Just to qualify for the Ontario High School Track and Field championships is no easy chore.
For Kingston-Area athletes, they have to finish in the top four at the city championships, then do the same at the Eastern Ontario finals.
And over the past couple of days, some pulled it off.
If they were fortunate enough to do that, it’s on to the East Regionals, which were held at Kingston’s Caraco Field this past week. The East Regionals are for athletes from every school in between Oshawa and Ottawa.
Sam Hall from East Northumberland High School in Brighton won the senior boys high jump with a soaring height of 2.09 metres.
“I’m happy,” Hall said. “It would have been great to break the record of 2.15 m, but that can wait for another day. Last year, I won a silver medal at OFSSA, so this time around my goal is to hopefully win the gold.”
Ben Olak of Thousand Islands Secondary School in Brockville qualified for OFSSA in the senior boys triple jump.
He said it wasn’t easy to finish in the top four. It took a personal best jump of 14.17 m to do so.
“These guys just brought it today,” said Olak, a grade 11 student at TISS. “It felt like an OFSSA competition. There was a lot of pushing each other, a lot of heart, and everyone just competed to the best of their abilities.”
The top four athletes in each event advance to the OFSAA championships, June 7-9 at York Lions Stadium in Scarborough.
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