Sure, the vaunted Lo-Ellen Park track and field team had posted some gaudy numbers in cruising their way to team titles at both a local and regional level.

But that was SDSSAA and NOSSA – and clearly not OFSAA.

As hundreds and hundreds of local athletes have learned over the years, the Ontario high-school track & field championships are a whole other animal entirely.

The intimidation of the setting alone can cause many a city champ to fall well short of results they could typically post in their sleep. Apparently, however, this is also a different Lo-Ellen Park team, entirely.

Early Friday morning, a buzz began to take life and by the time the day ended and no less than six medals were already in the books for the Knights, the recognition of a very special performance was settling in.

While there is no formal banner for this, the Lo-Ellen team accumulated more total points than any other school in Ontario. The Knights did capture the Novice Boys banner, thanks in large part to a 1-2 finish in the 100m hurdles from Levi Blouin and Mikko Leinala, with the latter later securing bronze at the 300m distance.

That don’t impress you much? (coining a phrase from another northern Ontario star).

How about the fact that to the best of our knowledge, no Sudbury delegation (all SDSSAA schools combined) had ever enjoyed a year that would see more than four medals, in total, make their way north.

On their own, the Lo-Ellen Park Knights reached the podium TEN times at this year’s meet.

Throw in an incredible gold medal winning performance by Lasalle Lancers novice thrower Blaire Rickard (more on that in a bit), a pair of medals from Marymount ambulatory competitor Sophia Carlson, a three-medal performance from Lo-Ellen sprinter Annabelle Richardson (including gold in the novice girls 100m dash) and no less than four finals for junior girls bronze medal winner Nadia MacDonald and it’s clear that this marks an achievement that will be talked about for years to come.

“It’s a special group of athletes – but it’s also an experienced group of coaches,” noted Lo-Ellen head coach Colin Ward. “It’s some combination of that. You need fast athletes, obviously, which we’ve got – but you need to know what to do with them. That part comes with time.”

And for as much as his team was setting records left, right and centre leading into OFSAA, Ward was taking nothing for granted as the competition kicked off on Thursday in Toronto. “You just don’t want to get your hopes up,” he said. “So often we came up with a couple of medals and a few finalists and that’s the norm.”

“I did not see this coming,” added Ward. “There were definitely areas where we knew we could do well – but we did not see this coming like that.”

Count a bronze medal from graduating senior Riley Graffi in the high jump among the pleasant surprises. While the hockey-first talent had cleared the bar in the 1.95m to 1.97m range, that was in practice only – and his heights posted on the road to OFSAA certainly did not scream of an obvious medal contender.

Plus history wasn’t necessarily on his side.

“I have never really done too well at OFSAA; I’m not too sure why,” said Graffi, an 18 year-old who qualified for the event each and every one of his four years at Lo-Ellen. “I think it all gets to me and then I don’t really expect too much of myself.”

With his busy schedule allowing for very little practice going in and his morning alarm falling victim to the need for a little extra shut-eye, Graffi tried to simplify his mental approach. “I just wanted to get as close to my PB and do it at OFSAA,” he said.

Missing attempts at both 1.75m and 1.80m, Graffi then soared over 1.85m and 1.90m on his first shot at both heights. “My coaches had me run my arch better, cut to the mat more instead of going straight at it,” he noted. “And last year, we focused a lot on driving my butt into the air.”

“I was kind of flat going across the bar.”

Graffi was the first of the medal winners for Lo-Ellen on Friday, setting the tone for a day to end all days. “When I got to the podium, I think the whole team was there taking pictures,” he said.

“I have never seen Mister Ward so happy.”

High-school freshman Mikko Leinala had no prior experience to draw upon as he made his way to his first OFSAA appearance. A regular with his track and field team at the elementary school level, Leinala was about to endure many an eye-opener in his new setting at LEP.

“I came out to the first track practice to sign up for the 200 metre and Mister Ward told me I was going to try the hurdles,” said Leinala. An athletic looking lad who stands a hair over six feet tall, the 15 year-old was now immersed in one of the most technical disciplines around.

“I’m still trying to get my lean into it,” he said. “I still have a very upright posture doing the hurdles. If I could stay lower going over the hurdles, I would improve my time.”

Thankfully, he’s had a rabbit to chase since day one, so to speak of.