OFSAA Experience Boosts Local Track and Field Athletes

Of the twelve Kent athletes headed to this year’s OFSAA Track and Field championships in Mississauga, experience will be on their side. Morgan Desjardins, Clare Thompson, Quinn Cannella, Felix Marchand, and Josh Kellier, all attended OFSAA and 2013, and are back for repeat performances.

Pierce Johnson and Rayne Kellier, competed at OFSAA West Regionals in 2013, and Kellier has been to OFSAA cross country.

CKSS’ Erin Young is the lone junior athlete making her first OFSAA appearance, while James Muharrem, Jana Kucera, Anthony Atkinson, and Ayla Jacobs are all grade 9 competitors.

Using that experience, Desjardins, who won gold last year in discuss, hopes her performance at Regionals last week, where she won both discuss and shot put, will set her up for another successful competition.

“I was very pleased with my showing at OFSAA Regionals this past weekend,” says the Pain Court student. “I’m hoping that I continue to improve before this Thursday.”

“Last year I competed and got first in discus and 10th in shot put and I’m hoping to come back with gold again this year,” she continued.

Ridgetown’s Clare Thompson, who attends Ursuline College in Chatham, is another athlete entering OFSAA after winning both long jump, and triple jump at Regionals.

“I am extremely excited to be given the opportunity to go to OFSAA again this year,” says Thompson, who finished 5th in long jump in 2013. “My goal is not to win, but to get a new personal best in both of my events,” added Thompson, who has experienced better results at each meet she’s competed in this season.

“Improving my jumps from SWOSSAA to Regionals boosted my confidence and is helping to prepare me for what is to come this weekend.”

For these athletes, it’s a culmination of months of preparation and training, and the dedication of not only themselves, but of their coaches and teammates.

“I feel honoured to compete with the best in Ontario and it’s all thanks to my coaches that I am able to have this opportunity,” says Desjardins. “They put a lot of time and effort into me and I wouldn’t be as successful with out their help.”

CKSS’ Quinn Cannella is a serious medal contender after he took a bronze in the 1500m last year as a midget boy, and a 4th place finish in the 3000m, and enters OFSAA after taking second in both events last week, missing first in each event by under a second. Fellow CKSS runner Josh Kellier, who will run the open steeplechase this year, was 4th in 1500m, 6th in 3000m at last year’s OFSAA, while CKSS hurdler Felix Marchand was 5th in 300m hurdles, 6th in 100m hurdles in 2013.

The OFSAA track and field championships run from June 5-7 at St. Marcellinus Secondary School in Mississauga.