The time didn’t matter.
Just being back on track was enough to put a smile on the face of a Holy Trinity Academy Knight.
HTA’s Michaela Bianchini won the Senior girls 1,500m and 800m and was second in the 400m at the Foothills Athletic Council divisional track and field meet on May 16 at Knights field.
“This means a lot to me because I felt I missed an opportunity to do really well last year,” the Grade 12 runner said between breaths after finishing the 800m. “I had stress fractures in my foot. I was in a cast for two months.”
She started feeling pain last April and as a result was on the sidelines for the high school track season. She admits rehabilitation can be frustrating.
“It was tough because I wasn’t close to where I was before,” Bianchini said. “I worked so hard to get to a certain point and then I got injured. It’s hard to build back up and have the confidence. It was nerve-racking. I was cautious and scared of hurting myself again.”
Bianchini’s won the 800m in 2:36.49 at divisionals, some 10 seconds behind her best time. However, she isn’t worrying about that — the conditions were windy and she was not pushed in the race.
“I’m not as fast as I was last year, but I’m getting there,” said Bianchini, who was HTA’s Female Track Athlete of the Year in 2014.
Bianchini would like to repeat her Grade 10 performance, where she got to provincials in both the 800m and the 1,500m.
She got off to a good start in winning both distances, crossing the finish line at 5:59.00 at divisionals.
The top two finishers at the divisionals advanced to the South Central zones, which were held May 24 at Foothills Athletic Park in Calgary. The top two finishers at zones will then go on to provincials June 3-4 in Edmonton.
Fast finish
A slow starter showed some blinding speed in winning the Junior boys 200m at divisionals.
“Right when I turned the corner, I was about 50m from the finish line and I just closed my eyes and ran,” said Cayden Shmyr, a Grade 10 student with the Foothills Falcons. “I think I caught the guy right at the finish line.”
Shmyr crossed the line in 24.00 seconds, just ahead of Highwood Mustang Tucker Zdunich at 24.08.
He would finish second in the 100m.
“It was a slow start for me again,” Shmyr said. “I was at the back of the pack and then I picked it up.”
He found himself in a race for second-place as Highwood’s Zdunich ran away with the event. Shmyr’s time of 11.88 seconds edged HTA’s Mark Eadie who was clocked at 11.89s. He admits the extra 100m in the 200m helps him.
“I’m kind of a 200m person because I’m slow at the start,” Shmyr said. “Once I get going I can get to my top speed.”
Shmyr is looking forward to zones. He competed in the Okotoks Junior High Ocelots 4x400m relay team last year as he missed out on the individual events due to a hockey injury.
“I would like to finish top two in zones so I can go to provincials,” Shmyr said.
The avid hockey player, who plays for the Calgary Minor Midget Buffaloes, admits zones and provincials — if he makes it -— will be difficult as he comes up against athletes who primarily focus on track.
Blowing through to zones
An Oilfields Driller made sure he was the last man standing before he made a mistake.
“I thought I did really well the whole way up — I didn’t knock a bar until I got first-place,” said Driller high jumper Jimmy Blower. “I went out 1.65m.”
Blower won the Intermediate boys high jump at 1.65m, finishing ahead of Foothills Falcon Jaden Salter who went out after clearing 1.60m
The Grade 12 Blower is hoping to once again qualify for provincials.
He went last year after clearing 1.72m at zones.
He got the high jump bug while attending junior high school at Millarville School.
“We started doing it in gym when I was at Millarville and I just stuck with it,” he said. “At zones, it is a little different. You have to be more focused to jump even higher.”
Oilfields sports fan won’t be surprised by Blower’s high jumping success.
He has been a bit of a skywalker for both the Drillers basketball and volleyball teams.
The Strathcona-Tweedmuir Spartans dominated the divisional track meet at HTA.
The Spartans, the defending 2A high school provincial track and field champions, won the divisional meet with 637.50 points. HTA was second at 409. Foothills was third.
The zones were May 24, results were too late for the Western Wheel’s press time.
