John Wright/The Independent

Rayah Mnten has given LCCVI its first medal at the OFSAA Track and Field Championships winning silver in Novice Girls shot put Thursday afternoon in St. Catharines.

Minten’s first throw of 10.44 meters was her best during the qualification round. That put her seventh and narrowly put her into the final, which consisted of the top eight finishers.

It turned out Minten was saving her best for last. She found her two longest throws of the day on her final two attempts with tosses of 11.37m and 11.35m.

Her throw of 11.37m was tied for the second best mark in the competition but Minten won the tiebreaker, giving her the silver medal – her first career OFSAA medal.

This caps off a strong season for the first year LCCVI athlete after she won Novice Girls shot put at the LKSSAA, SWOSSAA, and OFSAA West Regional track and field championships.

Duncan Smith of Great Lakes Secondary School can now call himself a two-time OFSAA champion after taking home the title in Senior Boys Javelin.

Smith’s first throw was his best, sending his javelin 58.79 meters. He finished over three meters clear of the second place finisher.

The Sarnia schools will have plenty of representatives in the 1500 meter finals. Chase Capes, Avery Norland, and Keala Pickard of St. Pat’s and Tayvin Young of Northern all advanced out of their heats Thursday. Capes had the top qualifying time in the Senior Boys 1500 meter heats by over a second and a half.

St. Pat’s and Northern were neck and neck in the Junior Boys 4 x 100m relay. St. Pat’s finished seventh and Northern placed eighth in the heats, helping them grab the last two spots in the final.

St. Pat’s also snagged one of the last spots in the Junior Girls 4 x 100m relay final. They finished seventh in the heats with a sub 50 second time.

A number athletes competed in the heats; North Lambton’s Arlee Roder was 21st overall in the Novice Girls 400m, Great Lakes Ty Tran was 15th in the Junior Boys 400m, Northern’s Lily Bressette was 13th in the Senior Girls 1500 m, and Northern’s Senior Girls 4 x 100m relay team was 11th overall.

The OFSAA Track and Field Championships continue over the next two days with events beginning at 9:00 am on Friday and Saturday.