Local athletes head to OFSAA Track and Field as gold medal favourites
Jenna Tunks (L) and Jackson MacKay (R) are gold-medal favourites heading into OFSAA track and field. June 3, 2025. (Brent Lale/CTV News Londno)
Decathlete Jackson MacKay is hoping to finish his high school track career with a haul of medals.
'With this being my last year, winning a couple of medals, it would mean a lot to me,' said MacKay, a top provincial athlete and student at Sir Fredrick Banting Secondary School (SFBSS).
Heading into OFSAA, he's ranked number one in the province in long jump and the 110 metre hurdles. His 4x100 m relay team is also the favourite to win a gold medal.
He's currently ranked second in pole vault, and his SFBSS 4x400 m relay team is also ranked number two in Ontario.
'He's kind of been sort of challenged with timing issues at OFSAA the last number of years,' says Todd MacKay, his father, and head coach of SFBSS track and field.
'It's been hurdles going at the same time as a high jump for example in the past. This year the schedule works out well and I think it's his goal to medal.'
Jackson is coming off a successful OFSAA West Regions where he won the 110 m hurdles, the long jump and the 4x100 m relay. He had second place finishes in pole vault and the 4x400 m relay.
He'll compete in all five events this week.
jackson mackay - pole vault
Jackson MacKay of Sir Fredrick Banting S.S. cleared 4.35 m in the WOSAA pole vault competition. (Source: Todd McKay)
'My coach thinks I can get the OFSAA record for pole vault,' said Jackson of the mark of 4.87 m set by Rob Lindsay in 1984.
'I don't know about hurdles because Gregory McNeill [Mother Teresa in 2010] it's pretty impressive what he ran [13.33 seconds]. I don't know if that record is going to get broken.'
Jackson turned down a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati to stay at home at Western this fall. He did that in order to play both football and run track, the same thing his father Todd did.
Across the field, Oakridge Secondary School thrower Jenna Tunks is the favourite to win both her events in the junior girls division.
At OFSAA West Regionals, she won the discuss by more than 12 metres with a throw of 45.57 m and took the shot put with a throw of 15.32 m.
'I'm really just like focusing on like my technique recently because I haven't been very confident in my throws, but I feel that I'm like getting that confidence back,' says Tunks. 'I'm hoping to get a new OFSAA record for the Shotput.'
Jenna Tunks
Jenna Tunks of Oakridge S.S. is favoured to win the OFSAA Jr. Girls Discus and Shot Put events (Source: Jason Tunks)
OFSAA records run in the family. Her father Jason, a former Olympian, has held the discus record for 30 years, and her sister Julia holds both the junior and senior girls discus marks.
'It'll be difficult [to break the discus record] as her sister's OFSAA record is like 53 (metres) and some change,' said Jason. 'I mean she's always been around 50 (metres). I think the ultimate goal is if she gets around 50, conditions bearing, as we've been getting a lot of rain. If we get no rain and a favorable wind, I think 50 is the goal.'
When it comes to the shot put, she has a legitimate chance to etch her name in the books.
'She's more than capable of breaking the OFSAA record in the shot, which is at 16-zero (metres),' said Jason. 'If she can execute really well, she should do that.'
Tunks has already won an OFSAA gold medal this year with the Oaks in volleyball.
She has a great chance at coming home with two more this week at OFSAA which runs Thursday through Saturday at York University in Toronto.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Canada's Gilgeous-Alexander leads Thunder past Pacers for franchise's 1st NBA title in Oklahoma City
Social Sharing The Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions. The Western Conference's No. 1 seed defeated the Indiana Pacers 103-91 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday to claim the second title in the franchise's history. It is the first NBA championship the franchise has won since it was the Seattle Supersonics in 1979. Star Thunder guard and 2025 NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, of Hamilton, Ont., led the way with a game-high 29 points in the victory. WATCH | 4 Canadian players to watch in the NBA Finals: 4 Canadian basketball stars you can cheer for in the NBA Finals 18 days ago Duration 5:20 The Toronto Raptors may be out of the season, but there's still plenty of Canadian talent to root for in the NBA Finals. CBC's Dwight Drummond spoke to the CEO of the Ontario Basketball Association to find out what fans need to know.
Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Valorant Masters Toronto e-sports tournament ‘surreal' experience for fans
For traditional sports fans, the Valorant Masters Toronto e-sports tournament could be a culture shock. At Sunday's final, there was no field, rink or court. Instead, at game time, two groups of mostly 20-somethings sat behind computer monitors at a long desk atop a platform, trying to virtually eliminate their opponents as fans watched on a jumbotron above. Occasionally, strobe lights punctuated big moments. Attendees described it as a mix of a music festival and a sports game. For fans of the multibillion-dollar world of e-sports, it was an electric environment. 'It's bringing a community together that's been loving games all their lives,' said Matthew Ragoonath, near a crowd of people. 'Especially with events like this, everyone gets to come out, and it's just a surreal experience.' Valorant, a first-person shooter game centred around heroic characters called agents, exploded in popularity quickly after its debut in June, 2020. Tracker Network, which follows statistics, player population and leaderboards for popular online games, tracked nearly 850,000 Valorant players in its first month; that number grew more than five-fold in the next month. In May, 2025, Tracker Network tracked about 18.2 million players of the game. Valorant Masters Toronto arrived in the middle of the city's Video Games Month. The tournament was expected to have a $40-million economic impact, according to a City of Toronto news release at the beginning of June. Major leagues are turning to esports to draw in new, and younger, fans Edmonton school's e-sports athletes go mouse-to-mouse with province's best Sunday marked the culmination of two weeks of tournament gameplay. The arena was set up as if for a boxing or wrestling match, with the audience surrounding a raised platform at the centre. But instead of punches, the players exchanged gunfire with quick flicks of the wrist and deliberate mouse clicks. Just before the final began, players walked through an arch with flashing lights, taking time to brush the hands of fans who stretched over the metal barriers along the entranceway. A jumbotron hung above the players where spectators could watch the action as it was happening in the simulated war zone. The battle would shift from quiet footsteps and tactical moves to dramatic firefights in an instant. Fans would cheer and jeer at the sight of a fallen agent on-screen, not unlike the sound of an arena when a hockey puck slides dangerously close to the goal line, or a spectacular save from a soccer goaltender. The team winner of the final, Paper Rex, won a trophy and US$350,000, the largest cut of a US$1-million purse that's split between the top eight. Teams also garner circuit points on their way to the championship in Paris. In Sunday's crowd, some showed their support for Fnatic, the opponent team. Bri Sison was in the crowd wearing the flag of the eventual champions. She travelled from San Francisco for the tournament. 'The plot with their games are always just so unpredictable, you never know what's going to happen next,' she said of Paper Rex. Some people The Globe and Mail spoke with at the event say they formed connections in lineups to the event or, in one case, at a restaurant after noticing another person wearing an e-sport jersey. In a group of five, two had come solo, meeting the rest in lineups. 'My whole group actually cancelled on me, so I'm the only person who came, and every single day I've been with people, I've found groups, people have adopted me in,' Maria Liong said. She said that, despite the reputation the online game has for being toxic, events such as the e-sports tournament show a more inclusive community. Members of the group paid varying costs for their tickets. Some pre-sale buyers got tickets for $115, while another who bought their ticket later paid the Canadian equivalent of about $395. Tickets for the final available on Stubhub Saturday evening ranged from about $429 to more than $1,700 at the peak. Before game time on Sunday, hundreds of fans shuffled through a sign-making area, markering slogans or artful creations to hold in the sky. Others crowded into lines for merchandise, games or photo opportunities. Some attendees chose to dress up as characters in the game, not unlike patrons at comic or gaming conventions, in what's known as cosplay. Cai Zhao had an elaborate costume that resembled the character Jett. 'I can't actually play the game, I'm really bad, so I can dress up as one,' she laughed. She watches Valorant's fast-paced gameplay often, but said the energy of an in-person viewing adds to the excitement. For tournament host Toronto, the 'gaming industry reflects the best of our city. It is creative, diverse and forward-thinking,' Mayor Olivia Chow said ahead of this month's competition. 'Video Game Month is an invitation to celebrate this growing sector and the talented people behind it and to discover how gaming connects with art, innovation and our local communities.'
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
North America's largest dragon boat festival wraps up in False Creek
Hundreds of racers from around the world gave it their all in False Creek this weekend for the annual Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival—the largest event of its kind in North America. In total, 222 teams from nine countries participated in more than 100 races Saturday and Sunday. 'Despite the rain, everyone's in high spirits because this is what a lot of teams train an entire year for. They've flown in from around the world to race here,' said Dominic Lai with Dragon Boat BC. He explained that dragon boating made its Canadian debut at Expo 86, when members of Vancouver's Asian community brought the vessels over from Hong Kong for a demonstration race, and the sport took off. The first Dragon Boat Festival was in 1989. Sunday's festivities included a specialty cup competition for breast cancer survivors. 'I think most of us joined because we wanted to sort of get back into shape after breast cancer, but also to change the face of breast cancer, (show) that we can be active,' said Debra Chelsey, a member of a team from Calgary. 'We're living and we're strong, we're getting healthy,' said her teammate, Angela Reither. 'We have such great spirit and we're thriving. It shows our strength.'
