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RDSB Senior Meet features strong Manitoulin competitors!

A total of 360 Grade 7 and 8 students, representing 15 different elementary schools, participated in the one day event. The top eight finishers from each event (top five only from 1500m and high jump) qualify for the Champions Meet, slated for Thursday, June 20.

The Island, as always, has been very well prepared for the event and as usual they did not disappoint. Here are the Manitoulin qualifiers who have been invited for the upcoming Champions’ meet. Athletes from Central Manitoulin, Assiginack and Little Current have all made it on to this next level. 

Congratulations to: John Michael Taggart (LCPS), sixth place in the 100m, second in long jump. In the 200m, Central Manitoulin Eagle Annie Balfe was third. Her cousin, Brooke Gibeault, was 1.5 tenths of a second behind Annie to take fourth in the 200m. Brooke would not be outdone as she edged her cousin in the long jump by a centimeter. Lakeview’s Maren Kasunich won the 800m and was second in the 400m as well as in the 1500m. She was just clipped right on the line but still managed to beat the RDSB record by nearly three seconds. CMPS’s Ava Assinewai was a super-close third in the 800m, fourth in the 1500m and then totally decimated the high jump roster to earn the gold! Assiginack’s Brodie Pennie (APS) ran into sixth place in the 400m and fifth in the 1500m. Davin Deschenes was fourth in the 1500m; Aiden Case had a great performance to win his shot put by a dominant put! Deaton Redstar (LCPS) took third in the event. Kiera Secord (LCPS) took fourth place in the 400m. Coyotes’ Saraya Eshkawkogan won the triple jump with CMPS’s Annie Balfe wearing silver. LCPS’s TJ Green was second in the triple jump and was fourth in the high jump. Coyotes’ Billy Biederman was fourth in the Grade 8 long jump (also eighth in the triple), while classmate Alan Wilkin was fifth in the 1500m and Brett Mastelko taking fifth in the shot put. Keaton Gauthier (LCPS) won his high jump and also took seventh in the triple jump. 

Athletic Stringer roots run deep for international triathlon!

Riley Stringer, now a holiday visitor, has Stringer and Heitkamp connections that put him in the upper echelons of Manitoulin athletes. Riley (living in Georgetown) has earned the honour of running OFSAA cross country and regional 1500m and 3K in high school and was always a good swimmer, with his high school winning OFSAA swimming 10 or 11 times in a row, now. 

He had done just one triathlon in high school but entered the Gravenhurst sprint duathlon where he won his age group. Next, he did the Bracebridge sprint triathlon he was third in his age group. He then entered the Wasaga Olympic triathlon at the end of the summer and won his age group (that’s 19 and under, he was 18 at the time).

Since then he has been training quite a bit. His performances last year were built on pretty light work. However, he ran the Mississauga Half Marathon at the beginning of May (he won the 19 and under age group, which is based on age on race day) in 1:22:35, which was a 10 min personal best for him.

He is doing a sprint triathlon this Sunday in Milton, then it’s a Half Iron Man in Benton Harbour, Michigan June 30, an Olympic in Gravenhurst July 14, and in Bracebridge August 11. Finally the ITU World Triathlon World Final in Lausanne Switzerland for the age group Worlds on Sep 1. Good luck, Riley!

Local Girl Guide Earns the Lady Baden-Powell Award

Autumn Davy, of 1st Manitowaning Guides, received the Lady Baden-Powell Award in Sudbury on Sunday, June 2. This award is the highest award that a Girl Guide can earn and involves completing the guide program, doing community service, volunteering and learning about Lady Baden-Powell. Autumn enjoys making a difference in the world around her and helping others.

Catching up with our Guides! 

It was another active weekend for the Manitowaning Girl Guide members at McLean’s Park, off New England Road. They held their year-end day camp at the park learning about wild flowers, edibles and navigation. All girls participated in geo-caching activities from the Sparks, Brownies, Guides and Pathfinder groups. Using GPS units borrowed from the Municipality of Assiginack, the girls learned how to program coordinates and find four different geocaches located within the hiking trails of the park. Over the past year, the Girl Guides have created crafts to put in these new geocaches planned for McLean’s Park. 

These geocaches will be registered soon (on the Geocaching.com site) for everyone to locate. Geocaching is a great family oriented activity, where hiking, discovering and being outdoors are just a few of the benefits. Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped create an amazing experience for setting up these treasure locations. If you are interested in joining Girl Guides in September you can register on line now. 

Congratulations to: Sparks Ada-Lyn Cairns, Allie Jamieson, Priscilla Recollet-Case, Miah Hughson. Brownies; Morgan Peltier, Ava Hartley, Chloe Moggy, Katie Jamieson, Zoe McCarville and Saramarie Wassegijig and Guides Novella Therrien, Robyn-Ashley McNaughton, Madison McCarville, Jordyn Holmes, Saveen Clayton, Sapphire Recollet-Case and Autumn Davy and, finally, Pathfinder Jocelyn Kuntsi.

A good sport is good for sports. 

chipstoquips@gmail.com 

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