After having recovered from a broken arm she received in track-and-field practice last year, a Kamsack Comprehensive Institute student returned home from a provincial meet with two gold medals and had nearly the same results as athletes in two other competitions.
Petrie Whitehawk, a KCI Grade 7 student, attended the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Indoor Track-and-Field Championships in Saskatoon March 2 and 3.
鈥淭his was Petrie鈥檚 first time in competition since May 2017,鈥� said Chantel Kitchen, her coach. 鈥淚n May, Petrie experienced a severe break in her arm while practicing high jump, resulting in surgery, a cast and many months of recovery and physiotherapy.
鈥淚n January, Petrie was able to start training again for track and field,鈥� Kitchen said. On March 2, she competed in the 200m race, which was a timed final that had two heats. She won her heat, and had the fastest time overall of 31.71 seconds, earning herself a gold medal.鈥�
In the event, which had seven competitors, Josie LaFramboise placed second with 33.32 seconds, and Yannabah Whitehorse, third at 33.54 seconds.
The next morning, Whitehawk鈥檚 first event was the high jump.
鈥淪he had only practiced this event a handful of times since her injury and was nervous about it,鈥� Kitchen said. 鈥淗owever, she jumped well and overcame her fears. Her highest jump was 1.25m, which is 10cm shy of her PB (personal best) jump, but was equivalent to the same height as the top five competitors at this competition.
Although the top five girls all jumped the same height, placing was based on the number of misses when breaking ties, resulting in a fifth-place finish for Whitehawk.
The other four jumpers in the field of 12 competitors, all of whom were at 1.25 m, were: 聽Sistene Yuzicappi, Shaelyn Whitefish, Tara Thomas and Marie Ballantyne.
Also on Saturday, Whitehawk competed in the long jump event, in which she placed fourth out of 14 athletes with a jump of 3.52m, which was only one centimeter off of the bronze medal.
The top three competitors were: Marie Ballantyne at 3.90m; Sistene Yuzicappi, 3.61 and Brinn Cote, 3.53m.
Also on Saturday morning Whitehawke ran in the 60m heats.
鈥淎fter the preliminaries, Petrie was ranked second going into the final race,鈥� Kitchen said. 鈥淭he final race was a close one, and it resulted in a tie for the gold medal at 9.40 seconds. Petrie shared the podium with her cousin, Brin Cote. Due to the tie for gold, no silver medal was awarded.
Five runners competed in the race, and placing third was Josie LaFramboise.
鈥淭his year Petrie has moved up an age category, competing in the midget category,鈥� Kitchen said. 鈥淭his put her at the younger end of the age group. Considering her injury and that she is a year younger than many of the athletes she is competing with, she showed that she has come back as strong as ever from her injury and continues to show talent and promise in the sport of track and field.鈥�
Whitehawk is to compete again on March 17 and 18 in Saskatoon at the Kinsmen Indoor Championships.
