Simcoe Reformer: Pushed to Great Heights By Competition

Article By:  Jacob Robinson, Simcoe Reformer
Retrieved From:  http://www.simcoereformer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2577010

Nearly every school had a taste of glory in the boys division of the Todd Eaton Memorial Track Meet in Port Dover Wednesday.

The top three placing schools especially -- Holy Trinity, Simcoe and Delhi -- had plenty to celebrate following a wet and cold day at the track.

The Simcoe Sabres didn't have much in the way of overall point success in the boys ranks, but did get some notable performances. One big win was in the senior boys 4x100m relay, as Simcoe kept its stranglehold on the title by edging out Valley Heights.

The threesome of Cody Lyons, Kurt Wilson and Todd Poirier kept the team near the top before handing it over to 100m champ Josh Lubin, who did the rest.

"It was a tough start and we bobbled a little bit on the first handoff but we pulled through at the end," said Poirier.

"I wasn't really worried. (Luban) got that first step, and then it was relief after that."

Luban and Justin Wood of Valley Heights were neck and neck down the stretch, with Luban getting the nod by 0.19 seconds.

"It's a good feeling. To be honest, I don't think any of us were really worried about HT or anyone specific," Lubin said. "We're confident that we know what we're doing, so we're not really worried. To be honest, we didn't think about the competition, we just tried to beat our personal best."

Lubin went into the 100m senior final ranked second behind Wood, but ran an 11.62s tiem to take the title by one-tenth.

"He's quick," Lubin admitted. "All I know is that I need competition. My times are always slower when I'm at school, and when I'm here, it always speeds up . . . It goes by who I'm racing, and that makes me try harder. Really, it's just a mindset."

In the long distances, Holy Trinity's Alex Caley reigned supreme by taking home the 800m, 1500m and 400m hurdles title to go along with a 2010 road race and NSSAA cross country crown from earlier this year.

Stockpiling points became second nature to Delhi's Ty Hamilton, who scored a win in his first ever NSSAA level track event in the midget boys pole vault Monday and followed it up with a 100m dash win and 200m dash victory to boot.

"It felt really good, I tried to push myself as hard as I can, try to keep up with the rest of the guys and come out on top," he said.

As a newcomer to the NSSAA scene, Hamilton tried to channel the good vibes that came with a winning leap of 2.86m in the pole vault Monday.

"Winning the first NSSAA event I've ever been to, that really boosted my confidence," he said.

The top two finishers in each event will head to Kitchener next week for the CWOSSA Championships, where they'll once again face some stiff challenges.

"The competition will probably get much tougher, I'll just try and run my hardest again," said Hamilton. "If I come first, that would be great, but if I don't I'll just try my best and see what happens."