Manitou’s Reid claims pentathlon gold

WINNIPEG — The pentathlon was made for athletes like Soren Reid.

The senior from Manitou’s Nellie McClung Collegiate tried it two years ago at high school track and field provincials, settling for second place. He was determined to improve upon that mark. After missing out on last year’s event, which was cancelled due to air quality concerns, Reid made the most of his last shot, claiming the provincial title at University of Manitoba Stadium on Friday.

“A lot of lunch hours, a lot of after-school (sessions). If you’ve got a goal, you work hard for it. Hopefully, on days like today, you can pull out big moments,” Reid said, quickly crediting the people who have helped him become the pentathlete he is today.

“I’ve had some amazing coaches and amazing help in my track career. (Head coach) Adam Gundrum’s a massive help.”

Reid also competes in golf, cross-country, volleyball, basketball, badminton and baseball, a few of which require co-op programs to give the kids an opportunity to compete.

It’s not easy to find people to push you in a small town, but Reid is fortunate to have grown up with one.

His older brother, Keiran, jumps for the University of Manitoba.

“I always followed in his footsteps, always wanted to be like him, so that got me into track right away,” said Soren, who has also committed to the Bisons.

“I had some success early on and really fell in love with the sport. Now, I can do the pent, so I can do all the aspects of track in one day, which is as fun as it can get for me.”

Reid has cracked Team Manitoba rosters for both track and field and baseball, and said his multi-sport background made it much easier to learn the disciplines of the pentathlon, which include the 100-metre dash, 800-metre, shot put, long jump and high jump.

Reid started the day with an 11.79-second 100m, good for fourth place.

He posted 10.98 metres in the shot put, seventh overall, and wasn’t able to come close to his 1.85-metre high jump from his zone championship, maxing out at 1.70.

That put him in second place behind St. Maurice’s John Adeloye with two events to go.

Reid dialled up the best long jump of his life, 6.57 metres, to keep pace, while Adeloye posted 6.68m.

“It was definitely big. My first jump wasn’t quite what I wanted, but my second and third jump, I had a bit of a tailwind, which helped,” Reid said.

“You can usually tell right away. In the air you can feel, ‘This is much bigger.’”

He did the math and figured he had a six-second deficit to make up in the 800-metre on Friday afternoon.

Once again, he pulled off a personal best, running it in 6:14 and leaving Adeloye in the dust.

“I knew I had to beat him by a good margin, but I was trying to stay tall and stay smooth, pumping my arms the whole time,” Reid said.

“Especially that second lap with the wind on the straightaway, it really hurt bad, so to stay tall and stay smooth when running was huge.”

AROUND THE TRACK

Vincent Massey’s Soleil Kaktins posted an official personal best of 12.50 seconds in the JV girls 100-metre prelims, then ran the semifinals in 12.66 seconds.

Both marks were the fastest in the field, sending her into today’s final.

Boissevain’s Russell Harper clocked in at 11.03 in the varsity boys’ semifinal, snagging the sixth of eight qualifying spots behind Winnipeg’s Quinn Sloggett and Yusuff Yusuff, who both ran 10.70 in different heats.

IN THE FIELD

Massey’s Caitlan Nickel threw the javelin 29.59 metres to qualify for today’s varsity girls’ final. Prairie Mountain’s Annelouise Gie is the top qualifier at 31.86.

On the varsity boys’ side, Crocus Plainsmen Elbert Maritz was the top qualifier at 51.04m, more than five metres ahead of second place.

Plainsmen Jasim Ameh and Jaxson Branth-Swain are tied atop the junior varsity boys’ high jump, both hitting the 1.70m mark to reach today’s final.

The championships continue today and conclude on Sunday.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com