This time around, Melina Doiron had some serious company.

Where the Lo-Ellen Park sprinting sensation was joined only by graduated Lasalle runner Riley Cornthwaite in terms of the SDSSAA top eight finishers at the 2023 OFSAA Track & Field Championships, Sudbury and area finalists were far more frequently found this past week in London (OFSAA 2024).

And for as much as Doiron again performed well, finishing 6th in the 200m final (25.42) and coming heartbreakingly close to cracking the prestigious 100m dash final (10th in heats – 12.37 – 3/100th from 8th), it was her first year teammates at Lo-Ellen that grabbed the spotlight this year.

No one did so more than 14 year-old Francis Mallory, who managed what is likely a SDSSAA first by capturing two OFSAA medals in a span of five minutes or so.

The city novice boys’ long jump champion was sitting in fourth place after four rounds of jumps but was forced to miss round five.

Ah yes – kind of forgot to mention that Mallory was also part of the Knights Novice Boys 4 X 100m relay team (with Ty Dubreuil, Narayan Shukla and Janssen Fransen) that not only won their heat on Thursday afternoon but entered the final ranked first in the province – an almost unheard of feat for northern sprint relay teams (45.44 seconds).

Despite jumping from the 13th seed entering OFSAA to the fastest qualifying team, the Lo-Ellen lads kept their nerves in check, darting their way to a silver place finish by circling the track in 45.79 seconds, just back of the St John Paul II quartet (45.66).

But Mallory wasn’t done yet.

Making his way back to the long jump, the young man who picked up his interest in track and field while in grade 7 at Algonquin Public School soared 6.11 metres with his final jump (his best had been 6.05m), leap-frogging his opponent in third place (6.07m) and earning a bronze medal to go along with the silver he had just won.

“It was exhilarating,” beamed Mallory on Monday.

In his mind, there was no doubt that one accomplishment played nicely into the next.

“It (the relay final) was definitely a good warm-up, an all-out sprint into a good jump,” he said. “It kind of built me up for it.”

In fact, it’s fair to say that the two disciplines actually do have an element of hand in hand cooperation for young track athletes.

“The running part in the long jump is really important, so I do a lot of short sprints, 60 and 80 metres,” noted Mallory, who also finished 13th in the triple jump, covering a distance of 11.86 metres. “My acceleration for the 100m has gotten really good because of that.”

It also makes the lead leg the logical choice when he then joins his friends for the baton-based event. “I have such a good start because I accelerate really quickly, so I am better in the lead leg,” said Mallory. “It’s all mental at the start.”

“I shut everything out until I hear the bang.”

Though he is a different type of runner than Mallory, Ty Dubreuil shares his teammate’s belief that it’s very much the team aspect that contributes most to their success.

“We are not necessarily the quickest but we know we work really well together,” said the 15 year-old whose name has been prominent in local AAA hockey circles for some time now (along with that of Janssen Fransen). “We’re all really good buddies – and we know our roles on the team.”

For his part, Dubreuil was one of the first Knights to set the tone for the 2024 OFSAA meet, qualifying fourth overall in the Novice Boys 400m race (52.54) before placing 5th in the final (52.51).

“When I did the 400m last year, I won cities (Rainbow Elementary Meet) and was told my time was good,” he said. “I work out with Rick Kilganon and told him I wanted to train to do both (hockey and track). I wanted to be more explosive.”

“Before I started doing that, I wasn’t a super quick guy off thew jump.”

In fact, Dubreuil, like most grade eight student athletes, equated the 400m far more as a quasi-distance event than what the serious high-schoolers take it to be.

“Last year is when I started to realize it’s a sprint,” he said. “Before that, I was more jogging it and I didn’t get good with my times. When I started to full out sprint it, I was slowly getting better and better.”

Still, for as much sport as Dubreuil has played in his life in highly competitive settings, the animal that is OFSAA track is pretty much always a new experience for grade nine athletes.

“Before my 400m heats, it was the most nervous I have ever been in my entire life,” said Dubreuil. “But my dad has always told me: if you’re nervous, you’re ready. I kind of used that, knowing I was ready to run the race.”

And with his penchant for being even better in the 400m than the 100m, Dubreuil became the choice to bring the relay race home for his mates. “As a group, we decided that was a good spot for me,” he said. “I am pretty good at keeping my pace.”

Joining the Knights’ freshmen in the top-eight grouping were Dante Ricketts from Lasalle Secondary, placing sixth in the 100m dash (intellectual) bracket with a time of 12.71 seconds in an event that now attracts the full complement of 24 athletes.

Lo-Ellen also shone in the hurdles as Carson Jewitt> (NB – 7th – 44.63), Jacob Paille (JB – 6th – 40.64) – both in the 300m hurdles – and Corey Lacroix (SB – 6th – 57.80) gave the Knights a presence in three straight finals.

Local novice girls high jump champion Chloe Carrier from E.S.C. l'Horizon was also not the least bit overwhelmed in her first crack at OFSAA, placing 7th in the province by clearing the bar at 1.45 metres while baseball outfielder Brody Mabbott utilized his strong arm in another capacity, heaving the javelin 46.51 metres as the St Charles’ junior secured 8th in Ontario.

Other top-15 SDSSAA performances included:

9th - Lo-Ellen Park - JG - 4 X 100m relay - 50.75 (7/100th of a second out of finals)
10th - Janssen Fransen (LEP) - NB - 200m - 23.49
10th - Lo-Ellen Park - OB - 4 X 400m relay - 3:28.10
11th - Noah Skrobot (LEP) - NB - High Jump - 1.65m
12th - Jacob Paille (LEP) - JB - 400m - 51.88
13th - Jillian Landry (BAC) - SG - 400m - 58.91
14th - Dominic Weisner (ESMC) - NB - Shot Put - 12.03m
14th - Nolan Kuhlberg (LEP) - SB - 800m - 1:58.19
15th - Ava Leveille (LEP) - JG - Shot Put - 9.63m
15th - Narayan Shukla (LEP) - NB - 800m - 2:09.25

* results based on best available effort to ensure all SDSSAA athletes were noted - if anyone was missed, kindly email Randy Pascal at info@sudburysports.com