matched that mark.
“Jacob came up big and looked great doing it,” Dutton said about the Devlin resident, who will compete in the triple jump on Friday and then the long jump on Saturday.
Dutton, however, won’t be attending OFSAA due to travel costs.
Instead, he’s put his charges in the care of the Dryden Eagles’ contingent coached by Mike Wood.
The Muskies brought 17 athletes to NWOSSAA last Tuesday and Wednesday and came away with nine medals.
Veteran Jenny Hammond was a double-medallist—claiming second place in the senior girls’ 400m (1:05.24) and third in the 1,500m open steeplechase (6:05.48).
Unfortunately, neither time put Hammond in the top four to advance to her third-straight OFSAA—much to the disappointment of her coach.
“Jenny trained with us until [Muskie girls’] soccer season started and then we didn’t see her much after that,” noted Dutton.
“Soccer training is a totally different kind of training,” he added. “It’s not about intervals and speed, but it’s more game-focused.
“I don’t think she was as competitive as she could have been for us.”
Cayla Leimenstoll was in the toughest of situations as the veteran Muskie runner found herself in a two-person race in the senior girls’ 3,000m against Hanna Johnston of the Hammarskjold Vikings.
“Johnston is probably going to be top three at OFSAA,” predicted Dutton, who watched the Thunder Bay runner rocket to a meet record of 9:54.17.
But he still was proud of Leimenstoll persevering for the silver medal in 16:24.07.
“Cayla is a running machine,” Dutton lauded.
“She knows she’s not fast and it looked lopsided, but in any other 3,000m, she wouldn’t have been alone going at that pace,” he remarked.
Tory Beaudry brought home the other Muskie medal with a bronze in the senior girls’ 800m (3:16.19).
In fact, the medal count could have been much higher as multiple Muskie athletes finished just off the podium at NWOSSAA.
Sarah Rittau tied for fourth in the Midget girls’ high jump (1.30m), Jyllian Westover was fourth in the senior girls’ high jump (1.35m), and Harleigh Brow-Rose landed fourth in the senior girls’ 800m (3:33.00).
Maddy Morrison matched that with a fourth-place finish in the junior girls’ discus (18.04m).
“[Morrison] was a real big surprise,” said Dutton. “She has been looking for her thing and this might be it.”
Savannah Sinclair nailed down two fifth-place finishes in the senior girls’ discus (21.35m) and javelin (19.61m).
“[Sinclair] said her favourite colour must be green,” laughed Dutton, referring to the normal colour for fifth-place ribbons at NWOSSAA.
“It’s not a small field so that’s pretty good to make the top five twice, and she has one more year with us, too,” he noted.
Ellie Petsnick topped out in fifth place in the junior girls’ 400m (1:08.43) while Chad Westover came sixth in the Midget boys’ high jump (1.35m).
“Chad is going to be a good athlete,” Dutton predicted.
“He had tough luck because he rolled his ankle during the high jump and then had to run the 800m and 1,500m on a sore ankle, as well as the 4x400m relay,” he noted.
Jessica Empey was sixth in the Midget girls’ 400m (1:12.51) and triple jump (7.61m), as well as in the 4x400m senior girls’ relay as she was bumped up to join Brow-Rose, Leimenstoll, and Beaudry.
Hanna LeDrew teamed up with Westover, Morrison, and Petsnick to capture sixth in the junior girls’ 4x100m relay.
Taylor Steinke powered her way to seventh in the junior girls’ shot put (6.71m) and discus (16.67m) for her best results, with Joe Onichuk placing 12th in the senior boys’ discus (20.07m).
But Dutton said he especially was thrilled with what he saw in terms of team spirit.
“They were cheering each other on and were really happy for the triumphs of the other Muskie kids out there,” he noted.
Dutton also is hoping to get a better turnout for next year’s squad to come closer to the success of a year ago when Fort High sent six members to OFSAA.
“With the numbers we had last year, there’s a lot more competitiveness within the team,” he reasoned.
“If you’ve got 11 girls that want to run the 100m and you can only take three, it makes for some interesting team competitions.”
