Perhaps some of the longest standing records in the current incarnation of the SDSSAA Track & Field Championships will soon be challenged - if not this year, then in the next few years to come.
From 2004 through to 2007, Rebecca Johnston pretty much dominated the 100m/200m/400m trimvirate in whatever age category that she was competing, stll holding, to this day, most of the marks that stand in the novice, junior and senior divisions.
While none of her marks fell by the wayside on Wednesday, Melina Doiron gave the novice girls 200m standard a really good shot, capturing the race with more than a full second lead and posting a time of 26.64, still a little ways off the 26.25 that Johnston registered in 2004.
To boot, Doiron is but one of a nice collection of sprint talent working with either coach Robert Esmie (Air Blastoff) or the Track North Athletic Club duo of Dick Moss and Darren Jermyn.
It all adds up to some talented teens who really understand what they are doing on the track.
"With the 200m, because you are running on the corner you don't hold your angle quite as much because you always have to be looking up," said Doiron, a 15 year old grade nine student at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School - and a protegee of coach Esmie.
"It's not just a straight line. Wih the 100m, you try and hold your angle and stay lower as long as you can."
With both the quality and quantity in the field starting to inch its way back up in a positive direction, there was no lack of notable results, including a double gold medal day for multi-sport athlete Georgia Wilson of Confederation Secondary.
An accomplished competitor in high-school gymnastics and volleyball and also on the competitive dance circuit, the 17 year-old grade 12 student took top spot in both the senior girls triple jump (9.85m) as well as the 100m hurdles (17.60).
It was in the latter event that the well-spoken young woman who will be heading to Waterloo University in the fall to begin her studies towards a career in Pharmacy made her way to OFSAA last year, displaying a great deal of maturity and perspective in understanding the environment she was experiencing for the very first time.
"I had looked at the times before hand on line," said Wilson. "I knew that they were insane, way better than mine. But I went there to do my best and I got a personal best time at OFSAA, so I was happy with that."
"It was intimidating, for sure - but it was a great experience," she said. "We were sitting right near the pole vault and I remember just being amazed by it. It's just a different level of competition that we don't normally get a chance to see."
And for as much as those athletes who join the track clubs are certainly well schooled in terms of both their training regimen and maintaining realistic expectations, there are those who kind of venture down this pathway mostly through shere will and determination prior to realizing the potential that lies within.
A senior at Sudbury Secondary School, 18 year old distance runner Charlotte Grenier finished second only to provincial caliber triathlete Georgia Lepage in the 3000m event, posting a very respectable time of 12:05.56, ten seconds back of the leader from St Benedict.
Though there was a time, many moons again, when the North Stars could compete toe to toe for overall aggregate titles, that's at least one generation prior to the birth of Grenier, who discovered a love of distance running all on her own.
"I've done track since grade three but I started seriously running on my own in grade seven," said Grenier, who is expected to attend Laurentian University in the fall, hopefully becoming immersed in the celebration of running that is the Voyageurs cross country and indoor track program.
"I've been running increasing distances to get ready for cross country races," she said. "I do eight kilometres five or six times a week, so this is kind of where I live. This is a good place to be for me."
Following is a breakdown of the remaining day one winners:
Novice Girls800m - Tyla MacLeod (BAC) - 2:36.36
3000m - Tyla MacLeod (BAC) - 12:23.30
80m hurdles - Sarah Guignard (LOE) - 13.79
High Jump - Sarah Guignard (LOE) - 1.40m
Discus - Ava Leveillee (LOE) - 20.73m
Javelin - Katriina Saari (STB) - 22.53m
Novice Boys
200m - Darren Joiner (LOE) - 23.68
800m - Caleb Mead (STB) - 2:17.17
3000m - Caleb Mead (STB) - 9:59.80
100m hurdles - Hector Loiselle (LOE) - 17.45
High Jump - Olivier Tremblay (ESMC) - 1.61m
Pole Vault - Ryder Coe (LCS) - 1.70m
Long Jump - Justin Lafontaine (ESMC) - 5.25m
Javelin - Torance Gorman (LIV) - 32.78m
Junior Girls
200m - Milena Kulik (LOE) - 26.85
800m - Lucia Salmaso (MMT) - 2:35.38
3000m - Maija Nener (LOE) - 12:12.27
80m hurdles - Sidney Skrobot (LOE) - 14.40
Pole Vault - Evelyn Holloway (LCS) - 1.93m
Long Jump - Alaina Rae Marolt (CND) - 4.40m
Shot Put - Kayiesha Thomas (MMT)- 10.86m
Javelin - Kayiesha Thomas (MMT) - 29.41m
Junior Boys
200m - Nicholas Bechard (CND) - 23.97
800m - Adam Urso (SCC) - 2:14.32
30000m - Nicho Labrecque (LOE) - 10:21.73
100m hurdles - Corey Lacroix (LOE) - 15.31
Pole Vault - Corbin Caron (LCS) - 2.16m
Long Jump - Will Mackey (LAS) - 5.34m
Triple Jump - Will Mackey (LAS) - 11.18m
Shot Put - Isaac Jeanveau (BAC) - 11.80m
Senior Girls
200m - Sierra Boyuk (BAC) - 27.31
800m - Georgia Lepage (STB) - 2:33.85
Pole Vault - Sydney Coe (LCS) - 2.26m
Shot Put - Brooke Gibeault (LOE) - 9.30m
Discus - Kendra Shanks (LOE) - 24.23m
4 X 400m Relay - Marymount Academy - 4:19.42
Senior Boys
200m - Alex Pharand (CND) - 24.10
800m - Liam Lacroix (LOE) - 2:05.88
3000m - Kaeden Ward (LOE) - 9:29.47
110m hurdles - Caden Fabbro (LOE) - 16.76
High Jump - Luca Graffi (LCS) - 1.75m
Pole Vault - Luca Graffi (LCS) - 2.16m
Triple Jump - Sylas Asare-Corbiere (LAS) - 11.92m
Discus - Keinan Eliel Kouassi (CND) - 29.03m
800m - Intell. - Riley Cornthwaite (LAS) - 2:57.78
4 X 400m Relay - Lo-Ellen Park - 3:43.24
