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Banner Year for St. Mary’s Track and Field Athletes
Banner Year for St. Mary’s Track and Field Athletes
St. Mary’s Catholic School - Submitted
St. Mary’s Track team has a banner year!!! The 2023-24 Saints Athletics team completed a stellar season this year, winning the 1A Team ASAA Provincial Championship at Foote Field in Edmonton on June 7th and 8th, 2024.
Winning the District 5 championship for the 18th year in a row on May 22, the Saints track team then competed at the NEASAA Zone championship in Bonnyville AB on May 29. They won the 1A zone championship at this meet and qualified 13 athletes to the Provincial Track Meet at Foote Field in Edmonton on June 7 and 8. These athletes amassed a total of 129.50 points which won them the 1A Provincial Team Banner, the first in the school’s history!
The point total was so impressive that they would have won the 2A banner as well, finishing 24th out of 225 schools competing at the event across the 1A – 4A divisions. A truly amazing feat for a small school of 98 students competing against schools of over 2,000.
“As their coach, I’m just so impressed and proud of the accomplishments of this team. Unlike other high school sports, there are no divisions in track and field. We compete against all schools from the entire province 1A – 4A. So our kids have to compete against schools of 2,500 kids with rubber tracks and access to facilities all year round.
For our group of kids to dedicate so much time and effort into training is a true testament to the amazing athletes that we have here at St. Mary’s High School. Their results this year are truly once in a lifetime, winning not only their 18th district banner, but their FIRST ever 1A Team Provincial Title. I would also like to acknowledge our Grade 12’s who are leaving us with a provincial title and a legacy to pass on.
It’s their hard work and dedication that have created this amazing team dynamic that we have produced. Selby, Keely, Eboni, Jade and Kayden have led us these past three years and will be missed not only for their leadership but the joy and love of the sport they have shown us.
Individually we also brought home a Gold Medal as our very own Cameron Dixson won the Junior Boys Discus competition, beating all 15 of the other competitors in the discus competition. Cameron missed the provincial record by a mere 17 cm, and will definitely look forward to hopefully returning next year to try again,” stated Chris Manderson.
