The Canton Bears are making notable progress and have had many achievements as the spring track and field season continues. Enthusiasm and personal bests are at a peak as the athletes prepare to finish their regular season and head towards sectionals and states.
On May 17, the team participated in a longstanding tradition, competing at the 101st annual Van Dusen Invitational in Ogdensburg. In addition to the schools in Section 10, teams including Beekmantown, Saranac, Peru, Lowville, and Camden were also in attendance. The competitive Van Dusen is one of the oldest annual track meets in New York and has been taking place since 1924.
In several exciting and tight races, athletes from Canton placed first in their events. In the boys 3200, Rylan Lee-Powell placed first with a time of 10:15. Salma Moumen won the girls 3000 race with a time of 10:33.
The boys 4×800 team, consisting of Kaden Worthley, Noah Gendebein, Aiden Rodriguez-Doyle, and William Andes, took first in the event with a total time of 8:50.
The girls 4×800 team also won their relay with a time of 10:30. The team consisted of Lena Frank, Salma Moumen, Lexi Stuntz, and Aurora Casserly.
Duncan Harper, Dayshawn James, Daniel Armendariz-Huang, and Rylan Lee-Powell took first in the boys 4×400 with a time of 3:44.
In a culmination of wins and personal bests, the boys team placed first overall, beating out the 16 other competitive teams.
On May 20, Canton competed against Gouverneur and Ogdensburg at Gouverneur Central School. The Canton girls had first place wins in the 100 meter hurdles, 1500 meters, 3000 meters, the 4×800 relay, and long jump. The boys had wins in the 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meters dash, 800 meters, 1600 meters, 3200 meters, the 4×100, 4×400, 4×800, shot put, high jump, and long jump.
Two days later, on May 22, the Bears competed in a seasonably cold meet against Tupper Lake and Potsdam at Tupper Lake Central School. Despite the stormy and cold conditions, the athletes competed well and the spectators remained dedicated. The girls placed first in the 3000 meters, 1500 meters, 100 meter hurdles, 400 meter hurdles, and the 4×800 meter relay. The boys placed first in the 1600 meters, 4×100 meter relay, 4×400 meter relay, 4×800 meter relay, long jump, and triple jump. Going into the meet, the Canton, Potsdam, and Tupper Lake boys teams were the only undefeated boys teams in the section. At this meet, Canton remained undefeated.
Canton will host their last regular season meet at home against Madrid-Waddington and Ogdensburg on Tuesday the 27, where seniors on the team will be honored by family and friends. On June 4 and 5, the much anticipated sectionals will take place at St. Lawrence University.
