Golden moment for athletics team

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This article was published 03/08/2017 (3018 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There were a lot of smiling Team Manitoba athletes at the University of Manitoba Stadium on Thursday.

Six medals were won by Team Toba’s athletics squad, increasing the province’s total to 10 medals at the 2017 Canada Games.

Victoria Tachinski winning Manitoba’s first gold medal with her victory in the 400 metres was the highlight of day, but that wasn’t the only memorable moment from the track.

University of Manitoba Bisons sprinter Tegan Turner won two medals, joining triathlon’s Kyla Roy as Manitoba’s only multiple medalists at the 2017 Games. Turner ran a personal best of 11.81 seconds to win bronze in the women’s 100 metres before helping the 4×100 relay team to a bronze-medal finish. The relay team’s time of 46.18 seconds is a new Manitoba record at the Canada Games — the previous record was set in 1981.

Heading into the Games, Turner didn’t scout the competition. Her only focus was herself and wanting to run a personal best. She says she couldn’t have asked for anything better than two medals, a personal best and a Manitoba record.

“It’s exceptional. Not only to be at the Canada Games but to be at home and running on our home track, I have no words to describe it. I feel so lucky to be here,” said Turner.

It was a day of firsts for Manitoba as Regan Hofley won the first Special Olympic medal for the team at this year’s competition. Hofley took home a silver in the women’s 100-metre race.

To end the day, it was a pair of Bisons’ jumpers who added to Manitoba’s medal total.

Rebekah Eckert, who just finished her freshman year a the U of M, took a 12.33 metre hop, step and a jump to win the women’s triple jump silver medal. Nathan Smith will be joining Eckert on the Bisons in the fall, won silver in the men’s high jump with a 2.08-metre jump — a new personal best. Smith became the first male athlete to win a medal for Team Toba at the 2017 Games. He hopes there will be more Manitoba males joining him on the podium soon.

“Step up boys, it’s time to go. We got to bring those medals in!” said Smith.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @TaylorAllen31