Helen Crofts and Chantel Desch, both members of Abbotsford’s Valley Royals track and field club, helped the Simon Fraser University women’s team to a fifth-place finish at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships in Idaho earlier this month.
Crofts, a Canadian international, won the women’s 800 metres in a time of 2:12.29.
Desch, a 2012 grad of Yale Secondary who won two bronze medals at last year’s B.C. high school provincials, ran a personal-best 57.23 seconds to place second in the 400m.
Later in the meet, Crofts and Desch teamed up with Sarah Sawatzky and Michaela Kane to win the 4x400m relay in a conference record time of 3:48.36.
Other Valley Royals who took part in the GNAC meet included Kayla Lennea (12th in the 800m) and Travis Vugteveen (men’s 800m).
Both Crofts and Desch will now represent SFU at the Div. 2 NCAA Championships in Birmingham, Ala. This will mark the first appearance for SFU at the Div. 2 track nationals.
