Valley Royals athletes started the summer off red-hot at a pair of track meets in the past week.
Over in Surrey at the Universal Athletics Club Meet on Saturday, Royals athlete Rowan Hamilton celebrated Canada Day by establishing a new Canadian youth record in the hammer throw.
The Chilliwack native crushed the competition at the event, throwing for 67.72 metres – more than 17m farther than the second place competitor. The previous record was 67.45m, set in 2006 by Nolan Henderson at a meet in Burnaby.
Also at the Universal meet, Royals athlete Elliot Payne finished first in the javelin, throwing for a personal best of 55.18m.
Both Hamilton and Abbotsford’s Vikramjit Gondara were recently named to the Canadian team for the 2017 Pan American U20 Championship event in Peru from July 21 to 23.
Gondara, a 2017 W.J. Mouat grad, won gold in both the hammer throw and discus at the British Columbia High School Track and Field Championships in Langley last month.
Meanwhile, Royals athletes dominated in the high jump at the Harry Jerome International Track Classic on June 29.
Battling against Olympian Alyx Treasure, Royals athlete Alexa Porpaczy finished a solid second in the women’s competition. Porpaczy, a South Surrey native, leapt a height of 1.71m to earn the silver. It continues a strong year for Porpaczy, a former two-time national youth high jump champion and gold medal winner at the BC high school track and field championships.
Valley Royals athletes Gabriella Aquillini (1.61m) and Eniko Sara (1.56m) finished fourth and fifth respectively at the event.
The Royals swept the top five spots in the men’s high jump competition at the event.
Django Lovett cleared a height of 2.20m to earn first place, with teammates Joel Della Siega (2.01m), Bryce McKenzie (2.01m), Michael Lambert (1.96m) and Zach Kuzyk (1.91m) rounding out the top five.
Also at the Harry Jerome, the Royals junior development team excelled, as the boys born 2006 or younger relay team placed third.
The girls junior development team finished eighth overall.
The next big event for Royals club members is the Ocean Athletics Summer Series race three, which occurs in Surrey on July 11.
For more on the club, visit valleyroyals.org.
