Elementary school students in the Central Okanagan gathered at Kelownasa国际传媒檚 Apple Bowl on June 5 to compete in track and field.

Hundreds of students attended to compete in a series of events like the 100 metre dash, high jump and discus.

Retired teacher Jim Bradshaw has been involved in the track and field day for over 20 years.

sa国际传媒淲hen I was initially working with one of the other teachers we got it started and we were one day with maybe about 600 athletes,sa国际传媒� Bradshaw said. The Central Okanagan Public Schoolsa国际传媒檚 track and field event is now hosted over two days with well over 1,000 students eager to compete.

The first day of track is mainly the larger schools in the district. Day two includes the remaining schools and the private schools in the Central Okanagan are invited to take part.

sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 think theresa国际传媒檚 a way of measuring it how big it is for some of these kids that may not be the strongest academic student, but they excel at something like this. It keeps them in school, it keeps them interested,sa国际传媒� Bradshaw commented on the importance of hosting the track and field days.

Everly Pidskalny is in Grade 4 at Mar Jok Elementary. Her family cheered her on from the sidelines as she won the 100 metre dash for her age group.

The sprinter couldnsa国际传媒檛 remember her personal best, but won the final race with a time of 15.69 seconds. Pidskalny also competed in the 200 metre race and the 400 metre relay.

A young high jumper not only smashed her personal record by 10 centimetres, but Roya Masiuk tied the 2019 record jump at 130 centimetres. The Grade 5 student from Hudson Road Elementary said it felt really good to do both and plans on continuing with high jump in the future.

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