Another successful Zone 4 High School Track & Field Championship is in the books.

Over 500 athletes from all 18 schools competed at Garden Valley Collegiate this past Tuesday and Wednesday.

"It was a really, really good meet," remarked Zone 4 track & field convenor Pat Alexander of Northlands Parkway Collegiate. "Overall, I think the weather helped as well. Tuesday was a little cooler but just the energy and excitement of all the athletes just wanting to compete and get out there and get going because the spring season has been so wet and rainy, it just kind of pushed everybody along and added to the event. Wednesday obviously was a lot nicer which then everybody was in even better moods. It was just great to see the support from all the kids for everybody else. There were tons of cheering, there were lots of spectators, lots of close races, lots of good performances overall so it just added to the event as a whole."

Alexander stressed the behind the scenes work every school in the zone does before and during the two-day meet plays a huge role in the success of the event. 

"With 18 schools, and the size of the meet with about 500 athletes, we couldn't do this on our own. Our zone forever has rallied together to put this whole thing together. Everybody has different jobs and responsibilities and it's just a marvel that once a year everybody seems to rally together and make it work. Again, I am just to thankful and grateful for the people that we have across our zone otherwise this just wouldn't be able to happen." 

The top three finishers per event plus others that meet the provincial standard are automatically entered for Provincial competition in Winnipeg from June 6th-8th.

"I'm really excited to see what's going to happen," Alexander said. "Our zone traditionally does quite well at the provincial level, and I can't wait to see those kids excel at that level as well and support each other. I think that's where it changes a little bit where at the zone meet you may be cheering more for your school. Specifically, a lot of times, there is a lot of zone support amongst the schools because we want to prove that we're good and we're one of the best groups out there. I look forward to seeing that kind of support in those events being run."