OLDS – Four members of the École Olds High School (ÉOHS) track and field team competed in the provincials in Calgary June 6-7 and one athlete – Jett Rosch – won gold in senior men’s shot put and silver in senior boy’s discus.
Innisfail High School athlete Natalie Harrison locked down second place with “a huge” new personal best of 12.15m in the junior women category, throwing coach Rachel Andres says.
“We had excellent results,” coach Jeff Clattenberg wrote in an email.
In other ÉOHS results, Ryder Persson finished fourth in junior boys javelin.
Kendra Larson ended up eighth in senior girls high jump.
Sydney Van Ginhoven finished in the top 10 in both the 1,500-metre (m) and 3,000m senior girls races.
“Jett specifically has worked incredibly hard over the past three-four years, training year ‘round with coach Rachel Andres to reach such an incredible accomplishment,” Clattenberg wrote.
In an email, Andres said Rosch began the two-day competition by obtaining a personal best in shot put of 13.33m in the senior men’s group. That earned him the gold medal.
She said Rosch’s silver medal-winning performance in discus was only 20cm shy of the gold medal toss.
Andres said Persson’s junior men’s javelin throw competition was “very exciting.”
“There was a lot of back and forth and jumping placings,” she wrote.
“In the sixth round, Ryder jumped two places to move himself in third place with a 46.86m toss and on the last throw of the next thrower, he got passed and bumped to fourth place.
“This year was very competitive. In most years, 45m will win the competition and 40m will medal.”
Athletes coached by Andres are now preparing for the CALTAF Classic meet, which will be held June 20-22 in Calgary.
“All of my athletes will be competing at this one for spots on the Legion and Canada Games teams while I will be competing to better my world rank in my push towards the World Championships happening in Tokyo in September,” Andres wrote.
Clattenberg wrote, “I think it’s vital to point out the outstanding commitment Rachel has made towards our athletes and our track program in general.
“Rachel dedicates countless hours year ‘round to help these athletes achieve a level of success that would be otherwise unattainable without her dedication and expertise.”
