Saskatoon’s Michael Akintunde saved his best for last in the senior boys long jump at the SHSAA track and field provincial championships on Friday.
Akintunde cleared 7.31 metres to set a new provincial record in the event, breaking Marcus Kouri of Swift Current’s record of 7.13 metres set in 2015.
“Yeah, it was a pretty good one,” Akintunde said with a laugh. “I thought it was a really good way to end my high school career, I did what I had to do and at the end it was a lot of fun.”
A perennial medalist in track events throughout the province, Akintunde had cleared the distance in practice in the past, but never managed to go so far during a meet.
“I came in knowing what the record was and I had a feeling I could get it, so I really pushed myself to see if it was possible and it turned out okay,” he said. “It was good to have the other guys, (Swift Current’s) Scott (Joseph) and (Langenburg’s) Drew (Kirk), we’ve been neck-and-neck, so it was a lot of fun.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Vanier’s Allison Grajczyk-Jelinski picked up the third Moose Jaw medal of the day, a bronze in the senior girls 1,500 metres. The medal created a running ‘career’ set, including her cross country provincial gold and silver in the 1,500 last year,
“I’m really happy with it, I’ve actually been battling an injury most of the season so I was happy to be able to come out and run this, especially after winning a medal last year,” Grajczyk-Jelinski said.
The race itself was relatively normal for the veteran runner.
“I was feeling really good, my legs were feeling good,” she said. “I had a bit of trouble at the start, but it turned out okay and it was a lot of fun… I’ve won a couple of medals at provincials now, so I’m happy.”
Grajczyk-Jelinski is back on the track for the 3,000 metres on Saturday.
