MARTIN CLEARY
Finally, gold.
After winning several silver or bronze medals at past Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ track and field championships, the John McCrae Bulldogs experienced that golden feeling not once, but twice last weekend in Brockville.
The Bulldogs can thank girls’ midget horizontal jumper Hannah-Kelsey Smith for putting her school on the top step of the medal podium.
A member of the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club, Smith excelled in the long jump, going 5.18 metres in her fifth of six rounds of competition, and the triple jump, sailing 11.59 metres on her fourth leap.
“Obviously, Hannah turned in some fantastic performances,” McCrae track and field coach Joe Barnabe wrote in an email. “One thing that seemed remarkable to me was her mental toughness and determination.
“She improved each week with each competition. Hannah even seemed to get stronger with each jump at OFSAA. In the long jump, another competitor took the lead on her fourth jump and Hannah was able to get ‘dialed in’ and set a (personal best) on her fifth jump, which won her the gold She did the same thing in the triple jump and hurdles.”
Smith placed fifth in the 80-metre hurdles in 12.80 seconds.
Field athlete Kayla Maduk came close to winning gold as she earned the bronze medal in girls’ junior javelin at 34.39 metres and was fourth in shot put at 10.93 metres.
“Kayla Maduk is as equally impressive and determined and is off this week to compete in a Pan Am taekwon-do championship in Quebec,” Barnabe added.
Bryson Patterson made two finals in boys’ senior triple jump, tying for fourth at 14.04 metres, and in long jump, finishing eighth in 6.52 metres.
“We are extremely proud of all of our track and field athletes. We had a great season,” Barnabe continued.
“Generally, athletes who achieve a top-eight result at OFSAA train with a club all year long and that is certainly the case with our team. Hannah Smith, Kayla Maduk, Bryson Patterson, (and) Shelani Fernando each work extremely hard year round to improve their track and field skills and they, like the rest of our team, seem to always represent John McCrae S.S. with class and character.”
