With a mix of newcomers and seasoned veterans, North Battleford Legion Track Club head coach Karen Wharington is pretty happy with how things have gone so far this winter.
“We have a wide variety of athletes, which makes things a lot of fun at practices and at meets,” Wharington said. “I have athletes that are highly competitive as soon as they arrive for practice and then I have other athletes who are there simply for the workout aspect of track and field.
“When it comes to the meets themselves, I have a good idea of what to expect from those that are highly competitive and those who are there just for fun. Our main goals is to set personal bests and not so much on individual performances, especially with our younger athletes, and that’s what we’ve been doing in our three meets so far.”
That approach to competition paid off in Saskatoon on Jan. 26-28 as the club took part in the Knights of Columbus Saskatchewan Indoor Games.
“We had a number of athletes that did really well,” Wharington said. “Nicholas Bertoia is a thrower from Cut Knife and he’s had a strong season, including a gold and a silver medal in the Sled Dog meet in Saskatoon earlier this year, and he built off of that with two silver medals in the shot put and weight throw events at the Knights of Columbus meet.
“Trey Pernisky is a distance runner from Unity and he got a silver in the 1,500-metre race, and Wilkie’s Thomas Ward has been consistently cracking the top eight and setting personal bests in all of his running events. They are both doing really well as younger athletes in their age group.”
When it comes to their upcoming schedule, the Legion Track Club are looking into possibly travelling to a meet in Regina this weekend and an event in Edmonton on March 4 and 5.
They are officially slated to take part in the Kinsmen Indoor Championships in Saskatoon on March 17 and 18.
“We also have a few athletes that might compete in the Aboriginal Indoor Championships in Saskatoon on March 31 and April 1,” Wharington said.
