While the rain came down on day one of the Ontario U14/U16/U18 Championships today in Windsor, it didn’t drown the competitive spirits of the Lion athletes who picked up five medals on the day including a gold.
Things got off to a quick start with Joshua Van Der Laan picking up the first medal of the day in the first event on the track – U16 1500m Steeplechase. The 14 year old Van Der Laan finished second, crossing the line in five minute 30.49 seconds. However, it wasn’t the only medal for Josh on the day as he anchored the U16 4 x 800 metre relay to a silver as well. Running with teammates Keaton McGrath, Cameron Porter and William Egan, the quartet finished in nine minutes 11.69 seconds.
Also grabbing a medal in a 4 x 800 metre relay was the team of Yared Tereke, Jackson Roy, Carter Demers and Joe Fast. The ensemble’s time of eight minutes 52.54 seconds was good enough for silver in the under 18 division.
Like Van Der Laan, anchor Joe Fast also came away with two medals on day one. . The Ridgemont High School student picked up his 10th Ontario title since joining the club in 2015, this time winning the 1500 metres in a time of three minutes 58.63 seconds.
The final medal on day one came from from the sprint hurdles where Lee Winchell Jean edged teammate David Adeleye for bronze in the U18 110 metre event. Jean prevailed in a time of 14.72 seconds to Adeleye’s personal best effort of 14.94.
