HIGH SCHOOL LIFE FULL OF HURDLES
Strathcona earns 44th straight title at city zone championships
In a sporting landscape short on dynasties, the Strathcona High School track and field program is Edmonton’s perpetual powerhouse.
Scona headed into Wednesday’s Edmonton zone high school track and field championships at Foote Field the winners of every grand aggregate title since 1970.
And with a nearly 80-point win over the second-place Bev Facey, the Lords added to their remarkable run, earning a remarkable 44th consecutive title to maintain their place as Edmonton’s unquestioned track and field juggernaut.
“The competition is always good and I’m just glad we pulled it through for another year,” said second-year head coach Hung Ly. “We have almost 100 kids coming out today, whereas most schools might have a third, or half of that.”
That commitment from the student body to track and field owes in large part to the legacy of success at Scona. There’s never a shortage of new students wanting to be a part of the city’s most successful high school sports program.
“That’s a huge part,” Ly said. “Track is a huge part of the tradition at Strathcona, so the kids buy into that and the program pretty much sells itself. I’m no doing anything any differently than the other guys that were doing it before, the coaches that set up the program.”
Strathcona’s streak is no fluke, as the school has the luxury of not only a culture of success, but also a track just outside their door and the people to make it happen.
“We have great administrative support,” Ly pointed out. “In terms of teams, all the teams, we’re all sharing the same kids, so the coaches are very understanding that way, plus we’ve got the support of the club coaches. A lot of our kids do run for their own track teams, so with the help of those guys (we succeed).”
“We’ve got a lot of things and a lot of help from everybody and I think that’s what makes us successful, but ultimately it’s the kids.”
Up next for a host of Lords and the rest of the provincial qualifiers from Wednesday afternoon competition will be a trip to Calgary June 7-8 for provincials, where Strathcona will be looking to translate their zone success into a sixth consecutive 4A provincial title.
“We could (win) it, but right now the big thing right now is just winning this city championship,” Ly explained. “At provincials, kids have other commitments and it just depends on who can make it. Obviously, we’ll shoot for a sixth (championship), but anything we get there is always a blessing.”
Senior boys 200m a near dead heat
It was a photo finish for the ages in the senior boys 200 metres, as a quartet of runners found their way onto the podium.
Harry Ainlay’s Joel Tanasychuk walked away the winner in the tightest race of the day with a time of 24.422, just 0.037 better than secondplace finisher Jason Wang from Old Scona Academic.
The minuscule difference between Tanasychuk and Wang may have been close, but it wasn’t the tightest part of the race.
Caleb Sinn of Bev Facey and Julian Macedo from Archbishop O’Leary both locked down bronze medals with identical times of 24.461, as the pair finished all of 0.039 back of Tanasychuk in a rare four-person podium finish.
Gyam coasts to double sprint victory
St. Francis Xavier Rams star Stefania Gyamfi had no trouble locking down a trip to Calgary, winning both the senior girls’ 100 and 200 metres.
The Grade 12 student coasted to victory on a windy Foote Field track, with times of 12.18 and 25.99. Wednesday was just the latest strong performance from Gyamfi, who thought about giving up track after moving to Edmonton prior to Grade 11.
“I came here and making friends was easy enough, but I didn’t want to do track anymore,” Gyamfi recalled. “Then (St. FX track coach) Mrs. Cowan was like, ‘you look like a good track runner’ and I was like, ‘no, no I don’t want to do it’ but she pushed me to do it.”
Cowan’s ability to convince her to run has paid off for Gyamfi, who, with the help of her club coaches, is now destined for the University of Texas El Paso this fall on a fullride scholarship.
“It’s hot there all the time and they have tacos and Mexico is right there,” Gyamfi said with a smile when asked about her future in Texas.