Ponoka’s golden girl has done it again, winning two medals at the Western Canada Summer Games.
Isatu Fofanah earned fastest female of the Games honours Ag. 6, setting a Western Canada Games record of 11.71 to win gold in the women’s 100 m. The previous record of 11.84 seconds was set by Team Alberta alumnus Loudia Laarman in 2007.
Two nights later the women’s 4 x 100 m relay team of Amanda Ntiamoah of Edmonton, Leah Walkenden of Ardrossan, Stephanie Clarke of Edmonton, anchored by Fofanah, won gold with an unofficial time of 45.08.
Fofanah has had a difficult year battling injuries, but you’d never know that from her performance in the marquee event of the track and field competition.
“I feel great right now, it’s indescribable. Coming into this race, I just wanted to beat my previous time of 11.87 and I was so happy to do that given the struggle I have had with injuries. I am just on cloud 9!” exclaimed Fofanah.
Unfortunately, Fofanah knows more than she should about what it is like to struggle.
Born in Sierra Leone, Africa, her father left at birth and her mother passed away when she was just six years old. Following the violent Blood Diamond war of 1993, Fofanah and her brother were forced into refugee camps but escaped the country with the help of her aunt, who brought them and 10 others to Ponoka.
The athletics team was responsible for all 18 medals for Team Alberta on day 1, and with more events to come, Connors is confident the strong results will continue.
“We expected Paige and Isatu to do really well, but on the whole, we were really excited with the strong performances in all the disciplines,” commented Connors. “Just as important as our medalists however were the athletes that were posting great personal results to contribute to the points total for Team Alberta.”
Women’s softball team beats Saskatchewan
Following a sluggish start on the diamonds, the women’s softball squad was looking to get back on track with a win this Aug. 7 against Team Saskatchewan.
With neither team scoring after three innings, Team Alberta got on their bats, jumping out to a 3-1 in the fourth inning and then scored an impressive four runs in the fifth, thanks to a homerun scored by Calgary’s Taylor McGonigal.
Ponoka’s Amy Lank is on the Team Alberta softball squad.