In pursuit of excellence

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This article was published 07/06/2023 (1194 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nearly 1,300 high school athletes from all across the province will gather at the Brandon Community Sportsplex for the MHSAA track and field provincial championships this weekend. The meet begins Thursday and wraps up on Saturday.

The next few days will see more than a thousand student athletes attempt to run, jump and throw their way onto the podium. While all athletes who qualified deserve recognition for their efforts, here are five athletes to watch this weekend.

Augustine Nkundimana, Grade 11, Dakota Collegiate, 100 metres, 200 metres, 4×100 metres relay

While Augustine Nkundimana has certainly found success in track and field — he placed first in the 100 metres and 200 metres races at junior varsity provincials a year ago — the sport has provided him with far more than athletic accomplishments.

Nkundimana had just moved to Winnipeg from a refugee camp in Nyarugusu, Tanzania, and found sports as a gateway to make connections.

“When I moved to Canada, I was a really shy kid,” said Nkundimana.

He may not have said much, but Nkundimana’s speed in phys-ed class quickly drew the attention of the track and field coach who encouraged him to give it a try.

“When I started track, I started getting more friends,” said Nkundimana. “It helped me get out of my (comfort) zone and basically communicate with others and get my English better”

The grade 11 student also plays running back for the Dakota football team and plays soccer as well. He credits some of his success in track to the skills he picked up in football and soccer.

“For football, there’s a lot of weight training and a lot of pushing so it really helped me for track to push out of the blocks.” In addition to being able to push out of the blocks, he is also able to maintain his speed because of the conditioning he gained from soccer. “For soccer, I’m running for 90 minutes straight so those two (sports) helped me a lot.”

Whether it is in track or in football, Nkundimana hopes to play after high school.

“I would be thankful for any school that would offer me to run for them or play football for them. I love sports so it wouldn’t matter to me what sport I would get an offer for but if it was track I would love it.”

Juliana Crocker, Grade 12, Vincent Massey High School (Brandon), Pentathlon

There were simply too many track and field events to choose from for Juliana Crocker. She liked long-distance running just as much as sprinting and jumping. Instead of choosing one, Crocker chose them all and became a pentathlete.

“I wanted a chance to kind of try everything because I enjoy distance and sprinting and jumping, so it just seemed like a good option,” said Crocker.

Crocker and the pentathlon have proven to be a match made in heaven. Last year at provincials, as a grade 11 student, Crocker took home first and broke the provincial record with 2,743 total points.

“When I found out after the results were posted, I don’t think I could say anything. I remember standing in the infield of the track… it was just a really incredible experience.”

While Crocker holds the provincial record for the pentathlon, she feels like she has only gotten better since then, specifically when it comes to long jump and shot put.

“Long jump I’ve definitely improved a lot, I’m jumping 60 centimetres farther than I did last year,” said the pentathlete. Crocker said she has gotten physically stronger since last year as well. “I didnt have a lot of upper body strength last year and knew nothing about technique, so I’ve been able to work on that and am throwing a metre and a half farther than I was last year.”

Crocker will continue her track career at the University of New Brunswick next year.

Alejandro Civetta, Grade 12, Vincent Massey Collegiate (Winnipeg), 1500 metres, 800 metres, 400 metres

Alejandro Civetta had quite the performance at last year’s provincials as a Grade 11 student finishing on the podium in the three events in which he competed — he finished third in the 1500-metre and 800-metre races and second in the 400-metre — a coveted gold eluded him.

The grade 12 student feels good about his chances this year based of his training over the past year and the progress he has made.

“I’ve gotten a full year of training. I think this year with the full year of training I’m gonna be a lot better than last year,” said Civetta. The long-distance runner paid specific attention in his training to the last portion of his races where he felt he was lacking.

“I feel like a lot of my races kind of towards the end I would kind of lose a bit of gas so I think ive gotten a lot better at that kind of endurance towards the end I guess you can say sprint endurance.”

While three top-three finishes is nothing to sneeze at, Civetta hopes he can turn top three into top one.

“This year… I hope, maybe, get a gold medal. I think it’s always very tough to just get a medal let alone gold. I think the goal is to try and place as high as i can and just perform to the best of my abilities.”

Civetta has committed to the University of Manitoba track and field team for next year.

Amira Lawrence, Grade 11, Garden City Collegiate, 100m, 200m, 400m, medley relay, and Arriana Lawrence, Grade 12, Garden City Collegiate, Long Jump, 200m, medley relay

Arriana and Amira have played on the same teams throughout their time in high school.

Earlier this school year, Amira and Arriana were apart of a dominant Garden City basketball team that won the KPAC conference and reached the provincial final where they were deferated by the top-seeded Dakota Lancers.

Both sisters have cherished their time playing alongside one another.

“It’s great, honestly there’s no one I’d rather win with than my sister,” said Arriana. “We’re together 24/7, we’re always training together, helping each other” said Arriana.

Her younger sister agrees, and said their bond is a difficult one to put into words.

“I honestly don’t know how to describe it, it’s kind of the norm now… it’s a lot of fun and we learn new things about each other,” said Amira.

Amira goes into the weekend with the goal of setting a new personal best in the 200-metre race.

“I really want to try and break 25 (seconds) in the 200 metre” said Amira. “My mindset is just really be in the zone before i get in the blocks for each race and do my best and leave it all on the track.”

Amira hopes to compete for Canada in the Commonwealth youth games this summer in Trinidad and Tobago.

Her sister has her eye on the long jump. Arriana previously focused mostly on sprinting until she gave long jump a try and discovered she had a knack for it.

“I realized I had a natural talent for it and it might carry me further than sprinting did, so for the past couple years I’ve been trying to capitalize on that,” said Arriana,

She placed third at nationals last year in the event.

Arriana has committed to play basketball at Keyano College in Fort McMurray next year.

donald.stewart@freepress.mb.ca