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.
Seven track and field athletes from Creighton Community School have advanced to the provincial level after competing in the NEESACs last week. Danny Suchoplas, Brittney Holland, Krystal Kawa, Lia Nasselquist, David Anaka, Jesse Manns and Morgan Grant are all preparing for the Saskatchewan High School Athletics Association's (SHSAA) Provincials in Moose Jaw. Forty-eight athletes competed at the NEESACs in Melfort last week. Though all were able to compete at that level, only athletes from grades 9 through 12 were able to move on to the provincial level. A growing interest has been shown in track and field throughout Saskatchewan, said Creighton Kodiaks coach Ryan Trumbley. Therefore, the SHSAA decided to allow three students in each age group, per school, to compete Ð whereas last year only two students were eligible. "It was nice for us," said Trumbley, "because we had lots of people this year and lots of people who were on the same event." Due to the weather, the competition was pushed ahead a day Ð leaving a few students unable to compete in the second day of events. But those who did compete, Trumbley says, did "exceptionally well." Provincial Qualifiers The Creighton Kodiaks will be sending seven athletes in 14 events to Moose Jaw. "It's less people than we took last (year), but we had more people qualify in multiple events," said Trumbley. Suchoplas, who won Gold in shot put for his age division last year, earned his way to Provincials with a Gold in discus and shotput. Holland, who missed Provincials last year, will be heading in this year with a Gold in javelin and a Silver in discus under her belt. "She bombed it," said Trumbley of her javelin throw. "She threw over 31 metres and I think her personal record was 27 metres." Kawa earned top nods in long jump and will also be competing in the 4x100 relay team for the North Eastern Division. Nasselquist, a first time Provincial track and field athlete, will be competing in the high jump. "She's our first person to go to Provincials for high jump," said Trumbley. "We're expecting her to do well." Anaka, a returning Provincial athlete, earned Silver in the 100-metre dash and "ran a phenomenal time," according to Trumbley. "He was in a very competitive Senior Boys 100-metre this year," said Trumbley, noting that the Grade 12 student ran 11:06:01. That's "the fastest time anyone from our school has run," said the coach. Anaka will also be competing in the 4x100 relay. Manns, another rookie, qualified for Senior Girls hurdles with a Silver finish. "She ran a really good race," said Trumbley. Grant, who competed last year as well, will be going to Provincials for javelin after finishing with a Silver in NEESACs. "What's really nice," said Trumbley, "is that all of the kids that are going to Provincials (have) set personal bests to get there." See 'On' on pg. Continued from pg. Trumbley says the athletes were really on their mark this past week. "Krystal Kawa had a phenomenal day. She set school records in everything she competed in," he said. Though Kawa was able to set the school records, there were two athletes who were much faster than her in her heat. "She finished third in the 100-metre, 200-metre and hurdles by a tenth of a second," said the coach. There were many highlights for the Kodiaks, but there were also some heartbreaks. One Kodiak, Mason Antoniak, was on track to contend in all of his races, but fell and broke his collar bone at the finish line. "In Grade 8, he ran a better time than David ran in Provincials last year as a Grade 11," said Trumbley. The weather also played a huge factor in the competition as Trumbley said it was "cold and wet." Having the cold weather makes it hard for running and throwing athletes to get into the groove, said Trumbley. "Even Danny didn't throw as well as he possibly could have; it was just too cold," he said. This year, the SHSAA changed the format of NEESACs. Formerly, the athletes competed one day of one week and then one day the next week. This year, the athletes competed two days in a row. Heading into the events, Trumbley said he didn't think it was going to be a positive change. After watching the athletes compete, more and more people agreed with him. "Kids were really hurting the next day," he said. "They are actually pretty sure they are going to go back next year to one one week and one the next week." The colder weather plays a big role on how the athletes feel the next day as well, he said. "It's really hard on your body and lots of the kids are running four events (in NEESACs) and when they make it to Provincials, they usually only (compete) in one or two." The Creighton Kodiaks travel to Moose Jaw for Provincials this weekend.
