A pair of midget-age athletes were the only two Kingston-area competitors to win two events each at the 39th annual Podium Sports-Hungerford Invitational high school track and field meet, a two-day event that concluded Saturday at Thousand Islands Secondary School in Brockville.
Brianna Burgess signalled the tradition of fine hurdlers is continuing at Sydenham, as she captured both midget girls events, over 80 and 300 metres, doing so in fine style.
She won the sprint hurdle by the narrowest margin, one one-hundredth of a second, edging Jessica Stevens of Carleton Place in 13.77 seconds, as both competitors finished more than a second ahead of the remainder of the field. In the intermediate hurdles, Burgess won in 52.34 seconds, prevailing by 14 one-hundredths of a second.
Cole Horsman of Frontenac dominated the midget boys sprints, winning the 100 metres in 11.46 seconds and the 200 metres in 23.28 seconds, the latter more than 1.3 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Burgess and Horsman were among 10 local athletes to win an event at one of the more prestigious preseason meets in the province, a meet that attracted teams from Mississauga to the Quebec border.
Loyalist’s Claire Millard won junior girls 80-metre hurdles in 12.64 seconds, a time already 26 one-hundredths of a second faster than the one she ran as a midget at OFSAA last June, with a margin of victory of more than a second. She was also second in the 300-metre hurdles, and third in triple jump, as the only local athlete to post three top-three performances.
Kingston athletes won two of the three boys javelin divisions. Ben Cross of Frontenac was more than four metres ahead of the pack, winning the senior competition with a best throw of 51.65 metres. Adam Burggraf of Bayridge won the junior boys event, at 44.54 metres.
Each also had a third-place performance; Cross in long jump and Burggraf in discus.
Sophia Skorenky of Marie-Rivier won senior girls 400 metres, with a time, 58.32 seconds, that was more than a second better than the rest. She was also second over 200 metres.
Gabby Subrango of Gananoque won midget girls discus at 22.47 metres. She was also second in the shot put.
Other local winners were Dave Cox of Granite Ridge, who was the only competitor to clear the bar at 1.80 metres, as he won senior boys high jump; Marik Wilcock of Sydenham, who won junior boys 100-metre hurdles in 14.92 seconds, and Emily Fawcett of Holy Cross, who won junior girls discus with a best throw of 30.30 metres.
Those with two top-three performances were Sarah Bell of Kingston, in midget girls 100 and 200 metres; Zack Froats-Crowder of Frontenac, in midget boys high and triple jumps; Sydenham teammates Thomas Lambert, in junior boys 100 and 200 metres, and Liam Sands, in midget boys 100-metre hurdles and triple jump; Mavrick Snider of Bayridge, in junior boys long and triple jumps, and Max Taylor of Holy Cross, in midget boys 200 and 400 metres.
Among teams, Holy Cross was second in both senior boys and junior girls divisions, and Sydenham was second among junior boys—in each case runner-up to the host school—while Frontenac finished third among midget boys teams.
The high school track season resumes Friday in Belleville, where the annual Michelle Foley Bay of Quinte Invitational will be held at the Mary Ann Sills facility. The Kingston Area Secondary Schools Athletic Association championships will be held May 13-14 at Caraco Field.
