A sea of bodies covered the playing field of Bert Bowes Junior Secondary School yesterday for the School District 60 Elementary School Track and Field Meet.
Five hundred and thirty-nine registered athletes competed in ball throw, long jump, high jump and running events from 60 metres to 1,500 metres, all ages Grade 3 and up from all schools across the district and Christian Life School.
Bert Ambrose Elementary School won first place in the women's team with 385.83 points, Upper Pine Elementary School was second with 311.28 and Clearview Elementary Junior Secondary School was third with 162.50.
Bert Ambrose also won the men's team category with 385.45 points, Upper Pine again took second with 185.20 and Alwin Holland Elementary School was third with 177.45.
Bryce Legg won first place in the 100-metre, 1,500-metre, relay and ball throw in the boys 12-14 category.
"It was hard because the other kids were really fast," he said.
Bert Ambrose won the girls 12-14 relay.
Kelsey MacLean said they had good teamwork on the track.
"Our team was practicing all this week on our passing,"she said, adding that Upper Pine was their biggest competition for long distance running, while Alwin Holland was the toughest in the shorter distances.
Competitors collected ribbons and by the end of the day, many were walking around with shirts full of different coloured ones.
"It's fun to get ribbons," said Elan Miller-Jeannotte, who finished second in the girls 11 long jump. "It feels good because I don't think I've got first place, or second place before."
Some of the competitors never expected to do so well on Thursday, like Shalena Breitreutz, who was part of the Bert Ambrose girls relay team.
"I was actually pretty proud of myself. It actually feels pretty good because I thought I didn't get very many events," said Breitreutz.
All in all, it was a great day for the kids, parents and volunteers, many no longer even work for School District 60, but chose to help out anyway.
"It builds community because a lot of kids don't see each other from different schools," said Dwan Boyd, vice principal of Robert Ogilvie Elementary School, the organizer of this year's event.
