Central Elgin Titan Tayah De Sousa mid flight, in midget women's long jump, at the OFSAA West regional track and field meet, in Windsor. De Sousa won long jump and a hour later finished second in the 80-metre hurdles. (photo / Rob J. Ross)
A trio of golden
achievements
Clark, De Sousa, Stanat, win events, at the OFSAA West regional
track and field meet and all three advance to OFSAA in two events
Saturday, June 2, 2018
By Rob J. Ross
WINDSOR, ON. - Three St. Thomas athletes head to OFSAA as regional champions.
The trio each won an event and placed top four in a second event, at the OFSAA West regional championships, at the University of Windsor Stadium.
Now they ride their golden momentum to the OFSAA championships, June 7-9, in Toronto.
Liam Clark, of St. Joseph's high school, won the senior men's 400-metre hurdles and finished fourth in the 110-metre hurdles.
Tayah De Sousa, from Central Elgin Collegiate Institute won midget women's long jump and finished second in the 80-metre hurdles.
Arthur (AJ) Stanat, out of Parkside Collegiate Institute, tossed the gold medal winning distance in midget men's discus and placed second, in shot put.
Following a year lost to injury, it's a successful comeback season for Clark.
“It’s really nice especially being in my grade 12 year. The goal was to try and get to OFSAA and it feels really good to have made it after having a year off,” Clark said. “It’s nice to be back to where I was last year (fitness wise pre injury).”
Clark won the senior 400-metre hurdles on day two of the meet, in 54.58 seconds, beating the WOSSAA champion Nathan Hostettler, from Arva Medway and Matthew MacNeill, from London Lucas, also a teammate with the St. Thomas Legion Club.
“I’m honestly quite surprised. I was expecting Nathan to pull out in front. I had a bit of an advantage as I was in lane three and he was in lane four and Matt was in five, so I could see them. I do better chasing than running scared,” said Clark. “On the second curve I was still with them and when we came around the third curve, I took all of the energy left in me and went as fast as I could.”
Clark was second at WOSSAA in the 400 hurdles, finishing once around the oval, in 55.10 seconds, behind Hostettler’s 54.69 seconds.
A day earlier, Clark was fourth in the senior 110-metre hurdles, finishing in 14.77 seconds, a race won by MacNeill, in 14.09 seconds.
“I have a great teammate (MacNeill), who is always pushing me to do better than I think I can do,” Clark said. “This year I wasn’t sure about getting to OFSAA and now I’m super pumped about it.”
Clark also credits coach Harry Stantsos.
“We always talk about technique,” Clark said. “For me, it’s about keeping my shoulders relaxed and when I go over the hurdles, I need to lean in a little more.”
This will be Clark’s third appearance at OFSAA. Two years ago, Clark won a bronze medal in the junior men’s 300-metre hurdles and finished fourth in the 100-metre hurdles. In 2015, Clark finished 12th, in the midget men’s 100-metre hurdles.
Final throw gives Stanat gold
Stanat brings home the gold medal for midget discus, landing the event’s best throw of 43.43 metres in the sixth and final round. But the Parkside freshman almost didn’t advance from the preliminary rounds.
“At first I was nervous. I faulted my first two throws and had to get one in. I decided to go with a standing throw and threw one 37 metres, which got me in to the top eight.”
Parkside Stampeder Arthur Stanat, sets a personal best distance of 14.28 metres, placing second, in midget men's shot put, at the OFSAA West regional track and field meet, in Windsor. Stanat later won midget men's discus. (photo / Rob J. Ross)
His next throw moved him into second position. After letting go the disc wide right and out of bounds in the fifth round, Stanat stepped up for the golden throw.
“I was diving out of the back and losing sense of balance (on the fifth attempt). On my last throw I regained my composure and balance.” Stanat said. “It feels great to be a regional champion. I’m very pleased with myself. It’s a great accomplishment to move on to OFSAA.”
In shot put, Stanat delivered the second best heave, a personal best effort of 14.28 metres, only five centimetres back of champion Blake Foster, of Sarnia Northern.
“I’m pleased with that throw. I put some chalk on my hands just to get a better grip and as a result of that I threw farther,” Stanat said. “I was nervous. There were a lot of people around the same range, mid 13’s. I knew I had to step up and have a big throw. I was mid 13’s for most of the competition, until I had my big throw, so I feel I was consistent.”
De Sousa leaps to gold
De Sousa may not have been satisfied with the quality of her jumps, but the Titan was one of only two competitors to land over five metres in midget long jump.
“My jumps weren’t great so I’m glad I pulled through with that 5.15. I wasn’t terribly exciting about my jumping today,” said De Sousa, although happy to be heading to OFSAA. “It’s exciting because it is my favourite event, so to be able to go so far with it in my first year is exciting.”
De Sousa added the midget 80-metre hurdles to her OFSAA schedule, finishing second in 12.53 seconds. LaSalle Sandwich’s Sierra Baltzer won in 12.36 seconds.
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rob@hometownplay.ca