It was a little over seven months ago that Peacock’s Nikolina Kapovic burst onto the high school scene with a win in the District cross-country championship and bronze in the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association provincials a week later.
As it turns out, being able to run long distances over rough terrain also translates well when the surface is perfectly smooth and on a 400-metre oval.
Filipovic followed up her record-setting performance in the 3,000 metres in the city championship meet with another stellar effort in the South Central district championship on Tuesday, May 25, setting a new mark of 11:18.8 seconds on her way to winning gold in the event.
And like her showing in cities, Kapovic’s new time didn’t just set the record, it smashed it. Former Central track and cross-country standout Kailey Smith held the old mark of 11:26.30, meaning Kapivoc would have finished metres ahead if they were on the same track.
“It’s unreal and I’m pretty happy I was able to do that,” Kapovic said of breaking Smith’s 21-year-old mark. “I’ve worked really hard at it. It was a really good race, I think, even though it was a little hot out. It was hard but I’m happy with how it went.”
Kapovic carried a bit of strategy in the event, settling into second for a good portion before using her kick to finish four seconds ahead of Central’s Katie Rogers -- who herself ran a 11:22.4 and also broke Smith’s mark.
The duo will now represent South Central in provincials during the June 3 weekend, with the Moose Jaw Rotary Track Club competitor hoping for a similar showing in Regina.
“My coach said I would be in the top three or top five-ish, so that’s pretty good,” Kapovic said. “It would be really nice if I could win a medal, I’d be really excited. It’ll be hard, but I’ll do my best.”
While Kapovic’s mark could have been considered a surprise, there was none of that with Cornerstone’s Aliyah Block.
After breaking senior girls throws records in every meet this season, Block was back at it on Wednesday with a throw of 36.68 metres in the discus to break Megan Reid’s mark of 36.55 metres set back in 2001. A couple hours later, she did the same in shot put, with a 12.15-metre effort taking down Lana Stevens’ record of 11.51 metres from way back in 1998.
The shot put record was especially nice given that Block wasn’t able to break the cities mark a week earlier.
“It felt so good, because it was a personal best for me and I’ve never thrown over 12, so I was really pumped, especially since I haven’t been throwing as well lately,” Block said. “So I was super happy.”
Things were far closer in the discus, but when you’re taking aim at a future Canada Games standout, that can be expected.
“It wasn’t super good for me, because the last meet I threw 38,72 and then coming back here, it was quite a bit less,” Block said. “But that’s the nice thing about doing two events, it seems that if I’m frustrated with one then the other is good, it kind of flip-flops back and forth. But I still got the record so I can’t complain.”
Now it’s on to the final meet of her high school career, and what she hopes will be something special.
“That would be awesome,” Block said of winning provincial gold. “I have to check out the records there, too, I know I’m pretty high up there and I’ll see what I can do. It all depends on the day.”
Also setting a record at Districts was Assiniboia’s Quinton Fettes in the junior boys long jump, and his effort was one of the most impressive yet. Not only would his 6.18-metre leap have won the senior boys title, but it also cracked Dennis Dunn’s 27-year-old mark of 6.16 metres.
For a full rundown of all the results from the South Central meet, be sure to visit https://bit.ly/3MReWNd.
