Fleming Knights’ Firefit team had a successful competition at the Quinte West competition on June 30 and the Port Elgin competition on July 13. A number of athletes placed in the top ten in various categories such as the men’s, women’s, and rookie categories at both competitions.
Declan Fitzpatrick was particularly successful at each competition. Fitzpatrick is a third semester Pre-Service Firefighting student who placed second overall in the rookie categories at both Quinte West, and Post Elgin competitions. His course time for Quinte West was a fast 01:44:67. At the Port Elgin competition he was able to improve his time, dropping more that 17 seconds with a finish time of 01:28:61. With this competitive course time Fitzpatrick placed ninth overall in the men’s category against 125 other male participants from various colleges, as well as full and part-time fire departments.
At the Quinte West competition two of our athletes placed in the top ten of the rookie category. Declan Fitzpatrick placed second, and Bowman Allen placed seventh. Fleming’s Firefit team’s dedication and training showed at Port Elgin with many athletes vastly improving their course times. The rookie category had three athletes placing in the top ten, with Declan Fitzpatrick in second (01:28:61), Bowman Allen is eighth (01:55:18), and John MacKinnon in ninth (01:57:53).
Fleming’s men’s team consisting of Declan Fitzpatrick, Bowman Allen, and John MacKinnon, earned eighth place amongst others teams in Quinte West with a combined time of 05:53:01. Fleming’s men’s team earned a top ten spot at Port Elgin placing eighth with a combined time of 05:21:53.
Placing in the top ten overall in the women’s category at both competitions was Emily Dickinson. Dickinson, placed seventh at Quinte West and ninth at Port Elgin. Dickinson earned course times of 03:28:61 and 03:18:14. Dickinson shaved 10 seconds off of her competition time.
Fleming had a strong success in the Relay at Quinte West with the Fleming men’s team finishing in third and the Fleming College Pre-Service Firefighters team 1 placing in fourth. The Fleming Men’s team consisted of Eric Cholasta and John MacKinnon who completed the course in a time of 01:52:69. Fleming College Pre-Service Firefighters team 1 was made up of Bowman Allen and Declan Fitzpatrick who finished with a final time of 01:53:01. The Men’s Team of Eric Cholasta, and John MacKinnon finished the Port Elgin competition placing in fourth in the men’s division with their best relay time of 01:13:40
The Flemings Knights continued their successful day in Quite West during the mixed relay, having placed third with a team of Declan Fitzpatrick and Emily Dickinson who ran a time of 02:14:39. At the Port Elgin Competition they improved their result placing second in the mixed category with a best time of 01:31:68.
Many of the Fleming Knights Firefit team have qualified for Nationals. Declan Fitzpatrick, Emily Dickinson, Bowman Allen, Beckham Georgiou, Brennan Irvine, John MacKinnon, Eric Cholasta, and Sosa Ebagug have all qualified so far for the Individual categories. In the relay category teams of Eric Cholasta & John MacKinnon, Declan Fitzpatrick & Bowman Allen and Declan Fitzpatrick & Emily Dickinson have each qualified for nationals.
The Quinte West competition saw Coach Kaylea Brunatti placing fourth, Coach Shawna Coulter placing sixth in the Women’s, while Coach Brad Johnston placed first in the Over 45 category. Kaylea Brunatti and Trevor Russell placed first in the Mixed Relay with a time of 01:55:15.
The Fleming Knights’ Firefit team looks forward to their upcoming competition in Nova Scotia where some of the team will compete in this regional meet, prior to travelling to Lambton College with the entire team competing in their next Ontario regional competition.
