Sarah Sooley of Port Hope Simpson demolished her own Labrador Winter Games record. During the women’s one-foot high kick, at the Northern Games, Sooley topped out at 6 feet, 11 inches.
The sold out crowd at the E.J. Broomfield arena was filled with energy as all eyes concentrated on Sooley, while she aimed for a new record. People from all over Labrador chanted her name and cheered with force after each successful kick
In 2010, Sooley set the record at 6 foot 8. This year, Sooley was given the option of trying to beat her own benchmark, after she had won the competition. After hitting the seal at 6 foot 9, she kept going up by an inch. At the end of the night, Sooley could hardly believe that she broke her old record by a full three inches.
“ I didn’t know (that I could break the record), actually, because I haven’t kicked my own record since I’ve been practicing,” said Sooley. So tonight has been way higher than I expected, honestly. I never kicked that high…I just kept thinking I want to go higher.”
Sooley’s joy wouldn’t end with the high kick. When the points for all four Northern Games events were tallied up, Sooley had won the gold medal in the women’s division. Along with her record-breaking win in the high kick, she placed first in hurdles, second in over the rope, and third in seal crawl, giving Sooley an incredible 114 points.
“Sarah’s probably one of the most amazing athletes I’ve met in my entire life. She can do almost anything she puts her mind too,” says Sarah’s best friend Regan Burden. “As long as I can remember she’s always been a runner, she plays basketball, she did track and field last year. She’s always been in great shape and she’s really determined.”
