BJORKDALE — North East Sask Schools Athletic Conference Track Championships were held on June 3 and 4 and great results by the Bjorkdale School Bandit track team at NESSAC this year!
Due to COVID cancellations, this was their first NESSAC Championship in three years. For most of our athletes this meant that this was their first big track meet, and they did not disappoint.
Talon Kipling made it to the 100m final, and had a respectable 8th place overall finish in the PW Boys. He also had an eight place overall in the 200m.
Gabriella Vecchio had two personal bests in her events. She finished fifth in the PW Girls 800m, narrowly missing third place, as third, fourth and fifth places were only seconds apart. She also finished fourth in PW Girls discus with a personal best throw of 12.17m.
James Van Hassert also had a great day finishing fourth in both Long Jump and the 200m in the Bantam Boys category. In his last NESSAC track meet, Sam Bzwoy was a top ten finisher in the Senior Boys 100m, seventh in the 200m and 6th in the 400 m.
Daniellyn Johnson received two ribbons in two of her Bantam Girls events. She finished eighth in 100m, second in shot and took home first place in discus with a throw of 23.54m.
Grace started our NESSAC competition on Tuesday night with a first place finish in the Jr Girls 1500m and then on Wednesday also earned another first place in Jr Girls 800m. She will be representing our school division at provincials on June 3 and 4 in Regina. She competed in Junior girls 1500m, running a personal best and finished 15th place. She also ran 800m and ran her personal best, finishing 19th place.
After a two-year hiatus, students from Bjorkdale competed in the Regional qualifier for Provincial SOLEstice in Melfort on June 7. SOLEstice is a fun way to introduce younger students to track and field based activities. We had 18 athletes represent Bjorkdale this year. One athlete will be moving on to the Provincials. Madisyn Johnson earned her way to provincial in both Ball Throw and Standing Long Jump. Congratulations Madisyn Johnson, and good luck in Saskatoon
On Monday, June 6, members of the high school had the honour of travelling to "Loveland". The use of the land has been generously donated by Dr. Verna St. Denis. It is just outside of Love, and is designated for land-based Indigenous Education. Six students, working with along with traditional knowledge keepers, constructed a sweat lodge and learned about its cultural and spiritual significance. After construction, the participants experienced two rounds of a sweat in the newly constructed lodge. A big thank you to Sharon Meyer and the NESD School Division for making this opportunity for our students.
