Rana Nelson
Special to the Review
Rita Tedesco, principal of Arrow Heights Elementary, says her favourite part of track and field days is “the team spirit. I think it’s great how the kids support each other and cheer each other on. It’s the best part to watch.”
Revelstoke Elementary Districts Track and Field meets took place on June 7 and June 4 this year. After every event, the participants hugged and/or high-fived each other and their peers ran up to congratulate them.
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Todd Hicks, principal of Begbie View Elementary, echoed Tedesco, “The teamwork the kids display is the best part of these events.”
The meets also included School District 93, which Revelstoke’s Francophone school École des Glaciers belongs to.
Alex Acton is in Grade 6 there and competed in the boys’ 12-year-old 4 by 100 relay.
“I like watching all the events and cheering on the kids from our school and other schools,” he said.
Patricia Beaulieu, teacher aide at École des Glaciers, noted that “it’s exciting for the kids to compete against the other schools. They challenge themselves and the competition gives them something to focus on. I’m very proud of them.”
The competition became heated in the Grade 7 boys’ 4 by100 metre relay, where anchors Zachary Veninsky (BVE) and Cormac Clowater (AHE) raced to a photo finish, tying at 1:02:43. The CPE team placed third at 1:05 (the tie counts as first and second) and the EDG team placed fourth.
Columbia Park Elementary principal Andy Pfeiffer encouraged the students to aim high.
Great examples of sportsmanship for AHE, BVE, and CPE! Way to go everyone! pic.twitter.com/uonhEap6sw
— arrow heights elem (@ahcares) June 8, 2019
“Hot off the heels of Revelstoke Secondary’s best results ever at high school [track and field] provincials [May 30-June 1], Districts are a great way for the elementary kids to show that they can shine too.”
Setting up and running these events requires a lot of work, and parents, teachers, and trustees were on hand to help. SD19 trustees Garry Pendergast and Bill MacFarlane assisted with long jump at the field events at CPE, and the stiff breeze meant that they were coated in fine sand at the end of the day, but it was all part of the fun.
Unlike other years, track day dawned cloudy and cool, culminating in a drizzle that had people shivering under blankets and puffies.
“Better cold than hot, though,” noted one spectator. “No one’s collapsing from heatstroke.”
For Philipe von Trezbiatovski, Grades 5 and 6 teacher at École des Glaciers, it was his first time at districts.
“From a supervisory aspect, it’s good to know that the kids are in a safe environment where they have the freedom to watch the different events.”
Carol Hascarl observed that “Revelstoke is producing so many great athletes. The town is so vibrant and alive.”
Hascarl’s daughter Sydnie Heale holds the 200 m 12-year-old girls’ record from 2004, among others, and Hascarl’s granddaughter Avery Cochrane has been trying to beat her aunt’s records.
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Heale reminisced about her elementary track and field days.
“I excelled in sports rather than academics. I enjoyed the competition of track and field because I was able to get recognition for something that I was good at.”
Heale’s records still hold. In the 200 m this year, Ilaria Widmer’s (BVE) first-place finish came close at 30:32, but couldn’t beat Heale’s 30:09. Kenadie Stefura (EDG) placed second at 32:53, and Cochrane (CPE), Heale’s niece, placed third at 32:68.
In other events, Harrison Roe (AHE) placed first in the boys’ 10-year-old 400 m, with a time of 1:20, Jackson Forester (BVE) placed second with 1:26, and Connor Mandel (CPE) placed third with 1:30. In the girls’ 10-year-old 400 m, Ember Smith (AHE) placed first with 1:28, Allie White-Pinko (CPE) placed second with 1:33, and Zyia Davies (BVE) placed third with 1:34. For more results and photos, see SD19’s Twitter feeds at sd19.bc.ca/.
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