2023 ALBERTA PROVINCIAL INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS The Provincial Championships were held in Edmonton on March 4th & 5th. Passtrak had 16 athletes entered in 96 events over the 2 days of competition & they produced some stunning results. The best an athlete can do is to improve in events they have previously contested. All 16 athletes had at least 1 life time best performance with many recording multiple personal bests. Overall the group improved in 67% of their events. Along they way the athletes also set 13 new Passtrak club records for their age groups & collected 12 top 3 placings. Finnley Hay was Passtrak’s youngest competitor. He had 7 events in the U10 boys age group. He ran the fastest 60m of his life in 12.76 seconds for 7th place & the fastest 150m of his life in 33.46 seconds for 5th place. He placed 6th in the 300m in 1:19.88 & took 5th in the 600m in a new Passtrak club record of 2:48.46. He was 4th in the standing long jump in a new Passtrak club record of 1.41m & 6th in the shot put with another club record of 2.93m. He came in 6th in the running long jump with a 2.07m result. Passtrak had 4 athletes in the U12 age group. Norah Smith cranked out 4 life time best performances. She was 19th in the 300m in 1:06.91 & 16th in the 150m in 28.05 seconds. She was 11th in the shot put with a 1 metre improvement to 4.57 metres. She increased her standing long jump & set a new club record by 38 cm out to 1.67 metres. In her other 3 events she placed 20th in the 60 metres in 11.27 seconds, 12th in the 600m in 2:35.77 & 8th in running long jump with a leap of 3.02m. Ellie Vandersteen had the same 7 events & she also produced 4 life time best performances. She ran 10.47 seconds in the 60m for 12th, 26.11 seconds in the 150m for 11th, 2.53m in the running long jump for 15th & 2:17.69 in the 600m for 9th & a new Passtrak club record. Her other 3 events were the 300m where she placed 16th in 1:04.38, the shot put where she threw 3.63m for 19th place & the standing long jump where she placed 9th by clearing 1.69m breaking the existing club record by 40 cm. In the U12 boys division Declan Sutherland had the same 7 events. He improved in 2 of his events. He ran 52.49 seconds in the 300m for 2nd place & placed 5th in the running long jump, improving by 14 cm out to 3.55m. He also placed 6th in the 60m at 9.74 seconds & 1st in the standing long jump with a new club record of 2.05m. He came in 11th in the 600m by finishing in 2:27.01. This was a result of him being pushed to the ground by another athlete less than 100m from the finish line. He also earned 6th place in the 150m with a time of 24.32 seconds. A 1st place finish in the shot put came from his 8.19m toss. Declan was crowned the Provincial Championship gold medalist for the top overall U12 male athlete. Aiden Aasen accompanied Declan in all 7 events. He also had 2 life time best performances. They came in the 300m where he placed 6th in 54.42 seconds & the 600m where he ran 2:01.88 for 3rd place. In his other events he was 12th in the 60m in 10.12 seconds5th in the standing long jump at 1.85m, 2nd in the shot put at 7.56m, 12th in the 150m in 25.23 seconds & 14th overall in the running long jump measuring 3.12m. Five athletes represented Passtrak in the U14 age group. Marley Winter produced 3 life time best performances. She was 41st in the 600m in 2:27.67, 28th in the long jump at 3.18m & 22nd in the 150m in 24.37 seconds. Her other 3 events were the 60m where she ran 9.74 seconds for 30th, shot put which she heaved 4.74m for 26th & the high jump where she cleared 1.07m for 19th. Cammy Hay also had 3 best ever results. She ran 10.11 seconds in the 60m for 39th, 2:29.80 for 43rd in the 600m & 24th in the long jump with a distance of 3.26m. In her other 4 events she tossed the shot put 4.41m for 31st, ran the 150m in 25.84 seconds for 24th, finished the 1000m in 4:53.87 for 25th & had a 10th place finish in the high jump with a 1.22m result. Jasper Smith improved in all 4 of the events he had previously competed in. He ran 10.82 seconds for 30th in the 60m, ran 2:15.78 in the 600m for 22nd, ran 26.51 seconds in the 150m for 15th & cleared 3.04m in the long jump for 27th. His other 3 events were the shot put where he threw 5.14m for 24th, the 1000m where he ran 4:07.14 for 14th & the high jump where his 1.19m earned him 7th place. William Vandersteen improved in 3 events in the U14 boys category. His 60m improved to 9.86 seconds for 22nd place. His 600m improved to 2:14.53 for 21st & his 150m race improved to 25.83 seconds for 13th. His remaining 4 events were the long jump where he spanned 3.10m for 26th, the shot put which measured 4.22m for 27th, the 1000m where he timed 4:11.84 for 15th & finally the high jump where his 1.10m placed him 10th. Passtrak’s final entry in the U14 age group was Eli Bailey. He recorded 2 best ever results. The first one came in the 60m where he clocked 8.90 seconds for 8th. The other was a time of 21.86 in the 150m for 3rd place. He also ran the 600m where he timed 2:09.01 for 16th, & he scored 5th in the long jump after clearing 4.18m. His 7.39m shot put attempt placed him 7th while his 1.28m clear in high jump grabbed a 3rd place finish. His final event was the 1000m where his time was 3:40.03 for 6th. Passtrak’s 4 athletes in the U16 age group produced personal best performances as well. The 3 boys, Cohen Folkard, Colton Sutherland & Carson Hay all broke the existing club record in the 2000m race. Carson ran 8:39.58 for 12th place, Cohen ran 7:03.48 for 8th place & Colton squeezed out a 7:03.45 time to place 7th. Cohen set a second club record in the 1200m by finishing 9th in 4:02.52 which was a life time best for him. He also improved his 300m time by finishing 10th in 47.44 seconds. Cohen’s other events were the shot put where he threw 6.74m for 8th, high jump where he cleared 1.30m for 7th & the 60m hurdles where in finished with a silver medal 11.03 seconds. Colton improved his time in both of his other races. He placed 11th in the 300m in 48.18 seconds & 12th in the 1200m in 4:18.70. He earned 5th in shot put with a 7.60m measurement & 11th in long jump at 4.17m. Carson ran the fastest 1200m of his life as well, finishing in 5:00.27 for 15th place. He grabbed 9th place in high jump at 1.15m & 5th in the 60m hurdles timing 14.22 seconds. Eve Winter had 6 events in the U16 girls division. She had the fastest 600m of her life in 2:08.74 for 23rd. Her long jump improved by a full metre to 4.37m for 8th overall & her high jump increased by 25cm to 1.40m placing her 5th. She came 18th in the 60m in 8.79 seconds & 31st in the 300m in 55.07 seconds. Her crowning achievement was the Provincial Championship gold medal for triple jumping 9.37m. Jack Bailey competed in 4 events in the U20 Mens division. He ran the fastest 1000m of his life in 3:07.32 finishing in 22nd. Next he ran the 600m in 1:39.01 for 16th place. His shot put measured 8.88m for 8th place & his 60m hurdle race was clocked in 10.11 seconds for 6th. Craig Hay represented Passtrak in the Masters Mens 40 - 45 year age group. He picked up 2 Provincial Championship silver medals for his efforts in the throwing events. His measurement for the 35 pound weight throw was 7.26m & his best 16 pound shot put landed at the 9.26m mark. This event brings Passtrak’s indoor competition season to a close. It will be nose to the grindstone for the next few weeks of training heading into the outdoor season which begins on April 18th. Anyone interested in joining the club for the outdoor season can contact Ritch Braun at braunr@shaw.ca.