The warm weather was a welcome respite for track and field athletes at Central Alberta Schools Athletic Association Track and Field meet and they took full advantage.
Nine zone records fell on a warm and sunny Wednesday at the qualifier for the Alberta Schools Athletic Association Provincial Track and Field Championships.
St. Joseph High School runner Jared Howse was one of the first to topple a top zone time, edging the record in the 3000-metre intermediate boys race. Howse broke the previous mark of 9:19.37 set by Matt Hope in 2012 by just under a second with a time of 9:18.75.
“My best time is actually a sub-nine (minute) 3000, but when I have three races in a day, I just lay off a little bit. I still did want to beat the record and that was my goal,” said Howse, who also holds the junior zone record at 9:19.22.
“It was a good race, I think I started a little bit fast and had more even lap times, but I just go out and do what I can.”
He also picked up a win in the 800m (2:03.87) and 1500m (4:24) later in the afternoon. Howse has one of the top 10 under 18 1500m times in Canada this season, when he ran a 4:11.48 in Calgary.
His Red Deer Titans teammate, Jeremiah Lauzon also had a record-setting day.
Lauzon, representing Lindsay Thurber cruised past the record in the 200m senior race, finishing well ahead of the pack in 22.34. The previous best zone time was 22.39 by Brayden Posylyzny of Notre Dame in 2015.
The 18-year-old said he had a slow start, but started to find his groove around the 100m mark.
“The start wasn’t amazing, but coming off the bend was pretty good and it wasn’t as my old time, but I broke the zone record so I’m kind of happy,” he said.
He also won his two other races on the day, finishing first in the 400m race with a time of 52.09 and first in the 100m (10.52). Lauzon was also tied for second overall in the male aggregate.
Now, his sights are firmly set on picking up a trio of medals at provincials in Calgary on June 7 and 8.
“I want to get gold in the 200m and hopefully break the provincial record, which is 21.60. I’m hoping to medal in the 100m and 400m, which I feel like I should be able to do,” he added.
Reilly Holowachuk from Ryley School also broke a record in the junior shot put. His toss of 12.94m topped the previous mark of 12.42m set by Sebastian Dupuis of Wainright in 2014.
Camrose senior high jumper Taylor Schultz also leaped past the old record of 1.63m set by Shelley Burdick of Eckville in 1985. Schultz set the new record of 1.65m on her first attempt.
Hunting Hills Lightning athlete Sydney Larsen broke her own record in the Pentathlon with a score of 2728.
Sam Jansen of Notre Dame set a new record in the junior boys javelin with a toss of 46.52, eclipsing the old mark by over a metre.
In the open 300m hurdles, Cody Bell set a new record of 42.27.
Joel DeMale of Hunting Hills was the top male in the individual aggregate with 29 points and Jamie Lalor was the female aggregate winner with 34 points.
The top two competitors in each event at zones advance to the provincial championships.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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