The stars of Sudbury high-school track and field are ready to take their show on the road.

After rewriting the record books locally left and right the past two weeks while contesting the SDSSAA and NOSSA championships at Laurentian University, the nickel city tracksters will make their way to St Catharines for the OFSAA festivities, beginning this Thursday.

And while that glut of current athletic excellence in these parts will undoubtedly lead to a solid array of podium finishes (Sudburians returned home with 13 medals last year) and an even more impressive total of top eight placements, the fact remains that for a majority of those who will represent their SDSSAA institutions at OFSAA, the meet is all about the chance to just compete – to the very best of their abilities.

Few appreciate this opportunity more than Sophia Carlson, a delightful 17 year-old senior at Marymount Academy.

Born in Vancouver with a left below the elbow amputation, Carlson (and family) have seen little to no reason for her to avoid taking a crack at pretty much every sport under the sun, her resume a noteworthy mix of baseball, swimming, track, and the like, along with gymnastics, horseback riding, rock climbing, snowboarding – and countless other endeavours.

“My parents have been really good at getting me involved in everything,” she stated with a smile, about a week or so after setting new city records in the 100m and 800m ambulatory races and qualifying from NOSSA to the all-Ontario meet where she captured gold and silver last year.

A testament to her athleticism is the fact that she qualified alongside the able-bodied crew in the 400m distance, moving on from the SDSSAA meet to the northern showdown. Truth be told, there is something to be said when she can find herself intermingled on the track with the balance of her high-school classmates and counterparts.

“It’s a bit trickier when you’re running by yourself because there is no one to push you,” said Carlson, who lists baseball as her favourite sport (she plays first base) and prefers the longer distances to the short (she is a two-time OFSAA cross-country gold medal winner).

“You are out there, all by yourself, trying to go as fast as you can – but it’s still fun.”

Based on the smile that Melina Doiron was flashing following the NOSSA senior girls 200m final, safe to suggest the young woman who leaves later this summer for the University of Idaho was also having fun last Thursday.

Shaving almost three quarters of a second off the old NOSSA record in the 200m is sure to make one feel pretty good, especially when a time of 24.08 also accounts for a personal best time that is more than 0.25 seconds faster than she has ever run before.

“I just knew,” said Doiron, post-race. “My body was super relaxed, the rhythm of my breathing felt really good, so I knew I could run a good time.”

The senior girls final, at OFSAA, is one of the classic marquee events. The Lo-Ellen sensation and product of the Air Blastoff team under the tutelage of Olympic gold medal winner Robert Esmie, Doiron did very well to advance to the finals in both the 100m and 200m last year.

“This definitely changes my mindset going into OFSAA,” she said, following the race that prompted her coach to bust out a sprint of his own along the walkway of the stands as her time was posted. “You know you are right there with the top competitors – and it also benefits you because you get a better draw into the heats.”

Other medal contenders to watch include:

Blaire Rickard (Lasalle) – a gold medal winner in novice girls shot put in 2025, Rickard will need to likely throw in the 13.30m range or higher to hit the podium in the junior girls bracket

Levi Blouin (Lo-Ellen) – similar strory for fellow 2025 first place finisher as Blouin needs to shave a little more off his 14.23 junior boys 100m hurdles time that took a half second off the NOSSA mark in order to podium at the Niagara Olympic Club this week

Annabelle Richardson (Lo-Ellen) – a gold (100m) and bronze (200m) medal winner in her first year of high-school, Richardson broke the city record ten days ago with a 100m time of 12.35 seconds, a clocking that puts her in the mix with the top-five

Lo-Ellen Park Knights relay teams – Knights’ quartets accounted for three medals at OFSAA 2025 and are looking as ready as ever, establishing four new records at NOSSA last week between the 4 X 100m and 4 X 400m races

Anderson Parent (Lo-Ellen) – though his record setting throw in the senior boys discus at NOSSA (53.45m) was about five metres off the beauty he unleased a week earlier at cities, it is still more than a metre beyond the gold medal winning throw from 2025 at OFSAA

Dax Hester (Lo-Ellen) – assuming the top end multi-sport athlete can get pulled along by the speed at OFSAA (Hester is also one of the top young competitive swimmers in the city), the Knights’ freshman certainly capable of advancing to the final of the novice boys 800m race

And, inevitably, there will be some pleasant surprises as well.

Following are the event winners on Day 2 of the NOSSA Track & Field Championships from last week:

Senior Girls Division
100m dash - Melina Doiron (LEP) - 11.77
200m dash - Melina Doiron (LEP) - 24.08
800m - Misaki Diavolitsis (LCS) - 2:20.08
3000m - Lily Bignucolo (LEP) - 10:12.05
400m hurdles - Amanda Syncox (LEP) - 1:04.01
long jump - Ariana Tonkovic (ESMC) - 5.00m
triple jump - Brooke Wylie (Horizon) - 10.59m
shot put - Abby Vine (CASS) - 11.10m
discus - Abby Vine (CASS) - 36.68m
4 X 400m relay - Lo-Ellen Park - 4:10.25

Senior Boys Division
100m dash - Darren Joiner (LEP) - 10.99
200m dash - Jacob Paillé (LEP) - 22.39
800m - Owen Olivier (Lasalle) - 2:03.26
3000m - Will Raymer (Chippewa) - 9:25.63
400m hurdles - Jacob Paillé (LEP) - 56.54
long jump - Francis Mallory (LEP) - 6.87m
triple jump - Dayne Meyer (Algonquin) - 12.95m
shot put - Anderson Parent (LEP) - 14.76m
discus - Anderson Parent (LEP) - 53.45m
4 X 400m relay - Lo-Ellen Park - 3:37.12

Junior Girls Division
100m dash - Annabelle Richardson (LEP) - 12.06m
200m dash - Annabelle Richardson (LEP) - 24.68
800m - Tenley Cameron (Elliot Lake) - 2:24.18
3000m - Alexie Carré (Algonquin) - 11:39.68
300m hurdles - Rowan Frood (LEP) - 47.24
high jump - Mila Beljo (LEP) - 1.45m
long jump - Kyla Shaw (St Mary's) - 4.61m
shot put - Blaire Rickard (Lasalle) - 12.52m
javelin - Mika Stewart (CASS) - 35.81m

Junior Boys Division
100m dash - Mikko Leinala (LEP) - 11.25
200m dash - Kurtis Weldon (SJSH) - 23.87
800m - Guillaume Daoust (Villa Francaise) - 2:08.82
3000m - Maxime Belzile (ESMC) - 9:42.16
300m hurdles - Levi Blouin (LEP) - 41.32
high jump - Bently Szwed (BAC) - 1.81m
long jump - Gilles Guignard (LEP) - 6.03m
shot put - Keenan Duval (Lasalle) - 13.96m
javelin - Jacob Kirby (CASS) - 46.87m

Novice Girls Division
100m dash - Ash'Li Nixon (SCC) - 12.72
200m dash - Ash'Li Nixon (SCC) - 27.23
800m - Kylan Batchelor (LCS) - 2:35.20
3000m - Lily McLelland (SJSH) - 12:35.71
300m hurdles - Isabelle Popp (SJSH) - 46.28
high jump - Shea Gore (SJSH) - 1.53m
triple jump - Shea Gore (SJSH) - 10.70m
discus - Alea Culin (SJSH) - 33.19m
javelin - Iman N'Gota (Algonquin) - 29.65m

Novice Boys Division
100m dash - Aaron Flanagan (LEP) - 11.82
200m dash - Nicholas Rice (Lasalle) - 24.44
800m - Dax Hester (LEP) - 2:05.75
3000m - Cooper Gaines (Superior Heights) - 10:02.21
300m hurdles - Griffith Roberts (LEP) - 47.15m
high jump - Alex Beemer (W.C. Eaket) - 1.67m
triple jump - Jaydan Crafton (Elliot Lake) - 11.54m
discus - Cameron Swartz (SCC) - 40.90m
javelin - Cameron Swartz (SCC) - 36.73m

Ambulatory - Girls Division
100m - Sophia Carlson (Marymount) - 15.45
800m - Sophia Carlson (Marymount) - 3:05.32

Intellectual - Girls Division
shot put - Caitlin DiClemente (SSS) - 4.65m