Legion athletes shine at league outing

    St. Thomas Club wins seven events at fourth and final Great Lakes League meet,

    preparing for Ontario Summer Games and RC Legion Nationals

Wednesday August, 2018

ST. THOMAS -  Whether it was preparation for the upcoming Ontario Summer Games and Legion National championships, or simply another competition in their training schedule, the fourth and final meet of the Great Lakes League season was busy one.

Matthew MacNeill, Dylan Belanger, Kyra Vellinga and Olivia Krahn, led St. Thomas Legion, with winning performances, at the fourth and final meet of the Great Lakes League season, at Parkside Collegiate.

AJ Stanat won both the midget boys' discus (45.00m) and hammer throw (42.67m) and placed second in shot put (14.19m).

MacNeill won the open men's 100 metre dash (11.33 seconds), while Vellinga, won the midget girls' 300-metre hurdles (49.24 sec.), Belanger, the midget boys' 300 metre hurdles (44.75 sec.) and Krahn, the midget girl's 300 metre dash (43.77 sec.)

Lexi Stanat took the bantam girls' discus title, with a best throw of 23.36 metres.

St. Thomas dominated the midget girls’ 100 metre final, taking five of the eight positions, led by Tayah DeSousa, who finished second (13.33 sec.). Krahn was third, followed by Lily Francis, in fourth spot, Camryn Roth, sixth and Earen Klassen, seventh.

London-Western’s Adebola Idowu won the race in 13.21 seconds.

Roth finished second in the midget girl's 300 metre dash (45.28 sec.), behind Krahn, with Claireese Coffey, finishing in fifth place (48.17 sec.)

Coffey was fourth in open women’s triple jump (9.32 metres), behind winner Miranda Cox, of London-Western club (10.38m).

Francis was fourth in midget girls' shot put (7.70m).

Anij Sparenberg had the second farthest throw among youth girls, at 11.44 metres. Sparenberg was fifth, in youth girls' discus (31.08m).

Jared Parkin placed third in youth boys' shot put (13.39m), fourth, in discus (39.68m) and fifth, in hammer throw (37.59m).

Michael Roth was fourth, in the open men's 100 metre dash final (11.81 sec.) and fifth, in the 400 metres (53.61 sec.).

Vincent Moore finished fourth (13.5 sec.), in the midget boys' 100 metre dash, followed by Joshua McCandless, in fifth spot (13.65 sec.). McCandless placed second, in the midget boys' 300 metre dash (44.57 sec.). Moore also placed 10th, in the open men's 400 metres (59.71 sec.).

DeSousa, Belanger, Vellinga and Francis will be joined by Legion teammates Hallee Knelsen, AJ Stanat and Harrison Belanger, at the Ontario Games, in track and field, August 3-4, at TD Stadium, in London.

Next weekend, Knelsen, DeSousa, Francis, Stanat, Vellinga and Katherine Heard, head to Brandon, Manitiba, for the Legion Nationals, August 10-12.

Jadyn Luna, of Thorndale, who competes for London-Western club, won the midget girls' 200-metre hurdles, in 31.38 seconds and placed third in midget girls' shot put (7.78m).

Brooke Hoxar-Moore, a graduate of Lord Dorchester secondary school, competing for London-Western, won the senior women's discus (47.23m).

Aidan and Tristan Coles, both with London Legion, finished seventh (56.33 sec.) and ninth (57.49 sec.), respectively, in the open men's 400 metres.