Locals earn eight track and field medals

A Sault Athletic Club press release:

************************************************************

Eight Local Competitors Earn Silver and Bronze Medals along and Eleven Top-10 Finishes at Royal Canadian Legion Ontario Outdoor Track and Field Championships in St. Catherines

Sault Ste. Marie, ON -- The Sault Athletic Club, a local track and field group, has been very busy this summer training, practicing and competing.

Over the past weekend, eight club members attended the Royal Canadian Legion Ontario Outdoor Championships held in St. Catherines and joined some of the best 15&under and 17&under Track and Field prospects in the province for the Legion sponsored competition.

Daniel Lalonde brought home an impressive second place finish in the boys 15&under Javelin competition (41.92 m) while the powerful Dominik Graf earned a bronze in the boys 15&under 3,000m run while covering the distance in 9:32.59.

Graf, a very promising track and cross-country runner, also earned sixth place finishes in both the 800m and 1500m distances.

Sixteen-year-old Reg Peer continued to be successful at the provincial level and gave two gritty performances in the boys 17&under 1500m and 800m finishing 6th and 7th respectively.

Jessica Nanne, the lone local female competitor, had three top-10 performances finishing 7th in the 200m, 8th in the 100m and 9th in the 400m.

"I was pleased with my performance", said Nanne. "I knew it was going to be extremely tough after seeing the competition at OFSSA. My goal was to get to the finals in the 100m and 200m races and run my personal best times and I was able to do that."

Other competitors included John Harvey (7th 17&under 2000m steeplechase), Jeffery Tremblay (8th 15&under 100m, 13th 200m, 15th 400m), Nick Peters (10th 17&under 100m, 10th 200m) and Michael Martens (13th in both 15&under 400m dash and 300m hurdles).

Before qualifying for the Royal Canadian Legion Ontario Championships, Sault Athletic Club members and other local athletes must successfully compete at the Legion District "H" Track and Field Meet.

The 2005 competition was held at Laurentian University in Sudbury on June 11th with District "H" competitors coming from Sault Ste. Marie, Elliott Lake, Sudbury, North Bay, Parry Sound and surrounding areas.

Winners at the Legion Provincial Championships will now travel to Edmonton, Alberta in August for the Legion National Championships.

The next stop for members of the Sault Athletic Club is the 2005 Super Meet - Ontario Track and Field Association Outdoor Championships at York University in Toronto on August 6th and 7th.

************************************************************