Crews are working on the $3-million Liverpool Community Sports Field at Liverpool Regional High School. (Rick Conrad)

There may be a little short-term pain this fall for some big long-term gain for Liverpool’s high school soccer teams as they wait for a new multimillion-dollar field and track to be completed.

Crews are working now on building the $3-million-plus Liverpool Community Sports Field at Liverpool Regional High School. It will feature the South Shore’s only all-weather, year-round track and a new artificial turf soccer field.

Kristopher Snarby, president of the Queens County Track Society which is leading the effort, said the field likely won’t be finished until November. And depending on the weather, the new rubberized track probably won’t be ready until early spring.

“They’re working hard, they have a camper on site and the crew’s actually living in the camper and working pretty long days,” Snarby said Tuesday.

“We’re hoping that the field will be done late October, early November and the track itself, it depends on weather in terms of when they can lay the track. So the track will either be done in November as well or it will have to wait till spring when things are little warmer. So things are coming together fairly well. We kind of had a pipe dream that the soccer field would be ready for this fall, but that’s not going to happen unfortunately.”

In the meantime, he said the high school’s boys and girls soccer teams are working with the middle school in Liverpool to use that field for practices. He said they’ll likely have to find another field outside Liverpool for their games. 

Despite having to wait a little longer than they’d hoped, Snarby says it’s gratifying to see the project coming together.

“There have been so many people pushing for this for so long, it’s nice to finally see the end result coming together. The contractors that are doing the work are doing a great job there. They’re working really hard to move along as fast as possible.

“It’s just really exciting to know that the community is going to have this facility in a few months. And it’ll be great to see people start to use it. I’ve had inquiries already from other areas who are interested in renting the field to have some higher level soccer taking place there. So that’s really positive. It’s just really exciting for sure.”

The track and field project got a $1.8-million funding commitment from the federal government, $1.2 million from the province and $250,000 from the Region of Queens municipality. 

Snarby said his group will be launching a private fundraising campaign in the next couple of weeks to cover other costs, such as a shot put and discus throwing area.

He said doing those separately from the main project is cheaper.

“The costs to do it as a whole project were extremely expensive. So we had to pull them out of the project and we’re still going to get them done, but they’re going to be quite a lot more cost-effective.”

Snarby said that as long as construction continues to go as planned, everything should be ready for use by March or April next year. 

“We’re looking forward to the end result.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Sarah Mitton of Brooklyn, Queens County, has qualified for the shot put final at the Paris 2024 Olympics. This is a photo from the World Athletics Indoor Championship in March where she won gold. (Sarah Mitton photo)

Brooklyn’s Sarah Mitton qualified for the shot put final at the 2024 Olympics in Paris this morning on her first throw.

The 28-year-old world indoor champion made it through to Friday’s final with a throw of 19.77 metres, which was the best of the qualifying round. The qualification standard is 19.15 m.

“That’s the way I like it,” Mitton told CBC Sports. “It’s a lot less stressful when you’re one and done.”

Mitton’s mother, Bonnie, was in the Stade de France to see her daughter go through to the final.

The top-rated American and two-time world champion Chase Jackson did not make it to the final. She missed her first two attempts and threw 17.6 m on her third.

New Zealand’s Maddison-Lee Wesche was the second-best qualifier at 19.25 m and Germany’s Yemisi Ogunleye was third with a throw of 19.24 m.

The final is scheduled for Friday at 2:37 p.m.

The Astor Theatre in Liverpool is holding a watch party so that Mitton’s Queens County fans can watch the event live. That goes from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Sarah Mitton was tops in the shot put at the Canadian Athletics trials in Montreal last week. The four-time Canadian champion is headed to the Summer Olympics in Paris. (Mundo Sport Image via Athletics Canada Facebook)

Queens County Olympian Sarah Mitton is on her way to Paris.

The 28-year-old world champion shot putter from Brooklyn qualified recently for the Canadian track and field team that will be going to the Summer Olympics July 26 to Aug. 11. 

Her throw of 19.62 metres at the Canadian Olympic trials secured her fourth straight Canadian title.

She owns the world’s longest throw this year and a Canadian record at 20.68 m.

Mitton set that mark in March when she captured gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championship in Glasgow. She is also a Commonwealth Games champion, a Pan American Games champion and a silver medallist at the world championships.

In early June, she also captured top spot at the World Athletics Continental Tour in New York City, with a top throw of 20.15 m, beating her closest competitor by more than a metre.  

“This time, it just feels totally different,” Mitton said in a Canadian Olympic team news release. “We’re preparing more for a medal, and that’s just a totally different feeling going into the Games.

“I feel very confident. A lot has changed since I went to the Olympics last time during COVID. I’m excited to have a crowd. I’m excited to have my family there. I’m just excited about taking the whole thing in.”

Mitton made her Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2020. She told QCCR in March just after winning the world indoor gold medal that she’s matured as a competitor since her first Olympics, and that she’s ready for Paris.

“I think shot put is really this unique sport where as you get older you can still get better,” she said.

“So I think I’m kind of coming into my prime as a thrower. It’s a very technical, very strength-based event. So the stronger you get the better, which takes time. The technical aspect is just so fine-tuned that I’ve got so many throws under my belt and then so many throws in these major competitions now, that I think being able to take away from everything is just building that consistency and then building that confidence amongst the higher-level comps. Being able to handle myself more as a professional as opposed to a rookie thrower who perhaps gets nervous prior to the competition. And I’m able to keep my composure.”

The women’s Olympic shot put qualification round is on Aug. 8, with the final the next day.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to the audio version of this story below

The soccer field at Liverpool Regional High School will be getting a makeover this year, with artificial turf and a new all-weather track. (Rick Conrad)

South Shore track and field athletes will be getting a year-round, all-weather track at Liverpool Regional High School.

The Queens County Track Society has decided to upgrade its original plan. Instead of an eight-lane gravel track, the school will now be getting a rubberized four- to six-lane surface.

It’s part of a $3-million upgrade to the school’s outdoor facilities, which also includes a new artificial turf soccer field.

Kristopher Snarby is president of the Queens County Track Society. He said Liverpool will have the only rubberized track and turf soccer field on the South Shore.

“That means it’ll be able to be used year-round. You don’t have to worry about thawing and bad weather and it’s a lot more accessible for people. So it’s definitely a nice change to the original plan.”

He said the change will add between $250,000 and $300,000 to the cost of the project. The original price tag was pegged at $2.75 million, with funding from the federal, provincial and municipal governments.

RELATED: Liverpool high school to get new track and artificial turf soccer field

Snarby said the group decided the extra cost was worth it to have a year-round facility.

“One of the challenges with gravel, is that when you have the type of weather that we have, it means there’s a lot of upkeep to keep the track surface safe for people to train on. With the rubberized synthetic version, it’s going to be an attraction for athletes all over the South Shore to train on who are doing running events in track and field.”

The 400-metre track will now have four lanes, with an additional two on the straightaways for 100-metre and 110-metre hurdles races.

There are rubberized tracks at Acadia University in Wolfville, King’s-Edgehill School in Windsor, one in Clare and some in Halifax. The closest track to Queens County is a gravel facility at Park View Education Centre in Bridgewater.

Snarby says he’s confident the group can find the money to cover the extra expense.

“We’ve been really fortunate with the funding from the different levels of government. It is a bit more expensive but not crazy expensive like some other versions could have been, I guess.”

He said athletes from around the South Shore will benefit from the upgraded track. He said that because it will be fully accessible, a wider range of people, including para athletes and Special Olympics athletes, will be able to use it.

“It’s going to be a big game changer. It’ll be the only turf filed on the South Shore and also the only rubberized track on the south shore. We’re envisioning soccer teams coming here to use it. When younger athletes from the South Shore that go on to regionals and provincials, they’re always playing on turf fields now. And they’re also running on rubberized tracks. So it will give the South Shore region an advantage being able to train on the same type of track and field that they would be playing higher level games at.”

It will also give people in the community a safe, accessible surface to use.

“It’s going to be a great surface for people to get out in the fresh air and walk or run on a surface where they don’t have to worry about rolling their ankles and tripping. So it’s truly going to be a fully inclusive community space for people to use.”

Snarby said the group plans to launch some fundraising efforts in the next few weeks.

And he said they hope to have the track and soccer field completed by late fall, but he said it depends on contractor availability.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to Tuesday’s news update below

Sarah Mitton of Brooklyn, Queens County, after winning the gold medal in the shot put at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow on Friday morning. (Sarah Mitton photo)

Brooklyn’s Sarah Mitton can now add world champion to her already long list of accomplishments.

The Olympic shot putter from Queens County captured the gold medal Friday morning at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow.

“Incredible. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” she said in an interview via Zoom from Glasgow shortly after her win. 

“I’ve just been up in the top but never really on top at a world championship and now I’ve done three outdoor worlds and this is my second indoor worlds so it’s been a long time coming, so it’s just really sweet.”

Mitton beat her own Canadian record, twice: once with her fourth throw at 20.20 metres, which secured the gold medal. And then, she beat her own record again with her sixth and last throw of 20.22 metres. That was also a season’s best.

“The last one was really fun because when you’re in the lead you get to be the last thrower,” she said. “And so we know what third is, the only person that can overtake you is this girl in second. She doesn’t do it and then you’re standing there and you still have one attempt and you know you’ve just won a world indoor championships which is kind of surreal because you’re just flooded with emotion. 

“And so I stood there and I had goosebumps all over my legs and I was like, ‘OK. But you still have one more attempt to make a mark and have a better throw and just increase your lead.’ I really love the sixth round. It’s the last throw of the (competition), particularly this one where it’s the very last throw of the comp and it’s just really free. Like it didn’t matter if I threw 10 metres, it didn’t matter if I threw 25, I was still gonna be the champion so I think it opens the door for a really relaxed fun throw.”

German athlete Yemeni Ogunleye captured silver with a personal best throw of 20.19 metres. American Chase Jackson won bronze with a throw of 19.67 metres. 

Mitton said that making her first world indoor final in 2022 and throwing more than 19 metres for the first time at a championship really boosted her confidence. And that set her up for the success she’s had ever since.

She is ranked No. 2 in the world in the shot put. She won Canada’s first ever world medal in women’s shot put with her silver at the Budapest games in 2023. And she is a Commonwealth Games champion and Pan American Games champion.

She set a new Canadian indoor record just last week in the Czech Republic with a throw of 20.08 metres. Her personal best is 20.33 metres.

“I had usually underperformed from what I was usually capable of at these majors and I think it really just opened my eyes to be able to believe in myself that hey you’re now amongst these girls. You can break into their world. And from there, it just seems to have skyrocketed.”

And she’s been doing it all with bone chips in her right elbow. 

“My right arm takes a big brunt of the throw every time. And a lot of the girls struggle with elbow issues and of course the older you get, the more speed and force that gets put through your elbow.

“Thankfully we’ve been able to manage that from a non-surgical perspective for now and everything’s been good. … Thankfully, that’s been much better than last season, so I think that’s why I might be seeing a little bit more success indoors than I did last year.”

While her family didn’t make the trip to Glasgow for the short weekend competition, they will all be in Paris for the Summer Olympics in August.

In Glasgow, she had her coach and his wife and the rest of the Canadian team cheering her on.

“She’s been a big part of my career. She’s very involved. She just brings a really good, fun energy. She’s always the loudest person in the stadium and I can hear her from a mile away. But it’s been really fun to have her here.”

She says that having this breakthrough in Glasgow sets her up nicely for the Olympics.

“I’ve had my eye on Paris for two years at least. And everything we’ve been doing in the last two years is a part of our preparation, the same thing with this championships. This was a big part and I think right now, everything’s working, everything’s coming together.”

Mitton has a few meets coming up in China and Morocco, before returning to Canada to begin high-performance training. Then there are the national championships at the end of June, before heading to Barcelona to train and prepare for the Olympics.

Before any of that, though, she’ll be taking a week off and coming home to Liverpool to visit friends and family. And she may even pop into the gym at Queens Place Emera Centre when she’s home.

“I’m excited to see everybody,” she says. “I think it’s always fun walking into Queens Place. It can be really overwhelming, because it’s a lot of people I grew up with. It’s a lot of friends and family, but it’s also just been really great. When you show up, you know everybody and it just feels like home.

“I just want to thank everyone so much for the support. I know the flood of that comes from Liverpool and Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, and all through the East Coast. But I’m working my best to get back to everyone, but I will see you all when I get home. And I just really appreciate all the messages and the support.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to QCCR’s interview with Sarah Mitton below