Garrett Mitchell would rather be at the Memorial Cup this week. Failing that, he is shooting for a championship of a different sort.

The Regina Pats right winger is to compete in junior boys javelin today at the Regina High Schools Athletic Association track and field championships. Last year, he was the provincial midget boys javelin champion.

"In the wintertime, hockey takes up a whole bunch of our time,'' Mitchell, who is in Grade 11 at Campbell Collegiate, said Wednesday during a respite at the Canada Games Athletics Complex. "It's good to come out here and relax and have fun. It's still a competition that I like, so that's why I do it.''

Mitchell competed in the junior boys discus on Wednesday, winning a silver medal. The javelin event is his specialty.

"I think it goes back to training for hockey and the strength you develop,'' said Mitchell, 16. "For the javelin, our track coach at Campbell, Mr. (Darren) Peters, showed me how to throw the javelin. Before, I went on pure strength. He taught me how to throw it instead of muscling it.''

Mitchell finds that track and field can help him prepare for the rigours of a Western Hockey League season.

"When you go to track practice, the running keeps you in shape,'' he said. "I was talking to Greg (Mayer, the Pats' athletic therapist) and he said the cross-training helps. You can use the strength you develop in shot put and events like that to help you when you're battling in the corners. The strength helps you out here, too.''

The Pats enjoyed a strong regular season, capturing the East Division title for the first time since 1998. However, Regina was eliminated by the Swift Current Broncos in Round 1 of the playoffs.

"It's a tough pill to swallow, but you can't change what happened in the first round,'' Mitchell said. "We've just got to focus on next year.''

At the same time, Mitchell is focusing on his next event while enjoying the atmosphere at high school track.

"I like how it's so relaxed,'' he said. "You don't have 6,000 fans sitting over top of you, and you get out of school, too.''

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008

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