Fort Frances High School’s on again, off again track program took its largest contingent ever to the NorWOSSA championships in Thunder Bay last week, bringing 14 runners and one jumper, but it was the lone jumper who stole the show.
Josh Strain, 16, represented the school in three events—placing in the top two in all three, including a first-place finish in the triple jump.
Muskie track co-coach John Dutton was happy with the results, but they weren’t entirely unexpected.
“He’s such a natural athlete and I wish we could say we did something to help him other than providing him with a little opportunity,” Dutton admitted.
“He mostly trained on his own and he’s a totally motivated guy,” Dutton added. “It was an exciting day for him.”
Strain claimed the high-point trophy in the junior boys’ age bracket, although the soft-spoken Grade 10 student doesn’t quite know what makes him so good.
“We didn’t train too much but I don’t really know, it just seems to be something I’m good at,” he remarked. “I didn’t even get to practise the high jump and I got second in it, so who knows?”
Fort High is ill-equipped to provide the necessary equipment for Strain to train so he usually practises on his own time at the St. Francis School sand pits, though neither school has the equipment necessary to practice for the high jump.
“Maybe [his success] will be a bit of an incentive for us to establish some pits and equipment here to give him some decent opportunity to train,” Dutton said.
“He’s been doing this sort of on his own, and he just does the high jump when he gets there and he’s got a fabulous flop, so who knows how far he can go?”
Certainly the opportunity may be there for Strain to take his raw talent and channel it into further success down the road, but the first step on that path is June 3 at the all-Ontarios in Hamilton.
However, if the chips fall into place, he certainly wouldn’t be opposed to working at it and moving up the ladder.
“Going to university [for it] would be great, as I’m hoping to keep working at it and training to see where it might take me,” he explained. “I’ve been skateboarding since age four and I’ve been interested in track since I was six, so sports, I guess, have always been in my life.”
Dutton sees the potential in his track star—and wishes he could be of more support.
“Encouragement is about all we can offer him right now,” Dutton said. “We’re hoping someone in the community with a bit of experience with this can maybe come on board and help him over the next couple of weeks.”
As for what he thinks Strain can achieve at OFSAA, the possibilities are endless. But it’s hard to gauge until you get to the event or see some of the benchmarks being set by other athletes from around the province.
“I know some of the runners from Thunder Bay have gone down there in previous years and been very successful [won the mile and 3,000-metre races last year],” Dutton noted.
“The northern kids can certainly compete with the Toronto kids,” he stressed.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
