Jun 30 2009 - Games Trials 2009

The past weekend was the final selection meet for the 2009 Canada Games Team. A number of SJTC athletes competed but with the age group being 22 years & under only a few had true chances of selection to the team.

We are proud to announce that the following four athletes were selected to the NB Canada Games Team.

Caleb Jones             – Javelin

Barry Britt              – 1500m and 5000m

Grace Annear          – 400m (plus a few other events we expect)

Mitch Quigg            - Decathlon

Congratulations to all of them!!!

In addition to their fine performances many of our athletes also gathered personal bests at the competition while competing with the older athletes.... 

Personal Bests

Nick MacMackin    – 400m in 55.31, 800m in 2:05.16 and 1500m in 4:17.19

Matt McNeil          - 1500m in 4:17.87 and a first time PB in the 5000m

Alexandra Coffin     – 800m in 2:54.00

Katie Robinson       – 400m in 1:02.75

Alex Peabody         - 200m in 25.05 and 10.23 in the triple jump

Reid Burrows         - 5000m first time PB

Jun 29 2009 - Results from the 30th Jeux de l'Acadie in Petit-Rocher – SJTC Members

In the 12-13 year old category:   Pierre Dumouchel 600m                     - Gold Medal 1200m                  - Gold Medal Medley relay          - Gold Medal   Anthony Cormier 60m                        - 6th 150m                     - Silver Medal 4 x 100 Relay        - Silver Medal Medley Relay        - Gold Medal Long Jump           - 5th    Paul Tremblay  Javelin                   - 5th   In the 14-15 year old category:   Sophie Tremblay High Jump            - 7th Shot Put                 - 5th  

Jun 26 2009 - Young Stars Summer Camp

Is your child active? Do they get bored indoors? Are they watching too much TV?   Would your child be interested in? ·          5 hours of fun activity each day ·          Learning skills in track & field events ·          A chance to meet new friends in a safe environment ·          Positive leadership from Coach Coffin and his friendly assistants                                                                                                                                          When: July 6-10, 2009, drop off at 8am, pickup at 1pm Ages: 7-12 years of age Where: Princess Elizabeth Middle School   More information & Registration Form  

Jun 21 2009 - Volunteering at Catch the Bug earns $1000 for the Club!!!

This year, the Saint John Track Club was offered a donation from the Catch the Bug event in return for volunteering at the water stops on the 5K and 10K routes. The Catch the Bug Run held in June is organized by the Saint John Police Force and is the 2nd oldest road-running event in the city next to the Marathon by the Sea. The event is directed by Cheryl McConkey, Tanya Leblanc and Bruce Connell. Tanya's daughters compete with the club.  Wendy Quigg, Jake Melanson, Jamie Kennedy and Ginette Kelly were the main volunteers from the club. It was a great day and a special surprise was being able to witness club member Matt McNeil set a record in the 5K. Due to the Catch the Bug sponsorship from Volkswagen, the event was able to donate $1000 to the club! I think they liked the job we did this year so hopefully we can be involved again in 2010!

Jun 17 2009 - New Records Set at 2009 NB Middle School Track & Field Championships

Saint John Track Club Athletes put on a strong showing at the Provincial Middle School Track and Field Championships. The provincial championship was won by George Street School of Fredericton with Albert Street School in second. Harry Miller Middle School came 3rd, Barnhill Middle placed 4th and River Valley Middle followed along in 5th.   Harry Miller’s team was led by the strong performances of club member Nick MacMackin who won the grade 8 boys 400m, 800m and 1500m setting new provincial records in all three. Nick also participated in two record setting wins in the 4x100m and sprint medley relays. The brother and sister team of Brenna Kettlewell (grade 6) and Liam Kettlewell (grade 8) set a matching set of provincial records in the 80m hurdles. Liam was also the starting runner for both grade 8 record setting relay teams.   Barnhill’s team saw excellent races from SJTC’s Kate Robinson with wins in the grade 8 girls 1500m and new provincial record in the 400m. In the grade 6 boys shot put, Riley Quigg (Mitch’s brother) had a throw of 10.75m which set a new record Shannon Morris placed first in the Discus and second in the Shot Put   River Valley’s Ben Fowler had a terrific meet winning the grade 7 400m and capping it off with a record setting 1.55m high jump. In Grade 6, Alec Alston long jumped 4.37m for a new grade 6 record and also was the winner of the 100m. While Fundy Shores’ Josh Shanks won his grade 7 1500m and placed 2nd in the 800m.   Link to Full Results

Jun 16 2009 - Pro Tip of the Week

12 and over: We did a great workout Monday night that tried to work on tapping into your anaerobic reserve earlier before your finish in a running race. Even when you feel like you are at the maximum effort that your lungs will allow, your muscles are full of reserve that can be utilized well before the final straightaway. It's a huge advantage in your distance event if you can start your sprint before the final turn. You will always be surprised at how much you actually have left. For the sprinters, the trick is to accumulate lactic acid at just the right rate so that you don't stiffen up too early. This can happen to the distance runners too but you are usually safe with 200 to go:)

11 and under: You actually get the same advice as the older kids this time:) If you can get comfortable starting your finishing kick early, it's a huge advantage at the Hershey Meets. Everyone can sprint when they see the line but it's much funner to breeze across the line after you have sprinted the 150 meters beforehand. 

Jun 11 2009 - Pro Tip of the Week from Coach Coffin

12 and over: Don't forget the strength/overload workouts no matter your event as you progress through the meets. It's still too early to sharpen. Even for some of you who want to peak at Provincial Hersheys, tonight is one last chance to do a heavy workout. Save the speed for next week!

11 and under: Never give up on a technical event. Your co-ordination will improve:) Ask me about my ultimately successful tryout for the high school tennis team sometime!

Jun 7 2009 - OROMOCTO - NBIAA Championships

Matt McNeil ran a pair of personal bests en route to winning the junior boys 3000 metre event at the 2009 NBIAA provincial championships for track and field at Base Gagetown Saturday.

The Saint John High School sophomore placed first for his 9:11.70 finish, a solid 10 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. "I was aiming for a certain pace, and I went out a bit fast but maintained that pace and ended up getting a better time than I planned on," the 15-year-old McNeil said. He was runner-up in the junior 1500-m run, clocking in at 4:19.65, just four seconds shy of the winner, Ryan Cassidy of Louis J. Robichaud.

Both the races were personal bests for McNeil. He said he can tell he's improving because of the way he performed against his main competitor, Cassidy. "Normally he's really far away from me, but I led more than half the race and when he passed me I stayed close enough that I'll eventually beat him," he said. McNeil just started racing about a year ago. He attributes his early success to coaches Bill MacMackin and Alex Coffin. "They've put a lot of time in me," McNeil said. "They're a big reason why I'm at where I am."

Throughout the day a few NBIAA records were broken in multiple events.

Caleb Jones of Saint John High School broke two records for the senior boys javelin at 64.70m and shot put at 14.51m. Grace Annear of Hampton High School broke the junior girls 400m Dash with the time 59.78.

From the Telegraph-Journal

Jun 5 2009 - Telegraph Journal Article

Kevin Barrett

The experience of national competition figures to play a role for a pair of Hampton athletes at Saturday's New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association track and field championships.

Grace Annear and Chelsea Britt were members of the New Brunswick Legion track team that competed last summer at the national midget and juvenile championships in Sherbrooke, Que.

For Britt, 17, it was her third time at the games.

"You meet a lot of people there and you also see people at higher levels of competition and it makes you want to strive to get better," she said. "It pushes you to do better." For Annear, it was an eye-opening experience.

"I had a blast," said the 16-year-old Annear. "The meet itself was so amazing because you got to see so many incredible athletes. People were running faster than I thought was possible. And it really motivated me to do so much better for myself."

The pair has used that positive experience to produce top results this year and could make some noise Saturday to wrap up the high school athletic year.

Annear will compete in the 400 and 800 metres as well as the long jump in Saturday's junior varsity division. She won the 400 and long jump at last weekend's regionals. Based on those results, she is seeded No. 1 in the 400 and No. 2 in both the long jump and 800 m.

Britt tossed the senior girls javelin 29.12 m to win that regional by more than eight m and is ranked second overall heading into Saturday.

"That's exactly where I expected to be," said Britt, who along with Annear, trains with the Saint John Track Club.

Annear prefers the strategy involved with the 800-m distance but could walk away with all three events she runs this weekend.

"Pushing yourself is good," she said of the track and field environment. "It is the competitiveness, the atmosphere and thrill of going as fast as you can."

Competition in the track and field events is slated to start at approximately 9:45 a.m. at Camp Gagetown in Oromocto

==

BIG THROW: It's not officially a new record but Caleb Jones of Saint John High put on a show at the regional in javelin. He won the South-East regional with a throw of 63.96 m, more than 25 m ahead of his nearest rival.

The current NBIAA senior javelin mark is 54.29 m, set in 2001.

NBIAA guidelines say provincial records can only be established at the provincial championship.

Jones also won the shot put with a toss of 34.19 m.

=

DISTANCE SPEED: Matt McNeil of Saint John posted a couple of impressive times in taking the 1,500 and 3,000 m finals at the regionals in Gagetown. He won the 1,500 in 4:23.50 and took the 3,000 in 9:22.30, more than a minute ahead of his nearest competition.

He enters this weekend's championships as the top seed in both distances in the junior varsity category.

Other winners from the Southern Conference were Kelsey Duplisea of Saint John (junior girls 400 hurdles), Rebecca Thomas of Kennebecasis Valley (senior girls triple jump), Rachelle MacDonald (senior girls long jump), Geoff Wilson of Hampton, (junior boys 100, 200 m), Tom Butler of Rothesay (junior boys 800 m), Alex Yoon of Saint John (junior boys 100-m hurdles, 400-m hurdles), Mitch Quigg of Harbour View (senior boys 110-m hurdles), Curtis Meomilan of Saint John (junior boys long jump), John Gormley of Saint John (junior boys shot put).

Jun 5 2009 - Hershey Recap and Pro Tip of the Week

It was great to watch the Hershey Meet yesterday. Results are up on anb.ca Link to results: 

There were lots of different running styles which was really neat. Every form has it's strengths so don't ever feel like you have to copy someone else:)

I have the top results highlighted below but I was impressed with everyone's energy and how much fun everyone was having. There was very little pouting and lots of celebration!! Please remember that steady improvement is always the key and it really doesn't matter where you start from:) The provincial Hersheys will be on June 20. If you would like to register your child on-line, you can go to www.anb.ca and follow the info from the calendar. A nice option for the parents is to run the Army 10K which is being held in the same area that morning.

Some standout comparisons to last year's Atlantic Hershey Championships:
-Nick MacMackin, Josh Shanks, Reid Burrows and Will Bartlett would have all matched times from last year's 1600 final!! Great run by Will to hang with this group:)
-It was fantastic to see Norah Emerson and Victoria Leblanc run with the boys and not back down! Victoria's 2:53 would have placed her 3rd at last year's Atlantics!!
-Laura Duffley was the standout sprinter for the girls in the 50 and Laura, Taelor Doucet, Charlotte Buck, Julia Pappas and Emily Alston all were faster than the boys!!!! The boys were all posing for the photo finishes as the top 9 were all within .4 of a second of each other.
-Gaia Carpenter was the standout 100m sprinter for the girls 11-12 and 13-14. Her time would have placed her 3rd at last year's Atlantics! Anthony Cormier and Alec Alston were 1-2 at last year's Atlantics and they are more than a half second faster this year already in the 100m!!! Ben Fowler also had a very fast time for the 13 and up boys.
-I have to talk about the 9-10 100m sprinters seperately as so many of them are top ranked for Atlantics!! Taylor Breneol, Julia Pappas, Taelor Doucet, Laura Duffley, Anna Hogan and Madison Kieffer are all ready for the girls. Faisal Hossain, Thomas Bartlett, Shane Scott and Thomas Johnston are all ready for the boys. Who knew we had such sprinting talent!!
-Anthony and Alec are in another league in the 200 for the boys but Alex Smith and John Evans showed they can compete at Atlantics too for the 11-12 boys. Ben Fowler is right in the mix again for the 13-14 boys. Cole Healey, Faisal Hossain and Colin Brown are in the mix for the 9-10 boys.
-Taylor Breneol should be at Atlantics again for sure as she was very fast in the 9-10 girls 200. It will be very interesting to see how the top 5s from both the 11-12 girls and the 13-14 girls will do at Provincials as the 11-12s were all under 37 and the 13-14s were all under 33. The top 5 at Atlantics were cut off at sub 32 for the 11-12s and sub 30 for the 13-14s but the girls last night showed they are all within range:)
-The 400s and 800s were great to watch!! I hesitate to comment on times as it was a little cold for fast times. The 9-10 girls in the 400 was the best race I thought and Colin Brown really stood out for the 9-10 boys. Victoria Leblanc and Mikayla Harper had a great duel in the 11-12 400 while Dallas Casey and Cameron Dick had a great duel in the same age group. The men's and women's 800s were both filled with excellent efforts. It was great to watch another rematch between Josh Shanks and Reid Burrows!!
-Sarah Yeomans led the way with a huge throw for the 11-12 girls in the ball throw. However, the girls throw of the day came from the 9-10 girls with Simran Sardana unleashing a massive throw. Shelby McCullough was an impressive 2nd in the 9-10 girls. Isaac McGraw, Justin Leblanc, Jake McGraw and Nick Duffy had a tight battle in the 11-12 boys. Drew Goguen had the standout throw for 9-10 boys.
-Anthony Cormier and Alec Alston are the favourites heading into Atlantics for 11-12 boys standing long jump. They performed as expected but it was neat to see the great jumps behind them led by Jake and Isaac McGraw. Ryan Evans and Spencer King had very competitive jumps in the 9-10 boys but each one of the competitors would have done well at Atlantics last year. Ben Fowler had a top jump in the 13-14 age group and may be able to take over the Atlantic title from last year's champ from Saint John, Intekhab Hossain.
-The top 10 in the 9-10 girls were all competitive for the standing long jump. With practice, any of the girls would be in the mix for a top 3 at Atlantics!!  Victoria Leblanc had the standout jump for 11-12 girls. Emily Carr and Taylor Morgan had very long jumps for the 13-14 girls.

Pro Tip of the Week:
11 and under:You always learn from competition but don't try to change too much before your next meet. Try to improve one or two things but feel confident that it's tough not to perform better just from having the experience under your belt:)
12 and up: Always remember that early competitions are really training in disguise. Fast times or executed strategies mean even more if it's really just a workout on the way to your peak performance.

• 2013-05-23 - Burrows Family - Triathlon Success!
• 2013-05-12 - May 12 2013 - ASEA Spring Open recap
• 2013-05-12 - Barry Britt wins Double at the WAC Championships
• 2013-04-28 - Road Racing - SJTC athletes show early strength on the roads
• 2013-03-17 - Canadian Master's Indoor Champs - Dave Jefferson