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Records fall at NWOSSAA track and field championships (11 PHOTOS)

THUNDER BAY -- Madison Halvorsen made a deal with her parents. If she won more than one event at this week’s NWOSSAA track and field championship she’d be allowed to attend the provincial championships next month in Windsor.
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Eric Tremblay soars over the bar in the high-jump competition on Wednesday at Fort William Stadium during the NWOSSA track and field championship. (Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY -- Madison Halvorsen made a deal with her parents.

If she won more than one event at this week’s NWOSSAA track and field championship she’d be allowed to attend the provincial championships next month in Windsor.

On Tuesday the St. Ignatius High School teen accomplished the first half of her goal, capturing the junior girl’s 1,500-metre race in a time of 5:19:24.

A day later she earned her trip to southern Ontario, taking the junior girl’s 800-metre race.

A swimmer who spends most of her time in the pool, Halvorsen said she didn’t really train all that much for the two-day championship, making her double win all that much more impressive.

“I tried to keep up with everybody at the beginning and stick with them to see how it went at the end,” she said.

“It feels pretty good.”

 


Halvorsen wasn’t the only athlete putting on an impressive performance at the Fort William Stadium event.

Sekina Scheibler of Fort Frances High School set a new discus record in his age group, improving on his Grade 9 performance a year ago.

“Last year I couldn’t quite get into the circle to set a new record, but this year I came out and got it,” he said.

In 2015 he finished with a personal best 44 metres and bested it by nearly six metres this year.

“I tried to get a lot stronger and more explosive,” he said.

A second trip to OFSSA has him hopeful of more success, Scheibler added.

“Last year I won and I’m hoping to repeat this year,” he said.

Hammarskjold’s Hanna Johnston also had a record-setting performance, on Tuesday winning the senior girl’s 1,500 metre run in a time of 4:34.63.

“I train all year round and I’m working really hard for it, so it does feel really good,” the 17-year-old Johnston said.

Jo-Jo Ertl has grown up on the track, but was facing her first NWOSSAA championship this week. She made a great first impression, capturing the girl’s high jump, setting a new standard at 1.59 metres, 0.13 metres more than Sir Winston Churchill’s Hayley Swift.

The 15-year-old St. Patrick High School student also competed in the high jump – which she also won – long jump, triple jump and the 100-metre relay.

“I’ve always been pretty competitive in everything I’ve done, especially sports, so it feels really good to push myself to the limits and come out on top,” Ertl said.

About 350 athletes from 15 schools across the region took part in the championships.

 



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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