Peninsula schools fare extremely well at Fraser Valley High School Track and Field Championships last week in Abbotsford, as teams finished in the top-10 in Grade 8, junior and senior divisions.
At the senior level, Cloverdale’s Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary Panthers placed third overall in the the combined-team score, while Semiahmoo was fifth, and Earl Marriott sixth. At the junior level, Semiahmoo finished in top spot, while EMS was fourth overall and Tweedmuir seventh.
Grade 8 athletes also had strong showings, with Tweedsmuir placing third overall, while Semiahmoo was fifth and White Rock Christian Academy eighth.
In the senior competition, Tweedsmuir’s Stephanie Mernagh and Tosha Moore were third and fourth, respectively, in the girls 400-m, while Kenzo Los was second in the boys 200-m and fifth in the 100-m. In field events, Tweedsmuir’s Jonny Chwaklinski was fourth in the triple jump, and Ben Ingvaldson won gold in the senior boys discus and hammer throw, and silver in the shotput.
In the girls 4×100 relay, Tweedsmuir had teams finish second and fourth, while Earl Marriott was fifth. Tweedsmuir was also second in the girls 4×400 relay event.
Earl Marriott, meanwhile, got medal-winning performances from a handful of senior athletes, including Jade Duncanson, who was third in both the girls 100-m and 200-m events; Ally Lydynuik, who was third in high jump and Chloe Alkema, who won the pole vault event with a vault of 3.2 m – a full one metre better than the second-place finisher.
Matthew McLean won a silver medal in the senior boys 100-m dash, while teammate Sterling Ginther was third in the 3,000-m race. Ginther also scooped a silver medal in the 2,000-m steeplechase, just ahead of WRCA’s Connor Jackson, who took the bronze.
Matson Lalor rounded out Marriott’s senior medals with a bronze in the javelin.
Semiahmoo was paced by senior runner Julia Greer, who won gold in the 800- and 1,500-m races, while Jacondra Saliken was third in the shotput and discus.
In the girls 400-m hurdles, Elise Burgert finished just off the podium, in fourth, while Chelsea Ribiero was also fourth in the senior girls 3,000-m.
Elgin Park was led by Joel Della Siega, who won gold in the senior boys high jump, while Owen Bulka was fifth in the senior boys 800-m.
In addition to Jackson’s aforementioned steeplechase bronze, White Rock Christian got a podium-worthy performance from Riley Becker, who was first in the senior boys 1,500-m racewalk.
The athletes will now prepare for BC Track and Field Championships, which are to be held June 4-6 at McLeod Athletic Park in Langley.
For full results – including Grade 8 and junior individual results – visit www.fraservalleytrack.net
