THUNDER BAY – Brooke Ailey and Maaritta Puiras were neck and neck until the final turn of their 3,000-metre final race on Day 2 of the NWOSSA Track and Field Championships.
That’s when Ailey found an extra gear, gutting out a split-second win over her Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute teammate to take the senior girls crown.
Puiras settled for the junior girls title.
The two runners literally lapped the field to easily capture first-place in the combined race.
“I wasn’t really aware we were lapping the field. I was just focused on what I was doing. It was really exciting to learn 10 minutes before the race we were going to race junior and senior together because I got to run with my good teammate Maaritta,” said Ailey, whose next closest competitor in the senior girls race was Hammarskjold’s Danika Whitaker, who finished more than two minutes behind her 12:55.72 time.
“We were able to really help each other out. That track was especially windy, so I definitely made her work hard.”
Ailey, who also won Wednesday’s 1,500-metre race, has the option to attend next week’s provincial championships in Toronto, but says she has yet to make up her mind if she’s able to attend.
“I have to really think about it with everything else I’ve got going on in my ski training,” she said. “I think it would be really fun, so it’s going to be a hard decision.”
Nicholas Lightwood doesn’t have any hesitation about heading south, after winning the senior boys 3,000-metre event on Thursday afternoon at Fort William Stadium by a narrow 0.18 seconds over Fort Frances’ Trent Wilson.
“I really kicked it at the end and gave it everything I had,” the St. Ignatius Falcons athlete said.
“Obviously I get to go to Toronto now because I finished first. It’ll be fun, bigger competition and hopefully I’ll run a little faster.”
Hundreds of athletes took part in the two-day event, which brought together schools from Thunder Bay and the region, including Dryden and Fort Frances.
Alyssa Gvora, a Grade 12 student at St. Ignatius, said it felt great to come out on top in the junior girls 4 by 100 relay race, with teammates Maia Peterson, Alexa Gvora and Omega Habinski.
“Our team is really strong. We had to get a good start and we had a pretty decent lead going into the final leg.”
That’s when the nerves kicked in, the 16-year-old said.
“It was kind of stressful because I thought I was going to drop the baton at one point and it got passed to me kind of late, but it ended up OK,” Gvora said.
Complete race and competition results can be found here.
