An athlete better known for passing a puck or a basketball may end her high school career passing a baton. And Kennedy Brown is delighted to be ending her final days as a Holy Trinity Academy Knight athlete as a member of the school’s 4x100m senior girls relay team at the Alberta High School Athletic Association’s track and field championships this weekend in Red Deer. “This is my last little round with HTA athletics, so it is kind of exciting,” the Grade 12 Brown said. “I am more of a team athlete – I love the team aspect of the relay. I have been running it since Grade 7, it is my favourite event. It’s so fun.” Kennedy had to put much of her high school athletic career on hold this year, including not being able to play guard for the Knights senior girls basketball team, when she secured a spot on the women’s professional hockey team’s Calgary Inferno as a forward. “It’s definitely a different experience being with the Inferno,” Brown said. “I definitely had to manage my time well, but I didn’t get to play basketball.” The HTA relay team of Nicole Maloney, MacKenna Dyck, Kailey Morrison and Brown qualified for zones by finishing first in 53.68 seconds at the South Central Zone championships in Calgary on May 22. The Knights finished just ahead of the second-place Foothills Falcons, who also qualified for provincials. Brown is cautiously optimistic about the relay going into provincials, but admits it’s a whole different scenario than zones. “It is definitely steep competition,” Brown said. “A lot of the teams that make it to provincials are teams that do club track. I am hoping that we do well and make it to the finals.” Brown will be busy in Red Deer. She qualified for two other events by finishing first in the senior girls long jump (4.89m) and second in the 100m (13.55s) at zones. She admits she doesn’t have the typical Perdita-Felicien type build of a runner or long jumper. “No I don’t,” Brown said. “But when I train for hockey I do jumps and things like that – working on my acceleration. All that kind of training transfers quite well into sprinting and long jump.” Back to provincials The long run fits a Foothills Falcon just fine. Rosie Bouchard is heading back to the high school provincials after easily winning the Intermediate girls 3,000m and 1,500m at zones. She was also second in the 400m. “My time for the 3,000m was 11:05 and I was kind of happy with that,” the Grade 11 Bouchard said. “I know I can do better – I just didn’t want to tire myself out.” She wasn’t exactly pushed – winning the race by about 85 seconds. She had good reason to worry about being tired – she had to run the 400m about half an hour after winning the 3,000. “I was so tired,” Bouchard said “I was in third place (in the 400m) until the end when I sprinted. I fell across the finish line.” The 400m is a lung-burning sprint – considered one of the most gruelling races in track and field. “It is tiring – I just used my stamina,” Bouchard said. “I didn’t go out very fast, I just sprinted at the end.” Bouchard, who won the silver medal in the 4,000m cross-country championships in October, then had to run the 1,500m. Three races – nearly 5,000m in total length – all before the lunch break at zones. “My 1,500 was good,” Bouchard said of her 5:14.38 time. “I was in first with another girl for awhile and then I sped up and she didn’t.” Bouchard is going back to provincials after winning a pair of bronze medals last year in the 1,500m and 3,000m. She said her best chance of winning a medal again is in the 3,000m. Her goal at provincials is to try and run personal best times. Bouchard wasn’t done running though. She was the top female runner in the Calgary Marathon 5K finishing at 19:50 in the blistering heat on Sunday.
