Three Olds High School students collected a total of five medals at the 2017 Alberta Schools' Athletic Association track and field championships, held June 2ñ4 in Edmonton.
Laura Klinck made three trips to the podium, including two to the top for golds in long jump and triple jump, along with bronze in the 100m.
Andreas Troschke took home gold in men's discus with a launch of 42.52m on his third of five attempts, almost three metres further than the silver medal winner.
Dawson Green grabbed bronze in men's pole vault, clearing 3.15 metres in his third attempt to tie the silver medallist and keep him alive for a final attempt of 3.25 metres. Both vaulters missed that mark, and because Green's next best successful clearing was lower than the silver medallist's, he took home bronze.
OHS athletic director Wanda Vandervelden said people often think of track and field as simply running fast, throwing hard, or jumping high, when in fact the events require repetition of technique to excel. In order to accomplish that, she said, the OHS students train not only in Olds, but travel to Airdrie and Calgary to access specialized training.
ìPutting it all together to attain personal best performances is very special to them,î said Vandervelden. ìProvincials can be a very pressure-filled meet, especially as Grade 12s. They want to finish their high school years with their best.î
All three medallists are graduating this year, and both Klinck and Troschke are going on to the University of Lethbridge to compete for the Pronghorns track program within the Canada West Universities Athletic Association.
Klinck is also in the running for a spot on Team Alberta for this year's Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg, while Troschke has his sights set on the junior Pan American games in Peru at the end of June.
