The first day of competition at the Estevan 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games was coloured in silver and bronze for the South East athletics team.
Balgonie’s Joely Welburn started the Team South East medal haul by capturing second place in the female long jump final at the Chamney Running Track and Panteluk Athletic Field. Carlyle’s Taylor Sargeant followed that up with a bronze-medal performance in the female 100-metre hurdles final before Wawota’s Olivia Lawrence raced to second place in the female 100m sprint championship.
“It’s really exciting, especially because it’s in Estevan,” said Sargeant, 16. “It’s close to where I live, so lots of people around to watch like family and friends. It’s a really good feeling to be able to win here.”
Sargeant ran the 100m hurdles in 15.13 seconds, which was 0.17 ticks behind Prairie Central’s Rebecca Barkway and 1.03 seconds behind gold-medal winner Emily Coghill of Team Saskatoon. She said going into the hurdles as the third seed after that morning’s heat races forced her to just focus on what she can accomplish on the track.
“I just told myself not to worry about the other two and just to push myself as hard as I could and just push for my best,” she said.
Lawrence, 17, chalked up her silver medal 12.61-second sprint in the 100m race to lots of practice. She said in addition to her work with her Wawota Parkland School track and field team she trains with the University of Regina recruitment track club and regularly practises there during the winter and at Douglas Park during the summer with a goal of eventually representing the Cougars.
“It feels great,” said Lawrence. “This is my first Games and I’m the oldest, so I’m a ’99. This is my first and last Games, so I’m really fortunate I got this experience and it’s pretty cool. Hopefully one day I can look back and say that was a starting point for me because I hope to do track for a long time.”
Welburn also trains with Lawrence at the U of R and credits her silver medal to determination, hard work and practice. She said the Legion National Track and Field Championships in Sainte-Therese/Blainville await her in early August and to have a good showing at the Summer Games is a great prelude to nationals.
“It’s a pretty cool experience,” said Welburn, 16. “I know this doesn’t happen very often. This is my second Summer Games, but I didn’t compete in track (the first time). I competed in volleyball the last Summer Games, so it’s awesome. It’s a great experience and the competition is great.”
