THUNDER BAY -- Aly DaSilva had one goal on her mind on Thursday – setting a new junior girls triple jump standard.
On her first attempt, she missed by a centimetre.
On her second, the 13-year-old Nor’wester View student found the extra ounce of power she needed, vaulting herself 9.05 metres to break the standing record, set in 2013, by five centimetres.
“I’ve always liked triple jump, so it’s pretty exciting to get the record,” the youngster said, the Fort William Stadium event delayed a day by inclement weather that blanketed Thunder Bay on Wednesday.
“The first jump I took was only one centimeter off, so I knew I had to try just a bit harder to try to beat the record. It was just run faster and jump farther.”
On Tuesday, Allison Read captured the marquee senior girl’s event, cruising to victory in the 100-metre dash in a time of 13.89 seconds, bettering her meet-best qualifying time by 0.17 seconds.
The Kingsway Park Public School athlete said she’s always felt the need for speed.
“I play basketball, so I’m pretty quick. I just like the 100-metre race,” said Read, who edged Churchill’s Bryanne Simmons by 0.27 seconds.
She was just thankful to have a chance to compete.
“It’s pretty cool, actually,” she said. “It’s a pretty good experience.”
It was Aidan Perine Raygorodetsky who captured the senior boys 100-metre dash – he also took top spot in the 200-metre race.
It took a lot of work to get to this point, he said.
“I’ve been training with Lakehead running for about three years. I’ve been hoping to win and it’s finally paid off, I’ve won both my events,” Perine Raygorodetsky said.
“I get psyched, because if you break a record, you’re the fastest. That name, the fastest, gets me psyched up about it. I want to be the fastest.”
Convener Matt Steele said the two-day event said the Lakehead Elementary Athletics event wraps up the school year and is a great event for participants, especially the younger set who get a chance to see how their older school-mates perform.
“They can see how they develop, the practice that takes place, all the skill and all the speed,” said Steele, also the junior football coach at Hammarskjold High School.
