By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — A bronze medal wasn’t the only thing Emily Read took home from last weekend’s provincial track and field meet.

Read, who competed in the junior girls tetrathlon, scored a personal best in long jump, one of the four events.

She also gets to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment and pride that comes from competing and succeeding on the provincial stage.

“It’s an amazing experience just to go to provincials and compete there and see the different athletes,” Read told the Leader last week. “Winning a medal makes it an even better experience.”

The Grade 11 student was one of nine athletes from Davidson School to compete at provincials in Saskatoon on June 2 and 3, and the only one to earn a medal.

She said she was feeling nervous but excited heading into provincials. In training, she said, she focused on the track events, where there was the most room for improvement.

“I was hoping for a ribbon, for sure,” she recalled. “I didn’t know how it would go.”

Her first event on Friday was the 100-metre dash, where she placed second in her heat and sixth overall with a time of 14.46 seconds.

Read then threw 8.32 metres in the shot put, placing second. This was an encouraging result and she realized that a medal might be within her reach.

She recorded a personal best in the long jump, 4.42 metres, earning first place in that event.

She said the pressure was on heading into the final event, the 800-metre run. There she placed sixth with a time of 2:47.58.

The run was held just before 7 p.m. and the results weren’t announced for almost an hour afterward, when Read learned she’d be taking home the bronze.

“I was really happy,” she said. “Going into provincials, I didn’t think I’d get a medal, so I was pumped.”

Read scored a total of 1,851 points, only 31 points shy of the gold-medal winner, Ally Kosteniuk of Balgonie. A total of 16 girls competed in the event.

A banner with Read’s name will be presented to the school and hung in the gymnasium. (Her name is already up there on another banner, presented to the Davidson/Loreburn RaiTec for winning 2A volleyball provincials in 2015.)

Read played basketball and volleyball at school this past year and is also active in softball and dance.

She said she plans to continue with track and field next year with hopes of improving her results at the tetrathlon.

Read also competed at provincials last year in the midget girls long jump, scoring a personal best of 4.26 metres.

Two athletes from Davidson reached the top 10 in multiple events at the provincial meet.

Clay Murfitt competed in four junior boys events. He placed seventh in the high jump (1.65 m, 7/25) and ninth in the 100-m hurdles (15.93 in semis). He also competed in the shot put (10.42 m, 13/28) and the 100-m dash (12.48 s, 21/28).

Meanwhile, in the midget girls division, Jordan Matheson placed eighth in long jump at 4.78 metres (8/28) and ninth in triple jump at 9.78 metres (9/27). She also completed the 100-m dash in 13.75 seconds (16/16 in semis).

For the full story and complete results, please see the June 12 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.