Spartan track stars show out in Red Deer

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

The Strathmore High School Spartans sent a higher volume of athletes to the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association (ASAA) track and field provincials and enjoyed some solid results.
Typically, the Spartans don’t send more than a handful of athletes to provincials, but after a dominating performance at the South Central Zone meet May 22 in Calgary, the Spartans sent eight contestants to last weekend’s meet at the Lindsay Thurber High School in Red Deer.
“It was a very quick season and we were all very impressed with how many athletes qualified,” said Spartans Coach Carrie Westgard. “There wasn’t a lot of training time for the kids this year, so a lot of their success came down to their natural athletic ability and it was great to see.”
Kage Yellowfly was the only student competing in more than one event, as he ran in the boys’ 800-metre dash and the 1,500m sprint at the junior level. He finished ninth in both events, running a 2:05.41 in the 800m and a 4:29.60 in the 1,500m, earning eight points in each race for the team standings.
The Spartans did bring home a gold medal, as Grade 12 student Luc Harris won the 200m dash in the open intellectual race with a time of 27.21.
Matthew Eggen also competed in the open intellectual division in shot put. His throw of 5.23m was good enough to earn him ninth place in the province.
The other highest finish for a Spartan was Natalie Funk, who finished seventh in the girls’ high jump with a leap of 1.50m. Her highest jump came earlier in the weekend when she cleared 1.53m.
Nicolas Heaton set a new personal best in the 300m, when he placed 13th after running a 10.36 in the junior division.
In the 1.75-kilogram discus, senior student Julien Hornsby-Irvine finished 11th after his chuck of 29.81m.
Rounding out the Spartan competitors was Grade 12 student Kaylin Larson. In her final track meet, she finished 10th in the javelin, with a toss of 26.95m.
The results achieved by this group of Spartans were outstanding, given the fact they had less time to prepare for zones compared to years past.
Like every spring and summer sport in Strathmore this year, the track team could not practice and train outside due to the longer than anticipated winter. Westgard estimated her team lost three weeks of training outdoors because of the snow that refused to melt.
Even with the short time table, eight athletes finished first or second at zones, qualifying them for provincials.
With the track season concluding, that marks the end to another strong year of athletics at the high school. The only item remaining on the agenda is the Spartan Athletic Banquet, which goes June 12 in the high school gym.