After countless hours of preparation and a last-minute throwing cage installation, 226 athletes from 26 schools across the north descended upon Correlieu Secondary School (CSS) for the North Central Zone Track and Field Championships.
A two-day affair taking place on May 15-16, the meet showcased some of the finest young athletes from as far away as Fort St. John, Bella Coola and McBride.
The skill and determination that the competitors displayed was impressive.
To focus all of one’s energy on hurling your body through the air, tossing an object as far as possible or pumping your legs until your heart can barely take it in an effort to cross a finish line takes concentration and mindfulness that will surely benefit these young people in countless aspects of their life.
Athletes engaged in leaping competitions like long jump, triple jump and high jump; throwing feats like javelin, discus, hammer throw and shot put, as well as a slew of running events of differing lengths.
Day one was a scorching affair, with temperatures rising to 29 degrees Celsius.
Those not competing preserved their energy and sat under shelters with their teammates.
Despite the oven-like conditions, some local athletes put up impressive performances.
Ruby Nicholas, a Grade 8 student representing Quesnel Junior School (QJS), blew by her competitors in both the 1,500-metre and 3,000-metre long distance runs.
She has been running since Grade 3, so wasn’t surprised at the result.
“I run with my dad a lot,” she says.
“And I play soccer too, which helps.”
She, like many of her peers, is aiming for a shot at the Provincial Track and Field Championships, which will be held in Langley from May 31 to June 2.
If successful, she will be joined by Megan Strand, who will be attending her second provincials after competing in the 1,500-metre run last year.
Strand, in Grade 9 at QJS, won the 1,500-metre Junior Woman’s Event on Day 1.
She was competing against both Grade 9 and 10 girls.
“I didn’t think I was going to beat the Grade 10s,” she says, pleasantly surprised.
“I didn’t go too fast at the start as I didn’t know how the other people were going to run, so I paced myself and I realized I could go ahead of them, so I did.”
Bazil Spencer, from Correlieu, also qualified for the provincials with a first-place effort in the 400-metre run.
He had to wait for two hours longer than he had hoped to start in the event, so nervous energy had time to build up within him.
The 400-metre run involved two heats without a final, so Spencer knew he would have to give it his all in case runners in the other heat outpaced him.
“I went to the starting line, and I was thinking, ‘I’ve got to go as fast as I can because even if I win my heat, I might not win overall,'” he says.
“So I just went and pushed as hard as I could, right to the finish.
“I couldn’t really walk after, but that’s what you want.”
Other gold medals went to Reese Jacobsen for Bantam Girls 100-metre dash, Emma Blair for Bantam Girls 200-metre hurdles, Lidia Solecki for Bantam Girls triple jump, Josh Tilsner for Bantam Boys 400-metre run, Kyle Eggert for Bantam Boys shot put and hammer throw and Ryan Pugh for Junior Men’s long jump.
A complete list of day one local top-three finishes is below. Day two results will be available online and in the Observer‘s next edition.
Correlieu
Senior women’s events
• Triple jump – Mason Hawkridge, 3rd
• Discus – Raechel Fowler, 3rd
Senior men’s events
• Javelin – Curtus Leroux, 3rd
• 400m run – Bazil Spencer, 1st
Junior women’s events
• Discus – Branda Eggert, 3rd
Junior men’s events
• 300m hurdles – Christopher Henderson, 2nd
QJS
Bantam (Grade 8) girls events
• 100m dash – Reese Jacobsen, 1st
• 1,500m run – Ruby Nicholas, 1st
• 3,000m run – Ruby Nicholas, 1st
• 200m hurdles – Emma Blair, 1st
• Javelin – Olivia Momer, 3rd
• Triple jump – Lidia Solecki, 1st; Baillie Jackson, 2nd
Bantam (Grade 8) boys events
• 100m dash – Joshua Tilsner, 3rd
• 400m run – Joshua Tilsner, 1st
• Shot put – Kyle Eggert, 1st; Caleb Woollends, 2nd
• Hammer throw – Kyle Eggert, 1st; Caleb Woollends, 2nd
• Javelin – Kyle Eggert, 2nd
Junior women’s events – QJS Grade 9 girls competing against Grade 9 and 10 students
• 1,500m run – Megan Strand, 1st
• 300m hurdles – Megan Strand, 2nd, Nalyssa Runge, 3rd
• Triple jump – Kaitlyn Horth, 3rd
• Discus – Kara Hanson, 2nd
Junior men’s events – QJS Grade 9 boys competing against Grade 9 and 10 students
• Long jump – Ryan Pugh, 1st; Rylan Murphy, 2nd
