NEWS FILE PHOTO
Elic Ayomanor of Notre Dame Academy, races to a win and new record in the 200 metre dash at the South Zone junior high track meet Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at Rotary Track. Ayomanor is one of four Medicine Hat athletes who competed at last week’s Legion Nationals in Brandon, Man.
Medicine Hat News
For many Medicine Hat athletes, last week’s Legion Nationals in Brandon, Man. were their first taste of Canada-wide competition in track and field.
While only one wound up with a medal, that’s not to say they didn’t all gain valuable experience.
Elic Ayomanor helped an Alberta team to third in the under-16 boys’ 4×100 metre relay Saturday, crossing the line in 44.77 seconds. The up-and-coming track and football youngster had the anchor leg but couldn’t catch a team from Mississauga for gold.
Ayomanor also finished 12th in the 100 metre dash, eight hundredths too slow in his preliminary heat to make the final. He was also part of a medley relay team that took fourth.
Personal bests were the goal for Joshua Suelzle, and he got a big one in javelin. Suelzle, in the under-18 division, launched the spear 50.61 metres to finish 11th — a full 6.5 metres further than he’d ever managed in competition.
Suelzle also finished 14th in shot put (12.11 metres) and 15th in discus (34.39 metres).
Aayden and Dylan Callan also gave nationals their best shot — in Dylan’s case, literally. His 12.03 shot put effort put him ninth in under-16. Aayden’s 41.39-metre discus throw was a personal best by more than a metre, and got him a ninth-place finish in under-16 as well.
