Triumphant Trojan
Walters scampers to OFSAA steeplechase gold
Updated 2 days ago
HAMILTON — West Ferris Trojans distance runner Nick Walters
captured gold in the open boys’ 2,000-metre steeplechase Friday afternoon at the
Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations track-and-field championships
in Hamilton.
Walters, whose twin brother Matt claimed an eighth-place finish as well
Friday in the senior boys’ 1,500-m run, came on top in a nail-biting finish with
a time of six minutes and 0.24 seconds, more than three seconds faster than his
Northern Ontario record.
Daryl Smith of Windsor, who competed in the world juniors last year in the
Czech Republic, finished second in 6:00.93 and Jacob Smith of Brockville was
third in 6:01.33, 10 milliseconds faster than fourth-place finisher Anthony
Berkis of Oshawa.
It was a stark turnaround for Walters, who fell twice during his preliminary
heat Thursday.
“We heard from a number of coaches that it was the smartest race they'ed ever
seen,” Trojans track coach Jonathan Pratt said in an e-mail late Friday. “What
an accomplishment for Nick who’s been injured for a number of seasons and even
developed mono last year.”
The provincial gold is the first OFSAA medal for Walters in his final year of
high school competition. He entered the race at a hot and muggy Mohawk Sports
Complex seeded third in Ontario with a preliminary time of 6:12.62 seconds.
Daryl Smith was ranked first with a time of 5:57.23 and Jacob Smith second
with a time of 6:08.09.
As well Friday, five other Nipissing District Association athletes cracked
the Top 10 at OFSAA to go along with a two Top-10 placings posted Thursday.
Sarah Swain of Chippewa was the only other NDA athlete to crack the Top 5 as
she finished 0.19 seconds out of the medals in the junior girls 80-m hurdles.
Swain placed fourth with a time of 12.25-seconds in a final heat that
produced an OFSAA-record time of 11.88 s by Ashlea Maddex of Rockland.
Two locals cracked the Top 10 in the senior girls’ pole vault as Samantha
McParland of Chippewa and Lucia Demarco of St. Joseph-Scollard Hall finished in
a five-way tie for sixth with a height of 2.55 m.
Matt Walters finished eighth in the 1,500-m run with a time of
4:05.37 after posting the fifth-best qualifying time in Thursday’s preliminaries
(4:00.71). However, the temperature in Hamilton Friday hit 31 C compared to
Thursday’s high of 21.9 C.
Also finishing in the Top 10 Friday was Patrick Laferriere with a seventh in
the senior men’s high jump (height was not available).
Thursday, Jeremy Poeta of St. Joseph-Scollard Hall missed out on the midget
boys’ 400-m final by 0.19 s after posting the 10th-best time of preliminaries in
54.18 s — nearly a full second faster than the retired NDA record of 55.10 s.
Also, Fergie Dowdall Trophy-winner Alisha Perron of Algonquin finished eighth
in her specialty, the senior girls’ discus, with a distance of 34.14
m.