By RB Burton
The Haldimand Press
OTTAWA—Finishing fourth in an event with three awards is probably the worst thing that any competitor can imagine. After that, it would probably be finishing ninth in an event with eight athletes qualifying for a final. Unfortunately, the latter is what Hagersville’s Abby Martin experienced – twice – in her first OFSSA (Ontario Federation of Secondary School Athletics) Track and Field Championships.
Martin qualified for the showcase with two top-four placings at the West Region Championships in Cambridge on June 1-2. On June 8, opening day at OFSSA, Martin found herself as odd-man-out. Being assigned to the dreaded outside lane, she had to run blind for almost 75% of the race due to the staggered starting positions that offset the greater distance on the outside of the loop. Finishing third in the second heat, she was sitting on the cusp with a time of 1:01.10 until Meredith McCabe of Lisgar Secondary School in Ottawa posted a third-place time in the final heat of 1:00.91, knocking Martin out of the final by 19-hundredths of a second.
In the 800m Martin finished third in the second heat with the third-fastest time so far. The third heat, however, was a barn-burner as the first to fourth finishers had faster times, once again relegating Martin to ninth qualifier, this time by 75-hundredths of a second.
The only other Haldimand qualifier for this year’s OFSSA Championships was McKinnon Park’s Emma Rabbat in Junior girls triple jump.
Rabbat had a spectacular year in 2022, finishing second at the West Region meet in Sandwich with a 10.12m distance, behind Windsor jumper Kaiya Hlady who went to OFSSA with 11.08m. At the OFSSA meet, however, Hlady could do no better than 10.64m for fifth spot, while Rabbat had a banner day, jumping a Personal Record (PR) of 10.96m to capture gold.
Going into this year’s meet qualifying third with a best of 10.23m, Rabbat was behind Hlady (10.58m) and Hannah Vanhartingsvelft (10.70m). Local fans were hoping that lightning would strike twice, but it was not to be, as Rabbat could manage only 10.30m for tenth position.
While marking the end of the school track and field season, OFSSA Championships also marks the beginning of the summer season for club track and field.
Several local athletes will be competing at Mohawk Sports Park June 18 in the District B Legion Championships. In addition to local bragging rights, this meet is also used to select a District team to compete at the Ontario Legion Championships on July 7-8 in Brampton, which is used to select an Ontario team to travel to Sherbrooke, Quebec for the National Championships on August 11-13.
