Grade 4-8 Track and Field

Three grade 8 girls posing for the camera before a race

 

This year’s grade 4-8 track and field meet was held on Thursday, May 19th at Sisler High School. IHMS has been holding its track and field events  here for years because Sisler has a huge field for throwing events (shot put, discus, and ball throw), a sand pit for long jump, and a large asphalt track for running events.

 

Students  relaxing at Sisler before the start of events

 

Unfortunately, because it takes place on an open field, there’s very little shelter from the sun and wind, so sunburn and windburn are common complaints the next day. Also, tripping and falling on the asphalt track can be dangerous and painful, and although washrooms are available, they’re located a few minutes away in a nearby community center on the other side of the field.

 

The open field at Sisler High School has very little shelter from the elements. The top photo is an aerial view of the area while the bottom photo was taken from street level

 

Washrooms were located at the other side of the field at the Northwood Community Centre

 

Since track and field is an outdoor activity, cancellations are not  uncommon if there’s a strong possibility of rain is in the forecast. If track is postponed to a rain date (usually a week later), it’s advertised on the school’s website and on the radio station CJOB. This is exactly what happened on the originally scheduled date of May 10th. Since the weather forecast called for a 60% chance of rain in the morning and afternoon, the event was postponed to Thursday, May 19th. Students were told in advance to listen to the forecast and dress appropriately for the weather, and most students came prepared. So after opening exercises at IHMS, the students left for Sisler on two chartered buses.

 

 

 

Track and field is an exciting adventure for all students, but it’s especially exciting for the grade 4 class because it’s their first real track meet. Since the grade 4-6 students are learning what kind of events they may excel in or enjoy, they have fewer options than the junior-high students in selecting the events they want to enter. In fact, they were required to take part in all track and field events. These events include:

Ball throw Shot put Long Jump 60 m race 200 m race 800 m race

 

The junior high students, on the other hand, were able to sign up for whatever they wanted, as long as they chose a minimum of three running events out of five. However, everyone had to participate in shot put, discus, and long jump. The grade 7 and 8 events were:

Shot put Discus Long Jump 100 m race 200 m race 400 m race 800 m race 1500 m race

 

Each event was supervised by a teacher and parent volunteer or an educational assistant:

 

Mrs. Tycholis and Mrs. Skromeda were in charge of long jump

 

 

 

Mr. Banias and student volunteers were in charge of discus

 

 

 

Ms. Rowe and Mr. Dram were in charge of shot put

 

 

 

Mrs. Wittevrongel and Mr. Arndt were in charge of ball throw

 

 

 

Mrs. Naurocki, Ms. Depiero, Ms. Karhut, Mr. Dedio, Mrs. Argo, Mrs. Shymko, and Mrs. Copp ran the races and recorded each racer’s time

 

 

High jump is the only field event that is usually done at IHMS because the large foam mattress, the poles, and the stands are too large and bulky to transport to Sisler High School. Mr. Dedio does high jump in the school gym during regularly scheduled Phys. Ed. classes.

 

 

For lunch, the students were given a piece of pizza by teacher and parent volunteers. They were also given a piece of watermelon, a bag of chips, and something to drink. This made it very convenient for the students because they didn’t have to bring a lunch to the track meet.

 

 

The kids seemed to enjoy the day, and around 2:15 p.m. the chartered buses returned to Sisler to transport the exhausted students back to IHMS. The winners for the different events will move on to represent our school at the “Knights of Columbus Track and Field Meet” at the beginning of June.