By Travis Cummings
Special to the Eagle
The Cochrane Endurance Project Track & Field Club had athletes entered into its first track meet at the UCAC Calgary Spring Challenge at Foothills Stadium this weekend. Heidi Moores, Holly Moores, Ellie Barlow, Eric Swedlo, Nick Hooper, Brendan Macguire, Hudson Hallden Griffin and Brock Gilbert represented the Endurance Project. Athletes contested the 800m and 1200m races in their respective age groups at this provincial calibre competition and did not disappoint.
Top accolades went to Gilbert and Hallden, they both won two medals on the weekend. Hudson with two silvers, narrowly edging his teammate Brock with two bronzes in two highly entertaining races.
Eric Swedlo ran a monstrous personal best in the 800m, a solid early time of 2:06.73, setting him up well for a great season. Eric was admittedly tired for Sunday’s 800m contest, as he was a lead in St. Timothy’s mainstage play all week, but still got the job done. Eric will be attending University of Saskatchewan in the fall and will be competing for their track and cross country teams.
Brendan and Holly placed sixth in the U16 1,200m races. Brendan running a smoking fast 3:47 in his heat. Nick, Heidi, and Ellie all either ran their first ever track races or ran big PB’s. Nick took 40 seconds off of his 1200m PB, and 22 seconds off of his 800m PB.
It was a great start with great things to come for the Endurance Project. The club is steadily growing and gaining momentum since its creation in October 2018.
Coach Moores, Coach Cummings, Coach Swedlo, and Coach Kaiser are all extremely proud of the efforts of these athletes. It takes a lot of courage to step on the track and race, particularly if you are a trailblazer in a new club that is taken its first steps to becoming established!
