The Independent

Kole Chapman knew he had to “push as hard as I could” to win gold at the provincial track and field championships.

Saturday, he did.

The LCCVI Junior posted his personal best of 40.09 seconds in the 300M Junior Boys Hurdles heats to lead the pack and then placed first in the finals with a time of 40.33 seconds with less than a half second separating Chapman and the top four runners.

“This feels great,” Chapman said after taking the podium to claim gold. “I feel really good right now about all of the progress I’ve made throughout the year.”

Chapman said he’d been practising with his coaches Sara Krawetz and Ed Allen every night after school with memories of last year’s track season fresh in his mind. He didn’t not advance past SWOSAA as a novice last year.

In training, the teen says it has been “just hard work; working on my steps in between the hurdles, getting my trail tow down faster and driving through the hurdle.

“As I got better throughout the year, my coaches were telling me that I had a good chance. I started feeling I had a chance coming through the last few meets,” he said.

Chapman already had the drive to improve over his results last year, but finishing out of the medals in the 100M also drove him to gold.

“My sixth place in the 100 (hurdles) pushed me to get top three at least today.

“I knew I had to push – push through because I wasn’t sure how far everybody was behind me. So I had to push as hard as I could in my last race of the year.”

Meantime Hunter Campbell, who placed in junior discus last year, finished seventh this year.

“(It’s) not the outcome I wanted, but it’s been a good season. I’ve been making PBs (personal bests, making improvements. I was really consistent today which I like,” after throwing 49.94m Friday.

Campbell has appeared at four provincial championships, winning gold in his junior year. It was the same year he won silver at the National Championships.

“I’m very happy with how I’ve done throughout my high school career. I want to thank the Lord, my parents, my coaches. It’s been a great ride. Knowing this will be the last time I’ll be a Lancer really hurts. I love my school. I take pride being a Lancer.”

Meagan Munro also competed at the provincial championship, placing 12th in the Junior Women’s 80M hurdles with a time of 12.78s and 13th in the 300M Junior Women’s Hurdles with a time of 47.56 seconds.

Kinser Rivest of Lambton-Kent Composite School in Dresden placed 16th in the Junior Men’s Long Jump Saturday with a leap of 5.92m – that was just 40 centimetres off the winning leap.

And North Lambton’s Emma Smith did not start in her 800m Women’s Intellectual final Saturday.

• with files from Reporter Rob Ross