Orléans area athletes had their most successful OFSAA provincial track and field championships ever this year, winning six medals in total including double gold by École secondaire Louis-Riel runner Zachary Jeggo in the junior boys 400 metres and 300-metre hurdles.

Timéo Atonfo from École secondaire Gisèle-Lalonde won a silver medal in the junior boys triple jump at the recent provincial high school track and field chmapionships to go along with bronze medals in both the 100-metre hurdles and the long jump. FRED SHERWIN/PHOTO

Timéo Atonfo also had a record breaking meet, winning two bronze and a silver medal which is the most individual medals won by an east end athlete in a single provincial championship ever.

The Grade 10 student won the silver medal in the junior boys triple jump and bronze medals in both the 100-metre hurdles in the long jump. If not for a couple of unfortunate events, the colour of Atonfo’s medals could have been much brighter.

He was in first place heading into the final round of the triple jump, but after setting a new personal best mark of 15.81 metres in his penultimate attempt, Atonfo could only watch as Sayanthan Arulrajan from Brampton went 13 centimetres further on his final jump to capture the gold medal.

A short while later, Atonfo was leading the 100-metre hurdle final through the first four barriers when he had to take a stutter step coming up to the fifth hurdle which knocked him out of his rhythm and into third place.

The long jump was a repeat of the triple jump, only instead of being knocked out of first place in rhe final round he was knocked When it was all said and done, instead of brooding over what could have been, Atonfo had his sights firmly set on the future which includes a trip to the National Youth Championships in July and two more years competing at OFSAA as a senior.

“This summer we’re going to work on my technique in the triple and I’ll be back next year,” said Atonfo.

As for the stutter step in the 100-metre hurdles final, Atonfo chalked it up to not being used to the speed.

“I was on track to doing a 13.5 or 13.4, but I stumbled just a little. I recovered I don’t know how and still ran a 13.7,” Atonfo explained after the race. “We just need to practice with that type of speed, because before OFSAA I never really had anyone push me, so my body isn’t used to that type of speed. It’s something we will work on this summer.”

Zachary Jeggo from Ècole secondaire Louis-Riel won two gold medals in the junior boys 400 metres and the 300-metre hurdles at the recent provincial high school track and field champinships in Ottawa. FRED SHERWIN/PHOTO

Jeggo also has two more years left of high school and the sky is the limit for the rapidly improving runner who hails from Embrun, but studies and trains in Louis-Riel’s sport etude program.

The Grade 10 student has come a long way in just one year after finishing sixth in the novice boys 400-metres last year and well back of the pack in the 800.

Coming into this track and field season, Jeggo decided to drop the 800 and instead compete in the intermediate hurdles. It was a great choice as it paid off in two gold medals included a dominate performance in the 400 which he won by about 10 metres.

“I’ve trained a lot plus my coaches helped a lot with my progress,” said Jeggo, when asked how he could account for the massive improvement in his times. “I did a 54.00 indoors last winter and then a 51.90 at March Break and it just snowballed from there.”

Jeggo is now looking forward to the summer season and a shot at redemption at the National Youth Championships where he fell in the 400-hurdles last summer despite having the second fastest time heading into the event.

The east end’s other medalist was Louis-Riel’s Daniel Cova who won bronze in the junior boys 1500 metres.

Here are the other results of local athletes:

• Aleem Khaida, Colonel By Secondary School, 9th in the junior boys long jump;

• John Byrne, St. Matthew High School, 14th in senior boys 100 metres;

• Nathaniel McNeil from St. Peter High School, 19th in the senior boys 400-metre hurdles;

• Ibrahim Domiati, École secondaire Louis Riel, 14th in the junior boys 200 metres;

• Teresa Nze Medja, Gloucester High School 23rd in the senior girls javelin

• Austin Walker Colonel By Secondary School 14th in the novice boys 1500 metres;

• Owen Siderus, Colonel By Secondary School 15th in the novice boys 1500 metres;

• Émilie Kelly, École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges 16th in the novice girls long jump;

• Aaron Mukiwa, Gloucester High School 21st in the senior boys shot put;

• Olivia Baggley, Gloucester High School, 10th in the senior girls 3,000 metres;

• Taisei Tan, École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges 10th in the novice boys 400.