The cheers can be heard blocks away in central Hay River at the 2025 NWT Track and Field Championships continue, with more than 1,000 students entered from across the territory.
That up about 100 registrations over last year.
Khloe Tinqui, centre, from Elizabeth Mackenzie School in Behchoko, competes Thursday at the NWT Track and Field Championships in Hay River. (James O’Connor/CKLB)
Add some warm weather and enough wind to keep the bugs and wildfire smoke at bay, and you have the recipe for friendly competition and for far-flung friends to meet again.
Dawn Nessel is a support assistant at Chief Sunrise Education Centre, a K-12 school serving 60 students on the Kátł’odeeche First Nation Reserve.
“I think it’s a really good opportunity for the kids,” she said. “It shows them how to be a team. It shows them commitment, and it gives them something to compete against, not with just the classmates and but with all of the NWT.”
They also get to make new friends and re-connect with kids they’ve met each year at the Track Meet.
“I have students that have former teachers who are now teaching in other communities, and they even get to see. So yeah, it’s really good. It’s really good for the community.”
The running, jumping and throwing began on Wednesday and continues tomorrow, with the awards ceremony in the afternoon.
Eleanor Vivian, from Range Lake North School in Yellowknife, competes at the NWT Track and Field Championships in Hay River. (James O’Connor/CKLB)
