By Bryan Eneas

Track athletes spring to success in P.A.

Jun 6, 2017 | 2:00 PM

Athleticism was on full display in the gateway to the North over the next two days.

Over 1,000 teachers and students from the Prince Albert region gathered at Prime Ministers Park for an annual track meet.

Bronson Paetsch from Birch Hills School placed first overall in the novice boy’s high jump, making a leap of 1.27 meters.

“I’ve never really won anything for the Saskatchewan Rivers track meet, it feels good to win [high jump],” the Grade 6 student said.

He said his dream is to be an NHL player, but he enjoys sports overall. Paetsch has competed in the high jump each of the three years he’s participated in the track meet. He said he loves jumping to see how high he can really get.

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Paetsch was given a chance to break the P.A. record of 1.37 meters, but wasn’t able to do so in the two tries he was allowed.

“On my last jump I just hesitated and went straight back,” Paetsch said. “It’s just so hard.”

While he finished with the blue ribbon for high jump, he said he still had an event to go. Paetsch clocked the fastest semi-final time in the 150 meter dash.

For Ron Stewart, the athletic co-ordinator of the Prince Albert and Area Athletics, track meets are a great source of excitement.

“[Track] is totally different than anything else,” Stewart said. “Team sports, you rely on your team mates to help you, you’ve got referees involved. You’ve got none of that at a track meet.”

He said finishing first or last doesn’t matter, as long as competitors work hard to try and beat their personal bests.

Stewart said the track scene in Prince Albert is slowly growing. A few schools have started to challenge the status quo of years past, where Saskatoon and Regina were dominant. He said more schools are finishing in the top five than ever before.

The track meet will take over Prime Minister Park until Wednesday, June 7.

Bryan.Eneas@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @BryanEneas