Track and field is moving up the latter as one of the strongest sports in the school at Yorkton's Sacred Heart and Gr. 10 student Brooke Mentanko's performance at the 2010 Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) Provincial track meet is pretty good proof of that.
Mentanko competed in the 800-metre, 1500-metre and the 3000-metre runs in this year's event.She finished the two-day event with a bronze medal, a finish she was very satisfied with."The training really paid off," she said, seemingly like she just finished the race and gave the interview before she had a chance to catch her breath.
"I was really happy. I've never gotten a provincial medal for running."
She added that she knew exactly how she was going to approach the races and knowing that she was competing against a lot of competitors from the big-city clubs of Regina and Saskatoon; Mentanko's plan, it would seem, paid off royally.
"The competition was really tough but (my plan is) don't go so hard right off the start" or you'll get lactic acid," she warned. Following the East Central Districts held in Yorkton two short weeks ago, Mentanko collected three gold medals in three distance running events. She was quite pleased with her performance there too. So were her coaches.
She said at the time she was a little nervous heading into provincials, where Mentanko, along with 19 of her schoolmates, as well as a bunch from Yorkton Regional High School, trekked down to Moose Jaw for provincial competition held on the first weekend of June.
"I was training all winter," she told YTW three days before heading to Moose Jaw with her friends."I was pretty nervous though."
Somehow she managed to pull through.
Mentanko competed in the 800-metre, 1500-metre and the 3000-metre runs in this year's event.Last time out at provincials, SHHS sent 14 young, well-conditioned athletes to compete at the highest level in Saskatchewan. Rachel Sterzuk, who has been helping to whip a bunch of them into shape as a member of the coaching staff at SHHS. "Sacred Heart had a very successful provincial track and field meet this past weekend," she explained to YTW. Like last year's provincials, Mentanko wasn't sure what to expect when she got on board to head to Moose Jaw. This year, it was the same thing, yet she still won a provincial medal. "I actually did better than I thought I'd do."
