Glendon School swept past the competition in the 1A schools category over the weekend in Edmonton to win the provincial track and field banner for the third year in a row, while St. Paul Regional finished second in the 3A category.
Glendon, coming off a win at the zones track meet in St. Paul a few weeks ago, finished with a total of 177 points, which was 128 points more than the second place winners in the 1A category, H.A. Kostash from Smoky Lake.
“We had a great last couple weeks. We headed to St. Paul for a few practices to work on the actual track, which really helped us out,” Glendon coach Daryn Galatiuk said after the meet.
“We were pretty confident going in,” he continued. “We had about 21 individual events and there was only about 10 other schools in the province that had over 20. We knew we could win a team championship. It was just a matter of our kids doing their personal bests and so many of them did.”
Last weekend’s meet caps a very successful year for Glendon track as the team performed extremely well in the SPAA meet and also participated in the inaugural Nike High School Grand Prix track and field festival in Toronto.
“It’s probably been the best track and field year we’ve ever had at the school,” the coach said. “It looks good for the next couple of years at least for our school to continue on this trend.
“It’s been a bit overwhelming how much of a response we’ve gotten for our kids and the support we’ve had from some local companies,” he added.
In the 3A schools division, St. Paul Regional sent 18 athletes to compete, but missed out on first place and finished second behind Westaskiwin Composite with 272 points.
“We were leading the competition all the way through until the 400m,” Regional coach Hank Smid said. “(Wetaskiwin) had three athletes that had some strong performances.”
Smid said he was very pleased with all of the athletes from the school that competed throughout the year, at events from SPAA to provincials. He also noted the improvement from schools in the St. Paul area in the track events and how these schools are now synonymous with winning.
Some of the athletes who competed in Edmonton will be graduating this year, however Smid added that Regional is looking forward to developing the new crop of athletes who are coming to the school next year.
Medal winners from the St. Paul area at the track meet included Glendon’s Paige Skrypichayko who finished first in junior javelin throw, second in shot put and third in discus. F.G. Miller’s Lindsey MacDonald was third in intermediate girls 80m hurdles while Regional’s Eric Laramee was also third in senior boys long jump.
Regional’s Marc Dubeau also finished first in senior shot put, discus and javelin throw.
