Ont Bantam, Midget Youth Champs Results

Track North's Proudfoot Wins Double Gold at Provincial Track and Field Championships

Timmins, ON

 

Track North Athletic Club's Ross Proudfoot (Lively), 17, won gold in both the 800m and 1500m events at the Athletics Ontario Bantam, Midget and Youth Championships held this past weekend in Timmins.

 

Competing against the top 17 and under athletes in the province, Proudfoot, first struck gold in the 800m event with a finishing time of 1 minute 58.03 seconds.  This race saw Proudfoot outkick a large field of athletes over the final 200m as eight runners broke the two minute barrier in this closely contested race.

 

Proudfoot also captured gold in the 1500m event.  Leading wire to wire, Proudfoot charged home to a new personal best of 3 minutes 58.16 seconds.

 

Proudfoot also anchored Track North's silver medal winning  4 X 800m relay team which also included Sebastian Diebel (Nairn), Joe Burke (Espanola) and Jeremy Cooper (Manitowaning).  In a deep ten team field, the Track North squad placed just a half a second behind the winning team from Mississauga.

 

Proudfoot commented: "It was a great weekend of racing. The 800m and 4 X 800m relay were really exciting with deep, crowded fields. I was surprised how good I felt in the 1500m race, particularly leading start to finish they way I did.  I'm excited to race it again in two weeks in Sherbrooke at the National Youth Championships"

 

Coach Darren Jermyn notes: "Ross has been working really hard this whole summer and its great to see it pay off for him this weekend.  He was sick at OFSAA and couldn't compete at the level he normally does but his performances last weekend at the National Junior Championships in PEI (12th in the 1500m) and this weekend show that he is one of the top 17 year-old distance runners in the country".

 

Other  finishes for Track North athletes included:

 

Youth Girls

Alannah Maclean - 800m - 4th - 2:26.10 and 400m - 7th -  59.81

Grace Thomson - 300m Hurdles - 7th - 49.52

Kerissas Blacklock - 100m Hurdles 9th - 17.12, 200m, 22, 28.46

 

Midget Boys

Zack Caverson - 800m - 8th - 2:13.07; 1500m - 9th - 4:38.57

 

Youth Boys

Ross Proudfoot, 800m, 1st, 1:58.03, and 1500m, 1st, 3:58.16

Joe Burke - 800m - 7th - 1:59.68 and 1500m, 11th, 4:14.97

Sebastian Diebel - 800m - 10th - 2:02.09 and 1500m, 22, 4:28.69

Jeremy Cooper, 1500, 18th, 4:22.37 and 3000m, 12, 9:49.65