'(Posted 8:30 a.m., May 31)
Area athletes win
12 gold medals at
East Regional track and field championships
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

Louis Riel's Amanda McKinnon was a double gold medalist in the junior girls 400-metres and 300-metre hurdles at the recent East Regional track and field championships in Belleville. Fred Sherwin/Photo

Twenty-five area high school athletes will be heading to the OFSAA track and field championships in London next week after placing in the top four at the East Regional championships in Belleville.

Colonel By Secondary School will be sending the largest contingent of athletes to London as no fewer than 10 students from the school managed to qualify for the provincial championships.

The Cougars will be led by Sebastien Saville and Thomas Schlossmacher who won their respective events. Saville came in first in the junior boys 800 metres and Schlossmacher won the junior boys javelin. Fellow Grade 10 student David Mputu had a pair of second place results in the junior boys 100 and 400 metres.

The remainder of the Colonel By team will be made up with Tim Arbido who placed third in the junior boys 100 and fourth in the 200; Nick Kazaka finished third in the junior boys 800; David Raji placed fourth in the junior boys 300-metre hurdles; Tolu Makinde came fourth in the senior boys 100; Kathryn Tuck placed third in the senior girls 800; Al Itani placed third in the midget boys triple jump; and Marc Bitar and Trevor Melcher finished second and third respectively in the midget boys 300-metre hurdles.

Among the local athletes who qualified for OFSAA are four double gold medalists, three of whom hail from École secondaire publique Louis-Riel. They are Amanda McKinnon, who won the junior girls 400 metres and 300-metre hurdles; David Nsabua who won the senior boys long jump and triple jump; and Joel MacDonald who doubled up in the midget boys 200 and 400.

The fourth double gold medalist was Fallingbrook resident Devin Biocchi who goes to Canterbury High School. The Grade 12 student almost didn't make it to the start line. He had trouble sleeping Wednesday night and was physically ill a number of times Thursday morning before finally leaving for Belleville.

"I felt really tired and weak and wasn't sure how I was going to do," says Biocchi.

After running one of the most difficult heats in his life, he managed to drink some orange juice and ate a couple of granola bars to get ready for the final.

"Before the start of the race I was thinking, ''Im going to throw up at the end of this.' The first 100 was pretty slow and then I saw Gordon (Cave).start to pass me on the outside so I just picked it up in the final 100 and I nipped him at the end," says Biocchi who crossed the finish line in 22.27 seconds, just over his personal best.

By the start of the 400-metre final on Friday, Biocchi was feeling much better. So much so, in fact, that he won the race in a personal best time of 48.80 seconds, which is the second fastest qualifying time heading into OFSAA. Better yet, Biocchi feels that he still has three- or four-tenths left in him.

"I'm hoping to run a 48.4 something or a 48.3," says Biocchi who is definitely a medal threat.

The east end has a handful of other medal hopefuls starting with Joel MacDonald from Louis Riel whose winning time of 52.42 in the midget boys 400-metre final is the top qualfying time in the province. Two other competitors have posted identical times of 52.47 seconds.

Midget boys long jump gold medalist Sylvain Mbuyamba from Lester B. Pearson has the third best qualifying distance heading into OFSAA at 6.00 metres even. The top qualifying dstance is 6.18 metres, while the second best result is 6.04 metres.

The OFSAA provincial championshops will be held over three days starting on Thursday. The championship website is at http://www.ofsaa.on.ca/track.

The complete list of east end athletes who competed at the OFSAA East Regional track and field championships and their results is as follows..

Midget Boys
200-metre 1st (24.04) Joel MacDonald, Louis Riel
200-metre 2nd (24.17) Teddy Dumont, Beatrice-Desloges
400-metre 1st (52.42) Joel MacDonald, Louis Riel
400-metre 4th (54.29) Teddy Dumont, Beatrice-Desloges
400-metre 7th (54.93) Marc Bitar, Colonel By
3000-metres 10th (10.29.29) Mike Francki, Sir Wilfrid Laurier
3000-metres 11th (10.38.46) Felix Zhu, Colonel By
300-metre hurdles 2nd (43.77) Marc Bitar, Colonel By
300-metre hurdles 3rd (44.06) Morgan Lewis, Louis Riel
300-metre-hurdles 4th (44.47) Trevor Melcher, Colonel By
Long Jump 1st (6.00m) Sylvain Mbuyamba, Lester B. Pearson
Triple Jump 3rd (12.01m) Al Itani, Colonel By
Triple Jump 15th (9.30m) Greg Ozimkowski, Louis Riel
Shot Put 9th (11.39m) Nicola Draca, Colonel By
Discus 12th (28.68m) Eduardo Beggs, Colonel By
Javelin 7th (39.63m) Josh Rector, Colonel By

Midget Girls
200-metres 7th (28.05) Alanna McBride, Colonel By
200-metres 11th (28.30) Asha Mohhidinin, Louis Riel
400-metres 3rd (1.02:51) Asha Mohhidinin, Louis Riel
400-metres 11th (1.06:60) Narine Priya, Gisele Lalonde
800-metres 2nd (2:22.47) Lindsay Kary, St. Matthew
800-metres 4th (2:36.38) Isabelle Weidmann, Colonel By
1500-metres 2nd (4:56.38) Lindsay Kary, St. Matthew
1500-metres 11th (5:28.22) Isabelle Weidmann, Colonel By
80-metre hurdles 6th (13.41) Alanna McBride, Colonel By
300-metre hurdles 2nd (49.10) Jaimie Loh, Cairine Wilson
300-metre hurdles 6th (50.41) Allana McBride, Colonel By
Long jump 9th (4.38) Jaimie Loh, Cairine Wilson
Triple jump 7th (9.86) Jaimie Loh, Cairine Wilson
Shot Put 5th (9.32m) Sarah Collie, Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Shot Put 14th (7.65m) Erin Poter, Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Discus 15th (19.37m) Sarah Collie, Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Junior Boys
100-metres 2nd (11.64) David Mputu, Colonel By
100-metres 3rd (11.65) Tim Aribido, Colonel By
200-metres 4th (22.72) Tim Aribido, Colonel By
400-metres 2nd (52.42) David Mputu, Colonel By
400-metres 8th (54.39) Sebastien Saville, Colonel By
800-metres 1st (2.01.99) Sebastien Saville, Colonel By
800-metres 3rd (2.05.14) Nick Kazaka, Colonel By
1500-metres 12th (4.58.65) Alexandre Chevrette, Beatrice-Desloges
3000-metres 14th (10.41.46) Alexandre Chevrette, Beatrice-Desloges
100-metre hurdles 10th (16.47) Kevin Nault, Cairine Wilson
300-metre hurdles 4th (42.35) David Raji, Colonel By
300-metre hurdles 7th (43.15) Kevin Nault, Cairine Wilson
High Jump -- (NH) Daniel Benet, St. Peter
Long Jump 3rd (6.02m) Kevin Nault, Cairine Wilson
Long Jump -- (foul) Leslie Tam, Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Shot Put 9th (12.05m) Eric Stewart, Louis Riel
Shot Put 13th (10.99m) Nicholas Brown, St. Peter
Discus 11th (33.93m) Brandon Belding, Colonel By
Discus 12th (32.86m) Justin Millson, Colonel By
Javelin 1st (51.49m) Thomas Schlossmacher, Colonel By
Javelin 14th (35.40m) Jasen Ericksen, Colonel By

Junior Girls
100-metres 7th (13.43) Caroline Bernard, Louis Riel
200-metres 8th (28.40) Caroline Bernard, Louis Riel
400-metres 1st (59.95) Amanda McKinnon, Louis Riel
400-metres 5th (1.01:87) Madison Allen, Colonel By
800-metres 7th (2:30.48) Melanie Campeau, Louis Riel
800-metres 12th (2:38.98) Hannah Logan, Colonel By
3000-metres 7th (11:31.64) Melanie Campeau, Louis Riel
3000-metres 12th (11:57.72) Emily Seale, Colonel By
3000-metres 13th (12:19.14) Christina Tucker, Sir Wilfrid Laurier
300-metre hurdles 1st (49.19) Amanda McKinnon, Louis Riel
Shot Put 10th (8.33) Marlies Keltner-Alt, Louis Riel
Shot Put 16th (7.28) Tish Lawal, Colonel By
Discus 9th (23.04) Marlies Keltner-Alt, Louis Riel

Senior Boys
200-metres 1st (22.27) Devin Biocchi, Canterbury
200-metres 4th (22.86) Tolu Makinde, Colonel By
200-metres 7th (23.04) Isaiah Moses, Gloucester
400-metres 1st (48.80) Devin Biocchi, Canterbury
400-metres 3rd (50.17) Isaiah Moses, Gloucester
800-metres 14th (2:05.61) Marc Lefebvre, Louis Riel
1500-metres -- (DNF) Abdoul Diaby, Louis Riel
400-metre hurdles 4th (57.83) Isaiah Moses, Gloucester
Long Jump 1st (6.80) David Nsabua, Louis Riel
Long Jump 3rd (6.48m) Brian Okeny, Lester B. Pearson
Triple Jump 1st (13.91) David Nsabua, Louis Riel
Open 2000-metre Steeplechase 13th (6:37.46) Marc Lefebvre, Louis Riel

Senior Girls
400-metres 14th (1.07.41) Beth Labonte, Colonel By
800-metres 3rd (2.17.86) Kathryn Tuck, Colonel By
1500-metres 8th (5.13.30) Kathryn Tuck, Colonel By
400-metre hurdles 13th (1:12.13) Chloe Choquette, Louis Riel
400-metre hurdles 14th (1:12.81) Emma Miller-Duvall, Gloucester
High Jump T6th (1.50m) Christianne Courtemanche, Beatrice-Desloges
Pole Vault 1st (3.05m) Bailey Arnott, Lester B. Pearson
Triple Jump 6th (10.12m) Anna Gilliatt, Colonel By
Shot Put 9th (9.01m) Christianne Courtemanche, Beatrice-Desloges
Discus 14th (19.18m) Christianne Courtemanche, Beatrice-Desloges
Open 1500-metre Steeplechase 6th (5:42.40) Anais Robert, Louis Riel

'(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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