Joey Payeur
Muskies, party of five?
Yes, your OFSAA banquet table is ready for you.
Coach Ilka Milne and four members of Fort High’s track-and-field team are off to Toronto for the provincial championships, which begin tomorrow and run through Sunday.
The group was part of a Muskie contingent that racked up 15 medals and 219 points at the NWOSSAA meet May 26-27 in Thunder Bay—good enough for seventh place out of the 14 schools competing.
It also was 101 more points than what Fort High posted there last year (118).
“The athletes were well-prepared, with five meets behind them before they arrived at NWOSSAA,” noted Milne.
“They knew how to prepare, how to support each other’s performances, how to deal with unexpected situations like starting gun misfires or call-backs because of a race clock problem, etc.”
The busiest member of the Muskie crew will be ninth-grader Sekina Scheibler, who won two gold and one silver at NWOSSAA.
Scheibler was victorious in the Midget boys’ discus throw (33.37m) and long jump (5.44m), and placed second in the shot put (12.60m).
The best second-place distances and times for each event among the Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, and Sudbury regions also qualifies for OFSAA, with Scheibler’s mark making the grade.
“Sekina is likely to do well in discus and long jump [at OFSAA],” Milne said about Scheibler, who tied for the most individual points in the Midget boys’ division at NWOSSAA with 28.
“His best performances of the season are competitive in the top 10 in comparison with last year’s Midget boys’ OFSAA results,” she noted.
Mitchell Argue collected a pair of gold medals with wins in the senior boys’ 100m (12.00) and 400m (53.96) event—despite not having had the fastest preliminary time in either event.
“Mitchell was exciting to watch,” said Milne.
“He was injured early in the season so he wasn’t at all the Ontario meets,” she noted.
“We knew he was fast but we got the impression he surprised his competition in Thunder Bay.”
Doubling her fun this year was Muskie captain Jenny Hammond, who advanced to OFSAA for the second-straight year after finishing with strong enough silver-medal performances in the senior girls’ 400m (1:04.64) and 800m (2:37.26).
“Having been there last year has already helped a lot when it comes to my training,” said Hammond, who competed in the 800m at OFSAA last year.
“It’s helped me when it comes to my technique and my running preparations,” she noted.
“My goal is to at least beat my personal bests, especially in the 800m, with what I ran last year at NWOSSAA.”
“We expect her experience from last year will enable her to manage the distractions and energy drain which come from travelling in a large group,” Milne said of Hammond.
The Muskies will be meeting up in Thunder Bay with qualifiers from that region, then heading down to Toronto en masse.
Jason Bazylewski also will be representing Fort High at OFSAA after winning silver last week in the junior boys’ discus throw (33.50m).
But his silver in the shot put (12.06m) was just short of the distance needed for the best runner-up mark in the three regions.
“Jason has great technique when he throws and that really helps him,” said Hammond, who was enthusiastic about all her teammates’ chances in Toronto.
“I’ve got a feeling Sekina is going to do really well down there and Mitchell seemingly came out of nowhere and is doing great.”
Milne said the whole team’s steady improvement throughout the year was a product of not only strength in numbers, but strength in support of each other.
“A larger team certainly contributes to the momentum,” she remarked.
“Although track-and-field athletes are also individual competitors who, at the end of the day, are also competing against their teammates, we have a great sense of camaraderie within our team,” Milne noted.
“Our seniors have taken their mentoring role seriously and we look forward to this year’s Midgets carrying this momentum forward next year.”
Milne also said the longer season, and significant increase in meets attended, is another factor behind the team’s success.
“We start in February and have a pre-competitive season which is longer than the whole season of some other high school sports,” she noted.
“And competition experience is absolutely vital for athletes to work out pacing problems and nerves.
“It is a lot of work for coaches, athletes and their parents,” Milne conceded. “But it is necessary if the athletes want to see good results.”
Jacob Empey, who advanced to OFSAA last year in the long jump and triple jump, captured silver in Thunder Bay in the senior boys’ triple jump (11.44m).
But his distance was not enough to beat the top runner-up mark.
“Jacob had been ill and was still under the weather with a cold,” Milne said.
“During jumps, I remember him hoping not to cough during his run-up.”
Arthur Van Ael garnered two bronze medals in his final high school competition in the open boys’ 2,000m steeplechase (7:25.69) and the senior boys’ 3,000m (10:20.32).
Mackenzie Flamand, meanwhile, showed how deep his power reservoir ran with a bronze in the Midget boys’ discus (26.95m).
Muskie relay teams also found their way to the podium with a pair of bronze medals.
The girls’ 4x100m team of Meagan Argue, Ashtyn Dokuchie, Cassandra Moffitt, and Kenna Robertson came third (56.49), as did the girls’ 4x400m crew of Argue, Hammond, Robertson, and Nadia Webb (4:32.85).
Here is a list of the best individual or team results for the rest of the Muskie contingent at NWOSSAA:
Midget girls
•Jyllian Westover—100m, 7th (14.86);
•Ellie Petsnick—high jump, 4th (1.39m);
•Nadia Webb—200m, 8th (32.58);
•Missy Hammond—Midget shot put, 7th (6.95m);
•Bailey Jones—high jump, 7th (1.30m);
•Madison Morrison—long jump, 14th (2.94m);
•Taylor Steinke—shot put, 6th (7.17m) and discus throw, 6th (16.23m); and
•Missy Hammond, Madison Morrison, Nadia Webb, and Jyllian Westover—4x100m relay, 4th (1:01.52)
Junior girls
•Harleigh Brow-Rose—400m, 8th (1:29.12);
•Tory Beaudry—high jump, 5th (1.38m);
•Sara Selman—shot put, 7th (5.09m);
•Tayla Trimble—shot put, 8th (4.67m); and
•Savannah Sinclair—discus, 5th (18.68m) and javelin, 5th (18.00m)
Senior girls
•Kenna Robertson—100m, 7th (14.79);
•Meagan Argue—400m, 5th (1:06.87);
•Cayla Leimenstoll—400m, 8th (1:49.38) and 3,000m, 8th (17:22.47);
•Cassandra Moffitt—triple jump, 5th (8.92m);
•Ashtyn Dokuchie—long jump, 4th (3.97m); and
•Taly Jernberg—shot put, 14th (6.56m)
Open girls
•Tory Beaudry—1,500m steeplechase, 5th (7:18.93)
Midget boys
•Logan Ballard—100m, 4th (13.24);
•Colton Brown—200m, 10th (34.48);
•Elias Chambers—1,500m, 8th (5:59.34); and
•Hunter Calvert—discus, 7th (21.23)
Junior boys
•Kenton Bowles—100m, 10th (12.94) and 200m, 10th (26.97)
Senior boys
•Mitchell Riordon—400m, 10th (1:04.35); and
•Mitchell Argue, Jacob Empey, Kenton Bowles, and Sekina Scheibler—4x100m relay, 4th (48.68)
