Recent NewsCoyotes compete at MTA Ontario Outdoor Provincial Championships July 29/30, 2023
Photo: Kate Earle (#272) of the Georgian Bay Coyotes gets off to a quick start in her heat of the Senior Girls 800m at the MTA Provincial Championships. Both Kate & Lydia Menard (#287) set new personal best times in both of their races.
It has been a long season for the Georgian Bay Coyotes Track Club, but on the weekend of July 29/30 they travelled to Brampton for the MTA Provincial Championship meet. Despite training through all types of weather throughout the year, no one had expected that at the end of July the team would be competing in torrential rain, high winds and unseasonably cool weather.
Saturday morning started off with the 1200m and 1500m races. After a delay of more than an hour before the first race of the day, the meet organizers decided they would proceed with the meet despite the weather. The soaking wet and cold athletes were not showing peak performances and very few of the runners for any team ran personal best times. In the first race of the day, Avery McPhatter was the lone Coyote runner to set a new personal best time finishing 11th overall in the Tyke girls 1200m. It took a few more races but things started to look up for the Coyote members after the senior girls took to the track for their 1500m race. In her heat, Kate Earle managed to finish well ahead of the others and knocked 15 seconds off her previous personal best time finishing 11th overall. Lydia Menard battled hard throughout her race to knock an amazing 22 seconds off her previous best time, finishing 18th. In the senior boys 1500m race Emmett Leary wanted to test his training by going into the race unseeded, which meant he was in the first and slowest heat for the race. Similar to many other athletes he started off well but with the heavy rain and strong winds he started to fade midway through the race. He easily cruised through the line ahead of other competitors in his heat but with all the fastest runners still to come he had to wait to see how well the others did. When all was said and done Emmett took 2nd place and the silver medal. In the intermediate girls and boys 1500m Vani Mahajan and Ethan Mei also ran well in comparison to their competitors. Neither ran personal best times, but both ran strong races. Vani placed 3rd overall taking the bronze medal and Ethan ran a very smart race tailing the leader for a while before aggressively passing and holding onto his lead right through the finish and winning the gold medal. This is Ethan’s first MTA Provincial championship title. On Saturday afternoon the weather started to improve slightly with the rain ceasing but the winds getting stronger. The Coyotes had 9 athletes competing in the 400m sprints. In the Mite girls race Madeline Armstrong missed her personal best time by less than a 10th of a second and won the bronze medal with Adelaide Kulakowsky setting a new personal best time and finishing less than a second behind in 4th. Her sister Ella Kulakowsky also had a strong race knocking almost 3 seconds off her personal best, finishing in 9th and narrowly missing a ribbon which went to 8th place. After a night of rest and recovery, Sunday morning brought sunshine and warmer temperatures and the runners gladly welcomed it. The first event of the day for the Coyotes was the 800m races. In the very first race Madeline Armstrong ran a strong race and somehow managed to have two finishing kicks as the announcer mistakenly told the crowd to cheer for the athletes as they came down the back stretch causing the athletes to push hard toward the finish line in their first of two laps. She held on strong for the final lap and in the process knocked 8 seconds off her previous personal best. The personal bests kept coming with Nyla Dubeau knocking 18 seconds off her previous best time in the Tyke girls 800m to win her 2nd bronze medal of the meet. Each and every Atom aged Coyote set a new best time with Jacob Martindill finishing 5th in the boys 800m. In the Senior and Intermediate 800m races most of the Coyotes continued to set new personal best times with Isabel Spence and Emmett Leary finishing 8th and 5th respectively in the Senior category and Vani Mahajan and Ethan Mei finishing 5th and 4th in the Intermediate category. Of the 12 Coyotes who ran in the Atom through Intermediate categories 10 of them set new best times in a season that has been full of racing. To finish off the Provincial Championships with a bang, the Coyotes entered the race medley for the first time. As a team that does not train sprinters it’s often tough to compete in relays, but with no expectations it was a fun way to finish the season. The Tyke girls 200m-100m-100m-400m race medley was first with the Coyotes taking 3rd place. Since the Coyotes did not have enough runners in any other age group some athletes decided to move up age groups in order to form a team. In the Intermediate boys 400m-200m-200m-800m race medley three Coyotes moved up an age group including Nathan Leary who moved up two age groups to form their team. With Emmett Leary running the first 400m, River Jones taking the first 200m leg and Nathan Leary taking the second 200m leg, the team managed to hold strong the entire time and were in third place with one runner to go. Ethan Mei took the baton and immediately started closing the gap on the two runners in front. At one point it looked like the Coyote team might pull off an upset but narrowly missed, crossing the line in 2nd place. In the final race of the day three Senior girls moved up an age group to form an Intermediate team but were out-powered by the specialized sprinting clubs. The team of Kate Earle, Lydia Menard, Vani Mahajan and Isabel Spence managed to have some fun, get a few laughs and get some time to bond over their 6th place finish. All in all in was a great season for the Coyote track club and they look forward to the upcoming Cross Country season. For full results or information about the club please visit their website at www.georgianbaycoyotes.com 
Three Coyotes shine at International Youth Track & Field Championships - July 14-16, 2023
Photo: Emmett Leary, Ethan Mei, & Isabel Spence of the Georgian Bay Coyotes Track Club traveled to Landover Maryland to compete at the 2023 International Youth Track & Field Championships.
After a two year hiatus forced by the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Youth Track and Field Championships roared back to life in 2022 as a global event for tomorrow's champions. In 2023, Landover Maryland again welcomed the world to the most exciting and competitive youth track and field championship on earth. With more than 2,000 athletes registered to compete over the three days of competition, from July 14-16, this year’s International Youth Track and Field Championships (IYC) saw the biggest contingent of athletes in the meets history and the roster included athletes from more than 350 teams hailing from more than 25 US States, Canada, Bermuda, the Bahamas and Kenya.
In order for athletes to be eligible to compete at the IYC they had to meet one of two criteria set out by the organizing committee; they needed to place top-8 in any of the dozen or so qualification meets held across the USA throughout the months of May, June and July, or they had to meet the very difficult qualification standard for their events. This meant that athletes outside the USA needed to qualify by hitting the qualification standards. For the first time in club history, the Georgian Bay Coyotes Track club sent three athletes to compete at the IYC. Ethan Mei and Emmett Leary, as part of the Minor Track Association’s 40 member Team Ontario, and Isabel Spence as a member of the Georgian Bay Coyote Track club. On the first day of competition the meet organizers were overwhelmed by the number of participating athletes and quickly fell behind schedule. The first event on the track was the 200m sprint preliminary heats which was scheduled at 8:00am on Friday morning and listed to take only 45 minutes to complete, with the 3000m scheduled for 8:45am. With 73 heats of sprinters in the 200m, the IYC quickly found themselves almost three hours behind schedule after the first event of the day. That meant that two of the Coyote runners, Isabel Spence and Emmett Leary found themselves preparing to run the longest distance event of the track meet at close to 11:30am when the sun was up and temperatures had climbed to almost 35°C at its afternoon peak. In an effort to save some time organizers decided to combine heats of the 3000m so the athletes found themselves on the starting line with more competitors than initially expected which also made for more interesting racing as the fastest seeded athletes were looking to be able to catch up to and lap some of the other competitors. Isabel Spence was first up on the track for the Coyotes in the girls U14 3000m race. With less experience racing in the 3000m, Isabel was nervous heading to the start line. She was unsure about how fast she should start the race as 7 ½ laps of the 400m track can be tricky to pace just right. With some words of advice and encouragement from her coaches she was able to get off to a great start when the gun fired. With her coach on the sideline calling her lap splits she was able to settle into a good fast pace and looked comfortable through the first 2,000m of the race. With less than 1,000m to go, her closest rival was able to start picking up the pace a bit while the heat of the day started to wear on Isabel and her pace faded slightly. She managed to cross the finish line strong in 2nd place winning her first International medal and bringing home the first International medal for a Coyote in eight years. Next up on the track was the boys U14 3000m. Emmett Leary, who was competing as part of team Ontario was not originally slated to run in this race, but the team decided to move him up to this race from the 800m as Emmett has proven himself to be one of Ontario’s top longer middle-distance runners at recent competitions. Emmett came into the race with the third fastest time but was determined that, despite the heat of the day, he could knock some time off his previous personal best. At the sound of the gun the racers went out fast and hard with Emmett finding himself behind in the race early. He managed to stay calm and run his own race and slowly chipped away at the lead over the first 500m of the race. Emmett managed to stay on pace for the duration of the 3,000m with his coach yelling his lap splits each 400m and he continued to increase his lead with each lap. Emmett crossed the finish line in first place winning the gold medal and his first international medal in an amazing time of 9:31.30. Not only was Emmett’s time fast enough to set a new championship meet record but it was also fast enough to set a new MTA Ontario Provincial record, breaking the old record of 9:34.80 which has stood since 1997. This is Emmett’s third age-group Ontario Provincial record having set the U14 2,000m record the previous year. With the sun blazing hot in mid-afternoon on Friday, Ethan Mei took to the track for his first race of the competition; the 4x800m boys U16 relay. This team consisted of members of the Ontario team that MTA put together but unfortunately also included one runner who had competed in the 3,000m a few hours before and was now nursing a sore knee. The team got out to a fast start on the relay but because the team had not practiced baton hand-offs they were a bit sloppy on the transitions between runners. Each of the four athletes gave it their all, with Ethan running the lead leg in an amazing time and after all racers had crossed the finish line managed to claim the silver medals for the team. Next up on the track for the Coyote runners, was the individual 800m races. Isabel Spence in the girls U14 category has had some amazing races this summer. She came into this race with a seed time fast enough to put her into the fastest heat, but with 11 runners with faster times she was in for some tough competition in her race. As is always the case with athletics, all you can do is get onto the track and give everything you’ve got on that day. After a long day in the hot sun, racers where a bit worn down. Isabel ran a smart race by not going out too fast and then gradually passing some of the other runners over the course of the two lap race. She just missed getting a new personal best time by 2 tenths of a second, but with the heat and humidity of the day many of the other runners suffered the same fate and when the times from each heat where combined Isabel finished 7th overall. With medals to 8th place at this championship meet, she was able to claim her second medal of the day. In the boys U16 category Ethan Mei stepped to the line amongst a very strong group of boys. He also came in with a seed time fast enough to place him into the fastest heat, but with little time to recover after the relay, he did not quite have the energy to repeat what he had done in the first leg of the relay. On the first of the two lap race, Ethan looked comfortable but faded a bit on the second lap. Ethan still managed to run a new personal best time for the 800m and was 13th overall. After a day of rest with other track events occurring on Saturday, all three Coyotes were back on the track on Sunday morning for the 1500m races. With events having been delayed from previous days due to thunderstorms and rain, the middle-distance athletes again found themselves stepping onto the track after the sun was high in the sky and temperatures rising into the high 20’s by the start of the 1500m races. First up on the track was Isabel Spence in the girls U14 category. She again looked strong and let her training guide her as she ran evenly and consistently throughout the race after a fast start from many of the competitors. Over the course of the 3 ¾ laps she managed to catch and pass numerous other racers and crossed the line in 7th place, claiming her third medal of the championship meet. Emmett, fresh off his 3000m victory on Friday, was excited and ready for his U14 race. He admitted that his hard run a couple days before had left him stiff and sore, but he was confident that he could have another great race. When the gun sounded, his heat of boys sprinted out fast and hard with Emmett getting boxed in early in the race. Uncharacteristically for Emmett, he became impatient even though the race had only just begun. He exerted a lot of energy breaking free from the pack instead of being patient and waiting for a good opportunity to move up. After the first lap of the race, Emmett had placed himself into the lead with a pack of three others closely tailing him. He managed to hold the lead for most of the race but with approximately 150m remaining, the three boys who were sticking with Emmett started their kick. Due to his faster than usual start, Emmett found himself fighting to keep pace with the others. He managed to hold onto third place, earning the bronze medal as he crossed the line. He managed to hold off his team Ontario teammate, Pathuman from Burlington who finished fourth, and he also narrowly missed a new personal best time. In the boys U16 race Ethan Mei was prepped and ready for his 1500m race which was shortly thereafter. Ethan has been training well all season and had already run several new personal best times this season so was ready to put his training to the test once more. Ethan ran a smart race and was consistent throughout the entire race managing to run evenly throughout the duration of the entire 1500m. In the final few laps as his competitors started to fade, Ethan managed to make a few clean passes and moved himself into 6th position, but in the final push to the finish an athlete from Virginia, whom Ethan had just passed, managed to outsprint him to the finish. Ethan captured a well-earned 7th position, earning him his second medal of the meet. After three days of competition in the blazing sun and heat, the three members of the Georgian Bay Coyotes Track Club, who all live and train in Meaford, managed to compete with the best in the world and came away with 7 medals in their combined 8 events; one Gold, two Silver, one Bronze and three 7th place medals. It was an amazing few days of competition, and one that will hold many memories and even a few souvenirs for the athletes. The coaches and team are so pleased to see that their hard work, dedication and determination has shown on the track and hope the community will continue to support these athletes and their teammates as they continue to grow and improve. 
Coyotes raise fund for Meaford Hospital Foundation at the Annual Meaford Harbour Run/Walk - July 8, 2023
Photo: Maelle Edwards and a wall of Coyotes race toward the finish during the kids 1km run at the 26th Annual Meaford Harbour Run/Walk in support of the Meaford Hospital.
The 26th annual Meaford Harbour 5km Run/Walk was held on Saturday July 8, 2023 and the Coyotes were out making their presence known and supporting the Meaford Hospital Foundation. Approximately half the team was in attendance for the kids 12 and under 1km run, the 5km run, or both.
In the kids 1km race Maelle Edwards was comfortably in the lead with a wall of Coyotes, McKenna, Chloe, Jacob, Nathan & Ben, behind her "protecting" her lead from the onslaught of all the other Coyotes who were giving chase. The 2nd pack of runners included Jack, Alex, Avery, Miller, Oleg and some random kid wearing blue who managed to pull off the almost impossible and be the only Non-Coyote athlete to crack the top 12 finishers. Participants were treated with medals, popsicles courtesy of BrokerLink insurance and gift certificates for Ice Cream courtesy of PomPoms. In the 5km race, I'm not entirely sure what happened because I was so far behind most of the team I didn't see anything! Of the Coyote youth athletes who participated 17 of them managed to get new or first-time personal best times in the 5km run, with a couple of them still running amazing times despite their coach making them do a workout in the middle of the race....to which I hear they got a lot of weird looks...Sorry guys. Awards to note for this year's race included Lydia Menard who won the women's U12 category, Bryson Cleland who won the men's U12 category, Vani Mahajan who won the women's 13-19 age category and Ethan Milne-Pearson who won the men's 13-19 age category. Also of note Coach Jack missed winning the Women's 40-49 category by 6 seconds and would have run faster if she knew the person in front of her was the leader in her category and they had Timmy's gift cards as prizes instead of medals. Congratulations to the whole team for putting in such a great effort and for raising almost $1,900 for the Hospital Foundation to purchase new cataract equipment. One more shout-out to Avery McPhatter for being the team's biggest fundraiser having raised more than $525 as part of the Coyote team. So proud of you all. 
Two Coyote Runners Selected to Compete For Team Ontario - Jun 28, 2023
Photo: Emmett Leary and Ethan Mei, of the Georgian Bay Coyotes Track Club, are among the 40 athletes selected from across Ontario to compete at the International Youth Track & Field Championships in Maryland USA from July 14-16, 2023
The Georgian Bay Coyotes Track club, which has been training young athletes in Meaford since 2010, has always taken pride in being able to provide local youth with opportunities to learn and compete and succeed in athletics. One of the club’s guiding principles is that through consistency, dedication and hard work everyone can grow and improve in the sport of athletics. Even if you live in a small town, such as Meaford, with a lot of hard work you can still compete against the best in the world.
Recently, members of the Georgian Bay Coyotes team traveled to Brampton to participate in a team Ontario selection meet. The Minor Track Association of Ontario (MTA) will be taking 40 athletes ages 11-17 to compete at the International Youth Track & Field Championships in Landover Maryland, USA. The MTA consists of almost 3,000 athletes who train and compete in athletics and are among the best in the Province in their disciplines. It was a long wait for some of the Coyote athletes but on June 28 the team Ontario roster was released which included two Meaford residents who are long time members of the Georgian Bay Coyotes Track Club; Emmett Leary and Ethan Mei. Emmett Leary is one of the most seasoned Coyotes athletes having been part of the team since 2016 when he joined at the age of 7. He is now in his eighth year with the club having been part of the very small group that trained throughout the Covid-19 pandemic despite portions of it being virtual training. Over the years Emmett has earned 15 Ontario Provincial championship medals and has held two Ontario middle-distance age category running records as well. He is looking forward to his first International Championships competition in a few weeks’ time and will compete in the boys U14 age category in the 800m and 1500m races. Ethan Mei is also one of the Georgian Bay Coyotes most seasoned athletes having also joined the club in 2016 at the age of 8. He is now in his eighth year with the club and was also part of the team that almost disappeared during the Covid-19 pandemic. Ethan has always taken his performance in running seriously and is really coming into his stride lately as he is dedicating more time to his craft and it is certainly showing. Ethan also has numerous Ontario Provincial Championship medals from the past few years and will also be participating in his first International competition in the boys U16 age category in the 800m and 1500m races. As is often the case with Athletics, there are several channels in which an athlete can be accepted to compete at a championship meet. In World Athletics, athletes are most formally chosen as they are the winners of qualifying competitions but in many cases athletes can also be permitted to compete if they have met the qualifying times for their races. This is actually the more difficult route for an athlete to go as the qualifying times are set with incredibly difficult standards in order to prevent an influx of athletes from competing. As this is the case, the Georgian Bay Coyotes, is pleased to announce that one additional Meaford athlete will be competing at the International Youth Track & Field Championships. Over the past year of competition, Isabel Spence has met the qualifying times and performance standards to compete as an open class athlete and as such will compete as a member of the Coyotes. Isabel joined the Coyotes in early 2022 and has quickly become one of the leaders among the team. Her work ethic and dedication to the sport of athletics has seen her quickly emerge as the top middle distance runner, for her age, in the Grey Bruce area having won her first Provincial championship medal in March of this year and also recently claiming gold in each and every middle-distance race at the Bluewater District School Board track and field meet. She will compete in the girls U14 category in the 800m, 1500m & 3000m races. It is with great pride that the Georgian Bay Coyotes wish these three athletes the best as they compete in their first international competition. Coyotes compete at MTA Team Ontario Selection meet - Jun 24, 2023
Photo: Members of the Georgian Bay Coyote track team enjoy a little team bonding during the lunch break at the Minor Track Association Team Ontario Selection Track & Field Meet in Brampton on June 24.
On Saturday June 24, 2023 the Georgian Bay Coyotes Track Club sent 22 athletes to Brampton for the Minor Track Association’s (MTA) Team Ontario Selection and prep meet. The Minor Track Association will be selecting 40 athletes from across all Track and Field disciplines, sprints, distance running and jumps, to compete as part of Team Ontario at the International Youth Track and Field Championships in Maryland, USA. Knowing that only 40 athletes would be selected from across Ontario the Coyotes Track club, from Meaford, was using this race as a preparation meet and to see how training has been going so far this season.
Going into this race, Coyotes head coach Steve Leary was keeping expectations realistic as the club is in its hardest training of the season and with school winding down the athletes are tired and not ready for peak performance. The Coyote athletes soon proved him wrong as one by one they stepped up to the starting line and started accumulating new personal best times. Of the 36 races in which they competed, 29 new personal best times were set and numerous Coyote athletes came away with medals and ribbons for their efforts. The day started off with light rain and cool temperatures which made for some comfortable running conditions and fast times on the track. First up were the longest races of the day, the 1200m race for Tyke U10 athletes and the 1500m race for the older athletes. Of the thirteen Coyote athletes who raced, eleven of them set new personal best times with the other two athletes missing their personal best times by less than a second and a half. In the very first race of the day, the Tyke girls 1200m race, the three Coyote athletes looked strong throughout the race with Miller Brodie taking 2nd place and Avery McPhatter claiming 3rd place; both winning their very first MTA medals. In the Atom girls (U12) race Chloe Burgess knocked an amazing 31 seconds off her previous personal best time from only a few month ago placing 6th overall. In the Senior girls (U14) race Isabel Spence, who has been steadily improving all year, knocked another 16 seconds off her time from May and narrowly missed the podium finishing in 4th. Other exceptional runs from the Coyote athletes included Jacob Martindill who took another 8 seconds off his previous personal best finishing 3rd in the Atom Boys (U12) 1500m. Emmett Leary shaved another 4 seconds off his personal best to win the senior boys (U14) 1500m and in the process also ran the fastest time by a grade 8 Coyote athlete in the team’s history. Ethan Mei performed very well as he knocked 11 seconds off his previous personal best to take 3rd in the Intermediate Boys (U16) 1500m. The Coyotes success on the track continued throughout the morning as all five of their athletes who competed in the 400m sprint set new personal best times with both Madeline Armstrong and Bennett Hustwitt winning silver in their Mite (U8) races. The final event in the morning was the Intermediate boys Long Jump. While the Georgian Bay Coyote team is exclusively a middle-distance track club, a few of the athletes have chosen to participate in jumping events without receiving formal training. Luke Jack was the lone Coyote participant in the long jump this weekend. He jumped well on a soggy day and placed 3rd in his U16 age category. At noon, while the athletes were enjoying their lunch break from the track, the weather took a dramatic turn. Blue skies rolled in and with it came high temperatures and even higher humidity. By the end of the break you could actually see steam rising off the rubberized track surface as the water quickly evaporated and left the athletes, coaches and spectators gasping for a good breath of air. As the afternoon sun was at its peak, the Coyote athletes took to the track again for the 800m races. Despite the heat and humidity, thirteen of the eighteen Coyote runners who competed in the 800m still managed to run new personal best times. While there were few huge improvements in time, there were a few stand-out performances. In the Mite girls 800m, Madeline Armstrong got off to a slow start on the first lap of the two lap race while her competitors were feeling out their speed and sizing each other up. After some encouragement from coaches she took off hard with 350m remaining in the race with several of the other runners breaking away to stay with her. With a blistering fast second lap she still managed to take 3 seconds off her previous personal best time and claimed her second silver medal of the day. Isabel Spence, who has been eyeing up a spot on the very select Ontario team also managed to have another great race, despite being in the slower heat and took another 9 seconds off her previous personal best. In the process, she ran the fourth fastest time recorded for a grade 8 Coyote athlete in the team’s 13 year history. Overall it was a great day of racing with the team winning 12 medals, claiming an additional 13 top-six place ribbons and a slew of new personal best times. The Team Ontario selection committee will be making a decision on who will be part of the team that travels to the USA by June 27th. We are hopeful that we will see a few Georgian Bay Coyote athletes named to this very select team. 
Coyotes spotted in Brampton - May 28, 2023
Photo: Newcomers to the Georgian Bay Coyotes Track Club Nyla Dubeau (239) and Sadie Dubeau (240) competed in their first outdoor track meet. Nyla was able to take home Bronze with Sadie close behind in 4th.
Under sunny skies, a sea of orange travelled to the Terry Fox Stadium in Brampton on May 28th, 2023. The largest team of Coyote runners in over five years, 37 racers in total, participated in the first prep meet of the outdoor season. Unbelievably, our small town of Meaford took the 5th largest team to the meet. All athletes racing were looking to improve the PB’s, personal best times, and a few went in hoping to move on to the next level of competition. This track meet was the Minor Track Association’s Team Ontario Meet Qualifier and it will be used by MTA to select 40 athletes to represent Ontario at the International Youth Track and Field Championships in Landover, Maryland, USA in July. Athletes who place in the top 16 positions in this qualifing meet will be allowed to participate in the final selection meet at the end of June.
Our Tyke runners began the day with the 1200m races. We had six Coyote girls in this first race of the day which made for a very orange waterfall start line. Three of the girls had never competed at a track race before and one newcomer, Nyla Dubeau crossed the line in third place. Following the Tykes, our older athletes had their first races of the day, the 1500m. We had numerous personal best times in this event. Of note was Atom boy, Jacob Martindill. He has had some training challenges this season, but his patience and perseverance shone as he started the race in the middle of the pack and kept up a strong pace throughout the race, finishing fifth overall. Isabel Spence ran an impressive race while calmly picking off her competitors one by one and crossing the line in fourth place. Emmett Leary kept the excitement going as he set his sights on catching the leader of the pack of Senior boys over the three and three-quarter lap race. He was able to make up some ground on his competitor, and enjoyed the thrill of the chase as he finished in second place. Next, one of our youngest runners in the club participated in the 100m races. Eleanor Cleland bravely competed in her very first race as a Coyote and her teammates excitedly cheered and celebrated as she confidently crossed the line in second place. Her running debut earned her a medal and a satisfied smile. To cap off the morning, we had thirteen runners participate in the 400m races. Again we saw some excellent personal best times from our runners. River Jones kept us on our toes as he put forth an excellent burst of speed to finish third in his heat, while taking home an impressive new personal best time of 1:02.21 in the Senior boys category. After a short lunch break, the action resumed with thirty-two of our athletes racing and putting their training to the test in the 800m race. What seemed to stand out most in these races were the number of athletes crushing their personal best times. Mite boys Bennett Hustwitt and Eli McPhatter both demonstrated excellent advances in their time. Runner McKenna Marshall shaved off an impressive 30 seconds from her previous personal best. Wes Brown also broke the illusive 3 minute mark for the first time in his running journey. Overall, it was a great day of racing with Coyotes setting new personal best times in 50 of the 68 races in which they participated. The team also came home with 10 medals, 28 top six finishes and most of the team qualifying for the Team Ontario selection meet to be held in June. 
Coyotes Compete at BAA - May 15, 2023
Photo: Four members of the Georgian Bay Coyotes Track Club, from left to right, Charlotte Woodhouse, Vani Mahajan, Wes Brown & Ethan Mei, competed at the BAA track and field meet in Kincardine on May 15, 2023
The road to OFSAA got underway this past Monday May 15, as several of our Coyote athletes travelled to the Davidson Centre in Kincardine for the opening meet of the high school track & field season. Athletes attempt to qualify through three increasing difficult meets which will lead them to OFSAA, the high school championships, on June 8-10. Next up is CWOSSA, in Brantford, on May 24/25.
Athletes advancing to CWOSSA include Coyotes Charlotte Woodhouse (High Jump & Triple Jump), Vani Mahajan (800m & 1500m) and Ethan Mei (800m & 1500m). While not advancing to the next round Wes Brown missed his personal best time in the 800m by 1/10 of a second. Good luck to all those competing next week. Coyotes Track Clean-up Day! - May 6, 2023
On Saturday May 6th, a large group of the Georgian Bay Coyotes and their families spent several hours doing a community clean up at the track on Aiken street. The track clean-up day has become an annual event for the club but this year the clean-up day was done in conjunction with the Meaford Rotary Club Baggie day where Meaford residents are encouraged to pick up garbage and help beautify the town. The entire track was weeded, edged and swept, as were the jump pits. The jump pits were tilled and refreshed with a new load of sand and are again ready to be used. Younger members of the club spent time picking up garbage throughout the athletic field and adjacent portion of the Georgian Trail, and the various start lines as well as the finish line of the track were given a fresh coat of paint. All this hard work left the track and field in great shape for the elementary students upcoming track and field meets. Many thanks go out to all of those who pitched in to help.
Coyotes Step up at the 2023 MTA Provincial Indoor Track & Field Championships - Apr 1/2, 2023
Photo: Senior members of the Georgian Bay Coyote Track club step onto the podium to show off their hardware after the 2000m races at the 2023 MTA Indoor Provincial Track & Field Championships.
The “indoor” Track and Field season came to an exciting end this weekend as 17 members from the Coyote track club travelled to the Toronto Track and Field Centre for the 2023 Indoor Provincial Championships. It has been a long season of training outdoors during inclement weather and our athletes worked hard on honing both their racing speed and their grit. With over 700 athletes from across the Province registered to compete this was the largest championship meet held in recent memory.
The weekend got off to a good start on Saturday morning, with four Coyotes competing in the 1200m races. All four athletes performed very well and came away with personal best times. Tyke girl, Alba Hargreaves fought hard and came away with a notable performance and a fourth-place finish. Immediately following the 1200m races, we got into the 1500m races where we had 9 athletes competing. In the Atom boys’ races, Richard Saunders started out hard and took the lead after the first turn and then settled into a very quick pace. He led his heat from start to finish and placed an impressive 4th overall. Our Senior boy, Emmett Leary also performed well and came away with a 3rd place finish. On Saturday afternoon, the Coyote Mite boys competed in the 400m race. It was a rough start to the afternoon as the clock was started too early when the starter tested his pistol for the first heat of the boys. As a result, Bennett Hustwitt and Eli McPhatter raced, not knowing what the time to beat, from the first race heat, was. Officials had to review the video footage following all the races in order to determine the final placements. To the Coyotes delight, Bennett Hustwitt came away with a gold medal and Eli McPhatter came away with a silver medal. After a night of fun in the pool and relaxation, the Coyotes came back to the track on Sunday, hungry for some more personal bests. All our athletes were signed up to run in the 800m race. The Mite boys put on another great show to start the day as Bennett Hustwitt took a silver medal and Eli McPhatter took a bronze medal. Following them, Tyke girls Avery McPhatter and Breanna Hustwitt paced themselves very well, and both walked off the track with new personal best times. Breanna knocked a whopping 22 seconds off the time she set in February! Our Tyke boy, Caleb Cleland worked hard to stay in the middle of the pack, and he finished strong, placing 8th. Chloe Burgess, one of our Atom girls, had a great day of racing, taking second in her heat and pushing herself to a new personal best by over 6 seconds. In the Atom boys’ race, Jacob Martindill, Richard Saunders and Nathan Leary all put forth solid performances, all taking home new personal bests and finishing 7th, 8th and 9th. In the Senior boys’ races, there were some new faces and speeds being seen. Coyote Emmett Leary went out hard and stuck to his pace, chasing after a new runner from New Zealand who narrowly missed the Provincial record which was set by Kevin Sullivan 35 years ago in 1988. Emmett came away with a new personal best and another bronze medal for his efforts. Intermediate boy, Ethan Mei also ran a new personal best time and came away with a bronze medal. Some of the Coyotes stuck around to compete in the 2000m race, a race that hasn’t been offered in over 5 years, primarily due to Covid. The lone Coyote Senior girl, Isabel Spence, started out hard and then maintained a very strong pace, finishing 3rd and winning her first Provincial medal, while out pacing 3 of our 4 Senior boys. We had four Coyote boys running in the Senior race and it was great to see them working together as a team. All four boys took home personal best times with Emmett Leary winning the gold medal. Emmett had his sights set on the Provincial record, and though he missed this target by a few seconds, he knocked 19 seconds off his previous best time and now owns the 2nd fastest recorded 2000m time in Ontario Minor Track history, and the fastest time since 2012. Newcomer to the team, River Jones, displayed a big finishing kick to pass his teammate Bryson Cleland. They finished 4th and 5th respectively. Nathan Leary, who had gone up an age category in order to get to race this distance, finished strong in 6th place. In all, the Coyote team had strong performances all weekend. Of the 36 events in which the Coyote athletes competed this weekend, they set new personal best times in 28 of those races along with an amazing 10 Provincial championship medals, plenty of top eight finishes and many priceless memories. Congratulations to all those who participated. The team is now on a two week break and will resume training for the outdoor track season starting on Tuesday April 18th. 
Coyotes take on the Mississauga Olympians - Feb 19, 2023
Photo: Bennett Hustwitt of the Georgian Bay Coyotes gets off to a quick start in the Mite Boys 400m sprint at the Mississauga Olympians Track Meet this past Sunday Feb 19.
This family day long weekend brought us some much anticipated sunshine and an extra day to enjoy watching our kids compete in sporting events. Parents and families of the Coyote track team traveled to the Toronto Track and Field Centre (TTFC) to see their kids participate in a full day of racing at the Minor Track Association U18 track meet on Sunday February 19th. The club sent 19 athletes to compete in the MTA meet that was host to 530 registered athletes from across Ontario.
Despite having to wake up well before the crack of dawn to arrive in Toronto for the first events of the day, the Coyotes, in now typical fashion, emerged strong. In the very first event of the day, Coyotes Alba Hargreaves and Breanna Hustwitt both set new personal best times in the Tyke girls 1200m race finishing 4th and 5th respectively, with Alba just missing the podium after a strong kick to the finish. Over the next hour nine additional Coyotes stepped to the starting line in the 1500m race with six of the Coyote athletes setting new personal best times. Of note, Nathan Leary shaved 8 seconds off his previous personal best time in the Atom Boys race to finish 5th, while in the Senior girls 1500m race Kate Earle took an amazing 15 seconds off her previous best time to finish 12th. The Senior, Intermediate and Youth categories were combined this weekend as the older categories had very few athletes registered. In the boys heats, they grouped the slower Senior runners, age 13 and 14, with the Intermediate runners, age 15 and 16. This made for a bit of a strange combination, though it certainly created some excitement. Coyote runner Ethan Mei was the top seeded Intermediate boy coming into the race and he ran a solid race, leading the pack by quite a margin and taking Gold in his category. The second heat of this mixed event held the top seeded Senior boys, age 13 and 14, and the Youth boys, age 17 and 18. The Coyote’s Senior boy, Emmett Leary and a Youth runner from the Gazelle’s club made a quick getaway as the starter fired his gun, making it clear to the rest of the pack that they were taking control of the race. Emmett managed to draft the much older runner for most of the race finally making his move with about 400m remaining in the race. It was a tight finish, but Emmett managed to dip at the finish line to win the Senior Boys 1500m, knocking 11 seconds off his previous personal best and clocking the best time amongst the three divisions. The next event of the day featured our younger athletes as it was a shorter distance race, the 400m. Quite a few of the runners competing in this category were first time racers and they enjoyed testing out the rubberized and banked indoor track. Mite girl, Madeline Armstrong put forth an excellent effort and finished first in her heat and third overall to take the bronze medal while Mite boy, Bennett Hustwitt ran a solid race, placing first and taking the gold medal in the boys division. The Coyotes were able to enjoy a lunch break with some fun and games before having to get back to business for their last event of the day, the 800m race. After getting their feet wet in the morning, many of the newer runners and even some of the veterans were showing that their experience racing was paying off. Many of the runners demonstrated a more controlled start and calculated racing strategy. This certainly was the case for Coyote Ella Kulakowsky who played it smart and saved enough for a beautiful finishing kick that placed her first in the Atom girls race. The Coyote success continued as Isabel Spence won her heat in the Senior girls 800m finishing 8th overall while Emmett Leary & Ethan Mei both won their races to claim their second gold medals of the day. The team finished the day with some sweat, tears and even some blood being shed, but teammates rallied around each other with encouragement and determination. Overall the team took home 12 medals, 24 top six finishes and 24 new personal best times in the 36 events in which they competed. Congratulations to all who participated. Full results: 
Coyotes Golden in Toronto - January 21, 2023
Photo: members of the Georgian Bay Coyotes Track Club pose for pictures between races at the Flying Angels Ontario Showcase Track & Field meet held at the Toronto Track and Field Centre.
Another year is upon us, and the Georgian Bay Coyotes Track Club is looking to make 2023 another great year of training and racing for our community’s youth. With the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been receiving, the Coyotes have been taking full advantage of the clear roads and sidewalks to do some of their hardest winter workouts, such as running hill repeats, without the fear of slips and falls.
Despite being in the hardest part of their winter training and having tired legs, a small number of the Coyote athletes decided to put their training to the test as 10 athletes travelled to the Toronto Track and Field Centre to compete against some of the Provinces best in the first Track & Field meet of the year. The expectations for this track meet were to simply have some fun in the middle of a long winter training block, gain some experience, and allow the coaches to see how well the training has been going so far this season. Coach Steve wanted to emphasize some fun for the runners, so he brought along a new team mascot, the Wile-E-Coyote with custom fitted team jersey. The mascot was tossed about in games of tag as the runners awaited their afternoon races. In the very first race of the day, Coyote Bennett Hustwitt got off to a fast start and faded a bit in the final stretch but still cruised to a first place finish in the boys U9 400m. In the girls U11 400m, Breanna Hustwitt had some fierce competition and finished 8th overall, knocking 6 seconds off her previous personal best (PB) time in the 400m. In their second race of the day, both Hustwitts ended up being placed in the same heat which made for some fun jockeying for position on the line. Both raced well and Bennett won himself a second gold medal. Caleb Cleland was the only Coyote participating in the 1200m races and he finished with a 3 second PB in the boys U11 race, and brought home another gold medal for the team. Following the 1200m races, Chloe Burgess competed in her first indoor meet, the 1500m race. She stayed calm and cool, smashing her PB by 9 seconds. Jacob Martindill, Nathan Leary and Richard Saunders took part in both the U13 boys 1500m and the 800m races and found that they were excellent competition for each other as they traded positions and tried to out sprint each other. In their 800m race, Jacob Martindill looked calm and strong as he crossed the finish line knocking an amazing 9 seconds of his previous PB. Richard and Nathan were not far behind, with Nathan lunging forward to cross the finish line and claiming 6th place ahead of Richard in 7th by 1/10th of a second. The seniors of the team looked confident and strong in all of their races. Isabel Spence put forth a very controlled performance in her 800m race and she finished second in her heat earning herself a new PB. Bryson Cleland took part in the 800m race and had Coach Steve coaxing him to push himself earlier than usual and he earned himself a new PB. Emmett Leary demonstrated great control in both of his 1500m and 800m races and he placed first in both. The 1500m race was quite interesting as the officials didn’t acknowledge that Emmett and another racer from Etobicoke had finished their 1500m race a full lap ahead of many, so both jumped back on the track and did an additional 200m at a blistering pace. After reviewing the footage, all was corrected, though many of the athletes left the track unhappy about not having the bell lap signaled appropriately, as many didn’t put forth a finishing kick. All in all, it was a great day or racing. Our Coyote athletes managed to take home many lessons along with 5 gold medals, lots of ribbons and 15 new PB’s of the 19 events in which they participated. 
For additional race results please click the link more.... Archives on our website.
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