For the first time in a long time the Gallagher Centre's parking lot was so jam packed you couldn't fit another car (or motorbike) in that parking lot.
But for the first time in awhile, it had nothing to do with Junior 'A' hockey, the Harvest Showdown or the Parkland Outdoor Expo.
"The parking lot was overflowing today," observed Jason Trost, chairman of the Good Spirit School Division's Showcase Track and Field meet.
There were a series of preliminaries, followed by finals' races.
Many local schools, and individuals came out on top in finals relays, or both.
Among the locals, Tyler Buenneke of Yorkdale Central Public School, was part of the winning boys' relay team, as well as capturing a gold medal in the boys' 600-metre race for his time of 2:03.
"There were 497 athletes (representing the GSSD)," notes Trost.
"There were over a dozen records broken today," said the chair.
This isn't the first time the School Board has held this meet, but it might be the first that has seen so many records get overcome.
"The quality of our track meet is getting better and better over the years," he points out.
Included in the GSSD meet were the top 18 finishers from the Standards Meet held not long ago.
Events included: the 4x100-metre relay, long jump, high jump and triple jump, as well as shotput and new this week, boys'/girls' hurdles.
Many local students placed first in the preliminary heat and then responded just as well in the finals' event.
Some placed not so well in the preliminary, but stormed back in the finals.
Brynn Jarvis of MC Knoll was among those who came out first in both heats of the girls' 50-metre dash Gr. 4 girls. Her preliminary score was 8.14 and her finals score was 8.30.
While Austin Dycer of the Yorkdale Central Public School Royals finished second in the preliminary boys 50-metre dash Gr. 4 boys, but improved to 7.99 to win the finals' race.
Also representing the Yorkdale Central Royals, Cody Wlasichuk came in fifth in the preliminary boys 50-metre dash Gr. 6 boys. He improved to third place in the finals with a score of 7.82.
Kayla Schmidt of MC Knoll came in second in the preliminary girls' 50-metre hurdles Gr. 7 girls event and improved to first place in the finals' event. Also of MC Knoll, Courtney Matychuk came in first in both heats of the girls 50-metre hurdle Gr. 8 girls event. She trimmed some time off of her preliminary time of 8.09, while her finals' trial was 7.95. Sierra Cook of MC Knoll finished at 6:10:66 in the girls 1500-metre run for Gr. 7 girls.
Dylan Sharp and Austin Olson came in second and third in the boys 1500-metre run for Gr. 7 boys. Both represented Yorkdale Central Public School while Jessica Lutz and Roma Zulyniak, also of Yorkdale, came in first and third in the same race for Gr. 8 girls.
And Carson Welke moved up two spots, from fourth in the preliminary to second in the finals of the boys' 50-metre hurdles Gr. 7 boys event.
Braden Miller also jumped up one spot, from fourth to third in the boys' 50-metre hurdles for Gr. 8 boys.
It was a Yorkton 1-2-3 finish in the boys' 600-metre run for Gr. 4 boys. Connor Watrych of Yorkdale Central, Joshua Haczkewicz of MC Knoll and Caydan Bayduza of Columbia School, all rounded out the top three in the finals event.
In girls shotput, Katelyn Smuk placed first in the Gr. 4 event, adding a gold medal to the pile for the MC Knoll team.
Yorkdale Central collected two more medallions in the Gr. 5 girls shot put event: Kelli Sparrowhawk and teammate May Desmarais came home with silver and bronze medals, respectively. Also from Yorkdale Central, Tyson Neumann, placed third in the finals of Gr. 6 boys shot put.
Alexis Repsch of MC Knoll took gold in the Gr. 4 girls long jump with her score of 2.85-metres.
Both MC Knoll and Yorkdale Central finished in the top 3 of the Gr. 5 boys long jump event. Hazzard Friskie and Daniel Balysky came first and third respectively. Friskie came in at 3.59-metres, while Balysky was measured by 3.41-metres.
TEAM EVENTS
In team events, MC Knoll and Yorkdale combined for several wins. MC Knoll won both the preliminary and the final in the girls 4x25 mile relay for Gr. 4 girls.
The boys team from MC Knoll placed first in both heats as well
The outdoor track and field season is scheduled to start today around town.
