SASKATOON - Students from southeast Saskatchewan were in Saskatoon June 2 and 3 for the Saskatchewan High Schools' Athletic Association's track and field provincials.
Carter Beck, a Grade 12 from the Carnduff Education Complex, came home with a gold medal in the senior boys' tetrathlon, and athletes from the Estevan Comprehensive School impressed at the event.
The tetrathlon has four different components: the 100-metre dash, the 800 metres, the long jump and the shot put.
Elecs track-and-field coach Kelly Phillipchuk said Beck practised a lot in Estevan, and Phillipchuk was excited to see Beck win the gold medal.
Beck was first in the shot put with a toss of 13.56 metres, third in the 100 metres with a time of 12 seconds, fourth in the 800 metres at two minutes and 12.87 seconds, and eighth in the long jump with a distance of 5.8 metres.
He finished with a total of 2,587 points, 68 more than Oakland Flodell of Clavet.
"Carter's a great kid. He practised so much at our school," said Philipchuk. "He'd drive in after school and use our track, and you knew good things were going to happen for him."
Carter Onrait, a Grade 11 at ECS, finished eighth in the senior boys' tetrathlon.
"It's a great event," said Phillipchuk. "So, you're picking an all-round athlete. Then they only win one event based on their points combined."
Onrait was fifth in the 100 metres with a time of 12.06 seconds, seventh in the boys' 800 metres with a time of 2:14.34 seconds, eighth in the shot put with a toss of 10.74 metres, and 13th in the long jump with a distance of 5.4 metres.
"He's only a first-year senior, so he'll be coming back again next year. He had a good finish for a first-year senior … and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next year," said Phillipchuk.
Other ECS athletes who had top-20 finishes were:
*Sydney Brooks was 11th in the intermediate girls' discus throw with a distance of 22.69 metres;
*Truman Ciepliski was ninth in the intermediate boys' 200 metres with a time of 24.89 seconds;
*Lila Hale was 15th in the intermediate girls' high jump with a distance of 1.35 metres;
*Justin Linthicum was eighth in the senior boys' long jump with a leap of 5.9 metres;
*Cowan Ludtke was 13th in the intermediate boys' high jump with a leap of 1.65 metres;
*Randi Milbrandt was 10th in the junior girls' discus throw with a distance of 23.25 metres and 18th in the 80-metre hurdles with a time of 15.35 seconds; and
*Kelsey Mullaney was 20th in the intermediate girls' 400-metre preliminary round with a time of 1:10.02.
Also competing were Mullaney in the intermediate girls' shot put (8.99 metres); Linthicum in senior boys' triple jump (10.93 metres); Phillip Gellner in junior boys' 3,000 metres (12:32.30); Jenna Knibbs in junior girls' 80-metre hurdles (17.59 seconds); and Logan Nielsen in junior boys' 100-metre hurdles (21.01 seconds).
Phillipchuk said they didn't have a lot of Grade 11 and 12 students this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their numbers. They have some good athletes in Grades 9 and 10, and they're looking forward to future results.
Numbers were down for junior and senior girls in particular, and he noticed a similar problem at cross-country provincials.
The next edition of the Carlyle Observer will have more on Beck's performance.
