(Submitted photo/Sadee Jones)

By Ben Tompkins

Legion Nationals

Northeast athlete brings home silver medal in javelin

Aug 20, 2024 | 4:57 PM

A Melfort high school student recently had considerable success on the national stage.

Sadee Jones competed at this year’s Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships, earning a silver medal in the U16 javelin category.

“It was really great. I met so many people and everybody there was so nice. There were people from every province there, so it was really cool to connect with people from all across Canada,” Jones told northeastNOW.

“I was the only one from Melfort. Lots of people would ask where you’re from and it’s one thing to say Saskatchewan because not a lot of people know much about our province. When I said I was from Melfort though, some people had never even heard about it before. Even some of my Sask teammates didn’t know where it was.”

According to Jones, she only won her silver medal due to one single throw, as she wasn’t having the best day.

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“When I first started competing I was not doing very good, and it was probably like one of the worst times that I’ve thrown. You get six throws and on my fifth one, I knew I needed to do better. That was the throw that got me second and I’m glad it was that one because my sixth throw wasn’t very good either,” she joked.

The running of the 2024 Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships ran last week in Calgary.

Next year’s event will also be in Calgary, and Jones hopes to compete once again.

To earn a spot, she must attend a Legion track camp in Regina, which she has been going to for the past two years.

There, she trains and then competes, and if she passes a certain standard, she earns a spot on the team.

“At the track camp, you find out whether or not you make the team on the very last day. I had already left though, so my friend texted me and said I made the team… I really recommend going to the track camp because it’s really great and you meet a lot of great people,” Jones added.

“I’m going to try and train more this year in school, and I’m very lucky to have teachers in Melfort who are experienced in these events. I’m just gonna practice more this school season and hope for the best.”

Jones was sponsored by the Melfort Legion to attend Nationals. She said that their support made it possible for her to go.

She did track and field in elementary but began javelin when she was in Grade 7, quickly finding out she was quite the natural.

Jones has three more years of eligibility to compete in the event, as she is only about to enter Grade 10.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8