The Kingston Area Secondary Schools Athletic Association (KASSAA) track and field championships were held on Thursday at CaraCo Field.
It was the first of three steps towards qualifying for the provincial championships, which will be held from June 6 to 8 at the University of Guelph.
“It’s my favourite day of the year in high school sports,” said KASSAA co-convenor Ben Mosier.
Nearly 400 athletes participated in Thursday’s meet. The top four finishers in each event will advance to the Eastern Ontario championships on May 23 and 24 at Thousand Islands Secondary School in Brockville.
“Track talent gets better every year,” said Mosier.
“Facilities like this one at the Invista Centre really help. In track, it’s all about doing your best. Most athletes like to set a personal best when it comes to their performances. If it’s good enough to move on, then it’s icing on the cake. I’m proud of all the athletes and their coaches. They work so hard to get to this point.”
Amanda Crawford was making her KASSAA debut in the midget girls’ shot put. She captured a gold medal in her first high school competition.
“I’m so proud of winning. I really worked hard for it,” said Crawford, a student at Granite Ridge Education Centre in Sharbot Lake.
The 14-year old Grade 9 athlete said it wasn’t her best performance but it was good enough.
“My throws were all in the eight-metre range. I’ve thrown nines before. I wasn’t at my best but I still did really good,” Crawford said.
Smashing a record in the midget girls’ pole vault was Lexi Sotiriacis from Kingston Collegiate.
“I didn’t have any expectations,” said Sotiriacis.
The Grade 9 student jumped 2.25 metres. The old record was 2.10.
“I’ve jumped 2.10 in training so I knew I could do it,” continued the 15-year-old.
“My focus was having really good jumps, and I blew myself away with what I could do. I would be lying if I said I could smash the record. I was hoping to break the record, but doing it three times over was really exciting.”