Cochrane High School’s Cobradome will have to make room for another banner, as the track and field team won the 3A provincials championship in Edmonton, June 3-4.
The team’s 34 athletes combined for 259 points, 30 more than second-place Cold Lake and 47.5 more than the third-place Springbank Phoenix. The Bow Valley Bobcats sent five athletes and earned 71 points, good for 21st in the 3A classification.
Grade 10 student Kayla Rietze led the Cobras, as she earned a silver medal in the junior girls’ 400-metre and a bronze in the junior girls’ 800-metre. She also won bronze, alongside Erin Greeves, Kristen McNab and Lauren Fredrich, in the junior girls’ 4X100-metre relay.
Cochrane’s fourth medal was Grade 10 student Dean Cheadle’s bronze in the junior boys discus throw.
Cobra track and field head coach Esther Sieben hailed the individual efforts, but was quick to point out the team’s depth and the contributions from all 34 members who qualified for provincials.
“Track and field is largely based on individual sports, but it comes down to a total team concept,” she said. “We didn’t have anybody place 15th or 16th; it was all top eight, which says a lot about the team aspect. It really was full team effort and the camaraderie was something I haven’t seen in awhile.”
Cochrane’s 259 points was the fifth-highest overall point total, including all of the 4A schools.
The scoring system used in the Alberta Schools’ Athletics Association awards 16 points for first place, 15 for second, 14 for third and so on.
For the Cobra athletes, placing in the top eight was a instrumental in claiming the team championship. Sieben said the team started training together in mid-March and had an unprecedented work ethic.
Cochrane could have sent even more athletes to provincials, but had to face a tough contingent from Springbank during the Zone qualification meet.
“We could have had an even bigger team, but we had to compete hard against Springbank just to get out of Zones, which shows how strong the South Central Zone is,” Sieben said.
“The coaches and the athletes were all dedicated. We wanted that banner and it shows that work ethic pays off. It also says a lot about Cochrane High School. We also had a young team, with the medals coming from the junior Grade 10 athletes, alongside the effort from the older athletes. We’re definitely starting to a build a tradition here and we’re going to have a good group for the next couple of years as well.”
