Track and field athletes start training for spring meet

April 10, 2025 · 0 Comments

Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

Track and field athletes at Centre Dufferin District High School (CDDHS) have started training for upcoming District 4/10 meets that will start with an indoor event at the University of Guelph on April 17.

Two more outdoor meets will follow in May with competitors hoping to qualify to move to regional competition at CWOSSA.

Grade 12 CDDHS student Elle Daly, who previously competed in long-distance running, is focused on shorter races this year, including the 400m and the 800m.

“This year I’m moving away from the long distance races and focusing on the 400m and 800m,” Elle said. “I’m still going to do the steeple chase. The 800 is more of a sprint and it’s all about who can hold their sprint the longest. It’s two laps around the track and you just have to have that drive and not give up.”

Athletes have started indoor training to get in shape before moving to the outdoor track.

“We’ve already started doing indoor workouts to get our cardio up,” Elle explained. “All year round I’m doing hockey so my cardio is always up.”

Elle has been running since she was in elementary school.

CDDHS senior Trinity Newhook is competing in the javelin competition and is expected to do well this season.

When she started with the event there was only her and one other girl in the javelin event at Centre Dufferin. Trinity takes her sport seriously and also trains on her own. She uses a regular javelin and a shorter javelin for indoor training.

“Ms. Rankin (coach) really took us under her wing at the beginning. I have a javelin that I have at home. I’ve been waiting for the weather to get better. You can use a practice javelin which is shorter. With a javelin, it’s all about the weight so you can balance it on each end. You can still practice your form with the shorter javelin. It helps you with your technique and you can focus on your footing and your walk-up as you get ready to throw. That’s what we’re focusing on now.”

Grade 12 student Quinn Millsap is a high jumper who has competed through high school.

Quinn hopes he will achieve his best performance in the sport in his senior year.

“We started indoor practices two weeks ago in the gym,” Quinn said. “During training we work on a bunch of things from the approach to take off to the flight and the landing. With high jump, it’s very specific about how you’re going to jump and how you’re going to approach so you hit those same marks every single time. This is my senior year so I’m excited to see how many of my records I can beat, and see how far and how high I can jump this year. I’m always trying for a personal best and trying to do better than the last time.”

Centre Dufferin athletes are expecting a good showing at District 4/10 meets this year.