The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
When you fall short of achieving something great, it's always hard to take. I believe it was Wayne Gretzky who said that he would rather lose a game by several goals then by one. Hapnot track and field coach Steve Lytwyn said last year the team fell short by six points of winning the Zone 11 championship. This year they turned it around and won by 99. That's an incredible accomplishment. While the team now looks to carry their confidence and momentum into provincial competition and hopefully city, their Zone 11 championship is something to be proud of. That championship banner can now join several others that decorate the gymnasium at Hapnot Collegiate and the past accomplishments the student athletes have earned. There are several great things about sports, but the ones that makes the best stories are those where an athlete or team does the unexpected. They become an underdog. It's hard to say if Hapnot can or should be considered an underdog, but their nemesis, Thompson (R.D. Parker Collegiate), provides the challenge that makes you want to beat them badly. My first story on school athletics was on volleyball. The goal for the team was to beat Thompson. It has been the same trend for every other sport. From the volleyball team to this track and field team, it seems like the road to zone glory runs North through Thompson. Perhaps what makes this accomplishment so great is that schools don't compete on a level playing field because some have more students to choose from and may have more naturally talented athletes. While Hapnot may not have the luxury Thompson does in student numbers, they have talented athletes who put in the best effort and listen to their dedicated coaches. Hapnot earning this championship is exactly what they deserve. Even more impressive is that they practice on a track mostly made up of rock that isn't ideal and the cemetery is next door. This achievement brings a happy ending because some of these students are graduating and others have endured disappointment with their volleyball teams and to some extent, basketball, such as Jake Rogers, Dan Dowell and Ian Clark to name a few. If they didn't lose to their rivals from Thompson, then it would be to The Pas or another team that did what they needed to for championship glory. This season, the students at Hapnot, have experienced a lot of different feelings Ð from winning and losing Ð to tragedy. The good news is they are getting the last laugh. Over the next two weekends, this team will pursue new heights and possibly add to that Zone 11 championship. No matter the results, they will have something to be proud of, but so will this community.
