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South Central athletes earn provincial berths with solid showings at District meet

Peacock’s Wakeford, Gravelbourg’s Guillaume pick up four-event sweeps in event Wednesday at Gutheridge Field

Finding a way to even a single event at the South Central district track and field championships can be an impressive accomplishment.

Not only are you the best out of Moose Jaw and the entire surrounding area, you’re also off to the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association championships and will have a chance to win a medal on the highest stage in the sport in the province.

Winning multiple events is a special feat in itself, but to sweep the table and take gold in the maximum four events athletes are allowed to enter? That’s something else together.

But it’s something Peacock’s Arianna Wakeford has been able to accomplish over and over again this season -- and the district championships on Wednesday, May 25 were no exception.

Wakeford won the senior girls 80-metre hurdles in 12.8 seconds and 100 metres in 12.9 seconds before clearing 5.10 metres in the long jump and 10.93 metres in the triple jump to record her four-event sweep.

Making things all the more impressive is each of those wins was also a personal best -- including the long jump, which marked Wakeford’s first time clearing five metres.

“It was definitely a very good day today, the weather has been way better than other days and I’ve noticed everybody has been doing well with a lot of personal bests going around,” Wakeford said. “And I’ve been doing pretty well myself, too, so I’m pretty happy with that.”

The fact Wakeford has been able to put together that level of success all season automatically makes it a campaign to remember -- but now, with the best of the best on the horizon at the SHSAA provincials in Regina during the June 3 weekend, it’ll be a matter of taking one more shot at it all and ideally bringing home a medal or two.

“It brings you up and makes you feel confident, but you have to think about everyone else that you haven’t been against, and then there are big cities,” Wakeford said. “It’s just all for fun, you just have to do your best and see what happens. Maybe get a few more personal bests and see if I can win a medal.”

Gravelbourg’s Kaesha Guillaume was also able to pull off the four-event sweep across the junior girls distance runs. She won the 400 metres in 1:07.09 and 800 metres in 2:36.0 to go along with a 5:35.5 in the 1,500 metres and 11:48.0 in the 3,000 metres.

Winning the intermediate girls overall title was Central’s Katie Rogers with 38 points, while Peacock’s Kaeleb Tabin was the intermediate boys champion with 34 points. Assiniboia’s Quinton Fettes was tops in the junior boys division with 38 points -- including a record in the long jump -- while Riverview’s Jake Gyman topped the senior boys division with 34 points.

The battle for the overall school title was a close one, with the Peacock Tornadoes coming out on top with 497 points, just ahead of Central’s 462 points for the 4A title. Briercrest Christian won the 3A championship with 120 points, Gravelbourg the 2A title ith 132 points and Mossbank the 1A championship with 104 points.

The top two athletes from each event advance to provincials, and you can check out all the results on the South Central District website at https://bit.ly/3MReWNd.

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