NBIAA Regionals Recap

With the NBIAA Regional championships now behind us, let’s take a look back at some of the standout performances, so you know who to look out for at the Provincial Championships on Saturday.

Starting with the junior girls of the southwest region, we saw a glimpse of young talent with a triple-double of champions in the running events. Olivia Brown took the 100m & 200m, Felicia Mortimer had the 400m & 800m, and Kiersten Blanchard came away with the 1500m & 3000m. Props to Ava Brennan as well for an impressive three wins of her own in the form of the 80m hurdles, triple jump, and high jump. That hurdle race will be one to watch as she’ll have to go up against the northeast’s triple champ, Shaniece Smikle who won the 80m hurdles, 100m, and 200m in her region.
 

As for the senior girls, it was the Anna Somers show as she took care of business in the 100m, 200m, and 400m. While many attempted it, she was the only athlete to pull off that triple this weekend.
 

If there was a banner for the most successful family, the Kilfoils would handily take that one home, as Mallie and Bradley combined for 5 wins. Mallie in the 100m hurdles and long jump, Bradley in the 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, and high jump.
 

Perhaps one of the most popular doubles on the weekend was the 1500m and 3000m, where we saw a total of 5 athletes win both; Kiersten Blanchard, Jamieson Bauman, Juliana Lemaire, Isaac MacLean, and Noah Mackinnon. Noah would end up surpassing this feat by being the only athlete who managed to win 800 as well. However, don't let Isaac MacLean's loss in the 800 fool you, he was the only athlete at last year's provincials to win all three distance events. This along with his personal bests, has him as favourite heading into next weekend.
 

Next, I’d like to show off some unlikely doubles, a segment where we showcase athletes that manage to win two events that seemingly require completely different skill sets. We had those who love jumping as well as throwing, Everett Kent in the high jump and javelin, Jack Thomas in the triple jump and shot put, and Ariane Noël/Bertin in the high jump and discus. While sprinters tend to perform well in the jumps, Adrianna Platis was the only sprinter to win a throwing event when she won the 100m and shot put.
 

If you’re a fan of the good old photo finish you’ll definitely want to keep an eye out for the junior boy's sprints. In the southwest, we saw Kennebecassis teammates Ben Gray & Anthony Richards trade wins in the 100m and 200m, where both races were only decided by 0.05 seconds. Now throw Mathis Fournier into the mix, the northeast champ with very similar times, and we've got some great racing coming up.
 

To keep going with the rivalries, Francis Charles-Roussel and Jackson Banks were friends and teammates on last summer's Canada Games team, but they are even fiercer rivals. After coming out on top of their respective regions, you can finally see them both line up in the senior boy's 100m and 200m on Saturday.