Hawks celebrate pair of young COSSA champions
By Darren Lum
Published May 29 2018
First year student Desi Davies and second year student Emma Casey are going into the OFSAA East Regional Track and Field Championships as the top seeds in their respective events.
Casey finished first in the girls’ junior javelin event with a throw of 27.56 metres (a personal best by four metres) while Davies earned first with a throw of 37.71 metres in the discus on his first attempt which was more than four metres farther than second place.
The two athletes will be heading to Kingston to compete this Friday to compete against some of the best in the province.
There was plenty of excitement and satisfaction for Casey in her come from behind win.
Her amazing breakthrough resulted in her shattering her previous best throw on the last throw attempt.
“I had already known what the girl that was in first place had thrown so right after I threw and they read out how far it was that is when I first knew that I won. I was so excited I think I jumped and I turned to look at my grandpa who was standing right there and I was so excited. The importance of advancing is that it is something that I have been striving for and working for with practices every day and that just shows that the hard work paid off” she wrote in a text referring to retired HHSS teacher Walter Tose.
She recognized the help of her grandfather the past two years.
“It was awesome having him there. He is very supportive and has taught me so much and at the meet he tells me little things that will make my performance better” she wrote in a text.
Her grandfather and throwing coach Tose acknowledged the entire team’s strong performance. He’s worked with his granddaughter the past two years.
Tose was encouraging and a particular message stuck with his granddaughter on her winning throw.
“Before I threw he told me that this throw was the one” she wrote.
Casey also finished fourth in discus to be eligible to advance in that event.
Davies said finishing second at the Kawartha championship a week earlier despite a “bad throwing day” gave him hope of a better finish at COSSA.
His first throw attempt left him a little bit surprised. He knew the distance could be a possible winning throw which was soon confirmed when he checked his distance with the first place throw at the past Bay of Quinte track meet.
“I was leading going into the extra three throws so I was getting pretty excited and anxious at the same time. Since I was first I threw last in the order. The other guys were throwing around 32 metres give or take a few [metres]. As everyone’s last throw was going on I knew that I was advancing to the East Regional meet so my main goal then was winning. The second last athlete threw his last throw and the distance was 32 metres so I knew I won after that. It felt so relieving and accomplishing knowing that I had won. I tried to contain some of my excitement because I didn’t want to make it look like I was boasting. I had a smile on my face for the rest of that night and if the meet wasn’t enough I had a football practice that night too. I’d say I was a bit tired afterwards” he wrote in a text. “Moving on to East Regionals is a huge step for me. I know that the competition will increase a great amount because I checked the results of the other people that are going to East Regionals and they are all throwing very far. I know it will be fun as it is a new experience that I haven’t yet done. All in all COSSA was a very great day and I am very excited about going to East Regionals.”
Tim Davies also retired from HHSS and a returning coach helping throwers like his son and sprinters adds his son has the potential to throw farther and improve on his placing this Friday. This won’t be without some adversity since the other throwers will have the same opportunity to improve too. However he recognizes stress will be a factor and if his son can relax then he will be able to throw the way he knows he can.
Although Davies earned the opportunity to advance to the East Regionals with a 10.29 metre throw in shotput he will not compete due to other commitments. He also ran a leg for the midget relay team which also advanced.
Tose is hopeful for the two young competitors to do well enough for an all-provincial berth.
“Both Desi and Emma have a good chance to advance to OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) in their top events if they perform their best. They both have the potential to improve again on the distances achieved last week. We will be pushing the envelope this week in practice to try to go a little bit quicker while still maintaining balance and proper technique” he wrote in an email.
