A student athlete about to throw the shot-put

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This year’s grade 4-8 track and field meet was held on Tuesday, May 7th 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 (like shot put, discus, and ball throw), a sand pit for long jump, and a large asphalt track for running events.

 

 

The students arrived at Sisler High School in three chartered buses. Since they had a bit of free time before starting their events, some students sat on blankets with their friends while others played a quick game of basketball. Soon after everyone arrived, Mr. Dedio used a loudspeaker to explain a few important rules to the students before directing them to their first event.

 

 

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.

Oops!

 

Grade 6 girls beginning a sprint on the asphalt track. Mrs. Walton can be seen in the background with the starter gun.

 

The  washrooms were convenient!

Washrooms were available at a nearby community centre at the other end of the field. Students were forbidden from entering Sisler High School for any reason, and anyone needing to use a washroom had to to walk over to the Northwood Community Centre after getting permission from an adult supervisor.

 

Students posing with either a shot put or discus before their event

 

The Field at Sisler High School Sisler is the largest school in Manitoba. It has a huge field with an asphalt track, a football/soccer field, and several baseball diamonds.    Click here to enlarge

 

Where Do the Events Take Place?  . When students first arrive at Sisler, most leave their belongings near the cement basketball court in the lower right hand area of the photo shown below. This is the “Staging Area” where students are given instructions at the beginning of the day, and where they line up by grade for lunch and at the end of the day before boarding the bus. Races: The races take place on the large oval track in the middle of the field. The starting line varies according to the length of the race. Ball Throw: Ball throw takes place on the grassy area within the track. Discus and Shot put: Both discus and shot put take place in adjacent baseball fields just north of the staging area. Long jump: Long jump, which is a bit isolated from the other events, takes place at the two long jump pits adjacent to Sisler High School. Washrooms were located at the other side of the field at the Northwood Community Centre

 

Weather Conditions for Track and Field
Weather conditions are an important factor during Track and Field. Student athletes prefer to wear something cool and light during a race – nobody wants to run in a parka. This year, most students and adult supervisors seemed to agree that the weather was COLD! Although it was a bright, sunny day, the morning was cool and windy, and the temperature in the afternoon increased to only 11 degrees!	​  The weather: sunny but cold

 

Although the weather for track and field improved slightly in the afternoon, it was unusually cold in the morning. With the temperature hovering around the freezing point, several adult supervisors, including Mrs. Bogdan (top photo) and Mrs. DePiero (bottom photo), wore winter parkas in the morning to keep warm.

 

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 (this year, Miss Bacon was sent to track and field to help out as the grade 4 Educational Assistant).

 

Miss Bacon, one of the school’s two EA’s, was assigned to watch over the grade 4 students.

 

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:

 

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Ball throw Shot put Long Jump 80 m race 150 m race 600 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:

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Shot put Discus Long Jump 100 m race 200 m race 300 m race 800 m race 1200 m race

 

Mr. Dedio, the school’s Phys. Ed teacher, was the track & field convenor. He overlooked all of the events as the convenor but spent most of his time working at the races. Each event was supervised by a teacher and parent volunteer or an educational assistant.

The Events:

Long Jump Supervised by: Mrs. Hutsulak, Mr. Bik, and Mrs. Stefaniw-Buhay

 

 

 

Discus Supervised by: Mrs. Tycholis and Mr. Rogelio

 

 

 

Ball throw Supervised by: Mrs. Cambly and Mr. Szutiak

 

 

 

Shot put Supervised by: Mrs. DePiero and Mr. Kemp

 

 

Races Supervised by: Mr. Dedio, Mrs. Wdowiak, Mrs. Naurocki, Mrs. Walkow, Mrs. Walton, Mrs. Copp, Mrs. McGinn, Mrs. Kemp, and Mrs. Bogdan

 

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.

 

 

The school’s principal, Mr. Picklyk, was the track and field lunch coordinator. He, along with several parent volunteers provided the student athletes with pizza for lunch (either one or two slices of either cheese or pepperoni). Students were also given an orange, 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 student athletes 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.