Grade 10 Wellington Heights Secondary School student, Declan Lisk, won a Silver medal in the 100-meter Junior Men Hurdles event at the recent OFSAA Provincial Track and Field Championships held at the Niagara Olympic Club in St. Catherines on June 4-6.
His journey this year began at the District 4/10 Track and Field Championships on May 5th at the University of Guelph and May 11th at St. James Catholic High School in Guelph where Lisk won 1st place in Junior Men 100-meter hurdles, the 300-meter hurdles, and the long jump - and he set new school records for all three events.
At the CWOSSA Track and Field Championships on May 20-21 at Jacob Hespeler Secondary School in Cambridge, Lisk won 1st in the Junior Men 100-meter hurdles, 3rd in the 300-meter hurdles, and 6th in long jump - and he set all new school records for all three events again.
At the OFSAA West Regional Track and Field Championships on May 28-29 at Jacob Hespeler Secondary School in Cambridge, Lisk chose to focus on hurdles and finished in 1st place in the Junior Men 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.43 seconds, and 1st place in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40.70 seconds - setting new school records in both events once again.
At the OFSAA Provincial Track and Field Championships on June 4-6, Lisk made the trek to the Niagara Olympic Club in St. Catherines to compete. In the preliminaries, Lisk finished 2nd in the Junior Men 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.04 seconds and he finished 7th in the Junior Men 300-meter hurdles with a time of 41.00 seconds, which qualified him to advance to the finals for both events. In the finals, Lisk shattered the Wellington Heights school record yet again in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.76 seconds - earning him the OFSAA Provincial Silver medal. In the 300-meter hurdles final, Lisk competed incredibly well again by finishing in 4th place with a time of 41.38 seconds, and only 0.89 of a second away from landing on the podium.
Lisk has been training for Track and Field at the Laurel Creek Track and Field Club in Waterloo for the past two years approximately 3-4 times per week. Lisk stated, "I just started running hurdles last summer" - while competing in a pentathlon with the Laurel Creek Track and Field Club - "and noticed that my times in the 100-meter hurdles in the pentathlon were faster than last year's OFSAA gold medal winner, so I thought I would try hurdles this year."
When reflecting on his Track and Field season this year at Wellington Heights, Lisk said, "It was a very fun year. Especially since more people came out this year for our school track team. It made it a lot more fun."
Lisk also credited his mother, Brianne O'Driscoll, with supporting him throughout his Track and Field career as a volunteer coach both with the WHSS Track and Field team, and also with the Laurel Creek Track and Field Club. Lisk mentioned that his mother has a lot of experience both as a coach and also as an athlete herself back in high school and university where she competed in track and field.
When asked about Lisk's next goals as an athlete, he stated that he is "trying to get a time standard at an upcoming club meet in the 110-meter hurdles in order to compete at the CTFL Trials." The Canadian Track and Field League (CTFL) Trials will be held in Ottawa on June 27-28 at the Terry Fox Athletic Facility, where many of Canada's best athletes will compete over the course of the weekend.
Declan Lisk Poses With His OFSAA Silver Medal and 4th Place Ribbon
Declan Lisk Competing In Hurdles
WHSS Track & Field Team
Back Row (from left to right): coach Jeff Snoddy, Justin Obach, Noah Schlosser, George Makxam, Fred Dack, Jahala May, Anthony Dekorte, Declan Lisk, RJ Campbell, Owen Weber, coach Brianne O'Driscoll, coach Brittany Johnston
Front Row (from left to right): Kylie Dalal, Hannah Rundle, Emilee Owen, Kennedy Ray, Leni Giilck, and Sadie Therrien
Absent: Liam Nelson, coach Patrick Ellis
Declan Lisk is all smiles with coach Jeff Snoddy after winning the OFSAA Silver medal
