Wrong place, wrong time, for Allison Caswell of Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School.
The junior member of the Knights track and field team broke the city record of 2:31.28 in the 800m race on Day 1 of the SDSSAA Track & Field Championships Wednesday at Laurentian University.
Unfortunately, that accomplishment would still find Caswell settling for silver, as Karly Hellstrom of Lasalle lowered the standard by more than five seconds, finishing first in a time of 2:25.89.
That one-two punch provided almost half of the record setters as the Notre-Dame Alouettes vaulted to first place in the overall standings, with the perennial powerhouse teams at both Lo-Ellen and Lockerby fielding drastically smaller lineups given the current Rainbow Board work stoppage.
Danika Falvo of CND captured both the senior girls discus and shot put, breaking the record in the former with a throw of 34.46 metres. Longtime gymnast Jenny Drane of Lockerby squeezed one extra centimetre out of her pole vault attempts, winning the senior division at a height of 2.70m, just barely ahead of the height reached by Kendra Koskiemi of Notre-Dame in 2014 (2.69m).
Finally, Chris Barclay of Lo-Ellen bettered his own mark of 2:40.21 in the 800m dash for blind athletes, crossing the line in 2:32.65. For speedster Skyler Savage-Perreault of Horizon, the assault on the SDSSAA record book is aimed at Day 2.
Competing in the 200m, Savage-Perreault won handily, posting a time of 23.69, comfortably ahead of Matt Bell of St Charles College (24.46).
"I like to keep it slow in the beginning, save the energy for the 100m straightaway, because I feel like I have a little more control there," he said.
While the 100m dash has always been favoured by Savage-Perreault, some recent tightness in his IT Band did not make the slightly longer spring any easier.
"I still need to strengthen my hips," he added. "At the end of the race, I got really tired, and I'm supposed to keep straight posture.
“I tend to lose that. I lost it at the end of the 200m and buckled a little bit."
That said, as he nears the end of his high school track career, the 17-year-old sprinter is fixated on his favourite event.
"I would like to break the city record of 11.07," said Savage-Perreault. "It's a little bit of a longshot, but if the weather's nice, I might be able to do it."
For many other athletes, personal best times were the order of the day.
Michelle Corallo of Lo-Ellen picked up gold in the senior girls 100m hurdles, a race often dominated by the Knights.
"I wanted to beat my 100m hurdles time of 16.65," said Corallo after the race.
She did just that, covering the distance in 16.02 seconds.
"Getting my trail leg down faster is the key in getting faster times," Corallo added. "The faster you get it down, the more powerful your step is. Since I'm tall, I tend to jump over the hurdles instead of having proper form."
Junior Mukenge Muray of Lockerby can also be challenged by the form needed for hurdles, though his raw athleticism most often shines through. Muray was the class of a relatively small field, breaking the 16-second barrier with a time of 15.97, also in the 100m hurdles.
"First and foremost, I was really happy that I won this race," said Muray. "The height of the hurdles got so much bigger compared to last year. The hurdle is definitely my best race. It's definitely the race that I feel most comfortable in."
Following is a complete breakdown of event winners on Day 1 of the city meet:
Senior Girls
200m dash - Natasha Mayer (CND) - 26.50
800m - Kennedi Cashmore (Lasalle) - 2:36.75
3000m - Sarah MacLean (Lockerby) - 11:29.65
100m hurdles - Michelle Corallo (Lo-Ellen) - 16.02
Pole Vault - Jenny Drane (Lockerby) - 2.70m
Triple Jump - Renee Auger (St Charles) - 10.70m
Shot Put - Danika Falvo (CND) - 8.68m
Discus - Danika Falvo (CND) - 34.46m
4 X 400m relay - Lasalle (Graham/Lebel/Cashmore/Hellstrom) - 4:18.90
200m wheelchair - Tanya Quesnel (Sacre Coeur) - 1:13.52
Senior Boys
200m dash - Skyler Savage-Perreault (Horizon) - 23.69
800m - Brendan Costello (Lo-Ellen) - 1:59.82
3000m - Liam Passi (Lasalle) - 9:12.68
110m hurdles - Reinhardt Grobler (Lo-Ellen) - 15.91
High Jump - Noah LaPierre (Lasalle) - 1.93m
Pole Vault - Noah Serre (CND) - 3.40m
Triple Jump - Mathieu Kingsley (CND) - 12.03m
Discus - Justin Belanger (Macdonald-Cartier) - 33.45m
4 X 400m relay - Sacre-Coeur (Pylatuk/Huot/Dechaine/Archambault) - 3:53.03
800m blind - Chris Barclay (Lo-Ellen) - 2:32.65
Junior Girls
200m dash - Kayla Folz (St Charles) - 27.50
800m - Karly Hellstrom (Lasalle) - 2:25.89
3000m - Natalie Lefebvre (CND) - 12:38.97
80m hurdles - Kalea Loewan (Lo-Ellen) - 13.62
Long Jump - Allison Byrnes (Marymount) - 4.85m
Shot Put - Rae Ann Naponse (St Benedict) - 8.74m
Javelin - Kayla Samarian (Marymount) - 26.24m
Junior Boys
200m dash - Sean Lawson (CND) - 24.66
800m - Dawson Nootchtai (St Benedict) - 2:19.26
3000m - Shawn Belanger (CND) - 10:55.97
100m hurdles - Mukenge Muray (Lockerby) - 15.97
Long Jump - Emile Vaillancourt (Lockerby) - 5.47m
Triple Jump - Sean Lawson (CND) - 11.87m
Shot Put - Alex Paquette (CND) - 13.28m
Midget Girls
200m dash - Leika Sutcliffe (CND) - 28.40
800m - Sidney Tarini (Lo-Ellen) - 2:29.70
3000m - Sidney Tarini (Lo-Ellen) - 11:15.96
80m hurdles - Morgan Smith (Lo-Ellen) - 13.64
High Jump - Harmony Martel (Lockerby) - 1.45m
Discus - Kaylee Trepanier (CND) - 20.74m
Javelin - Maddison Loiselle (Sacre Coeur) - 23.07m
Midget Boys
200m dash - Jacob Kruk (St Charles) - 25.37
800m - Josh Tillson (Lo-Ellen) - 2:15.60
3000m - Josh Tillson (Lo-Ellen) - 10:10.92
100m hurdles - Kelly Thompson (Lo-Ellen) - 18.06
High Jump - Nicholas Brown (CND) - 1.56m
Long Jump - Curtis Bertrand (St Benedict) - 5.46m
Javelin - André Levasseur (Macdonald-Cartier) - 36.99
