Abbotsford students impressed at last week’s Fraser Valley Track and Field Championships at Rotary Stadium, with local schools winning two of the three divisions and a handful of athletes moving on to provincials later this month.
The Abbotsford Christian School Knights took home top spot in the senior division, collecting 192.5 points and beating out second place W.J. Mouat Hawks and third place finishers Maple Ridge Secondary.
Senior division gold medal winners for the school included: Lucy Chuang (1500 metres female race walk) and Brendan Visser (1500m male race walk).
Knights earning senior silver medals were: Cassie Brandsma (senior female high jump), Johannah Brandsma (senior female triple jump), Olivia Bullett (1500m female race walk), Levi De Greeff (1500m male race walk), Jessica Kampman (1500m female steeplechase and pole vault), James Kehler (male triple jump), Cam Vanderveen (male pole vault) and the women’s 4 X 400m relay team.
ACS seniors taking home bronze included: Evan Castellani (400m male hurdles), Emma Conway (female high jump), Blake Flikkema (male shot put and hammer throw), Logan Onderwater (male pole vault) and Caleb Tam (male pole vault).
Mouat’s Jacob Kooy earned the only other senior gold medal win amongst Abbotsford athletes, taking home top spot in the male 110m hurdles.
Mouat’s Rachel Mortimer had a stellar showing on the track, earning a trio of silver medals in senior races. She earned second place in 800m, 1500m and 3000m races. Hawks runner Nathan Savage won a pair of medals at the event, scoring a silver in male 400m hurdles and bronze in 110m hurdles.
Other seniors reaching the podium were: MEI‘s Tamara Alexander (silver, female long jump), Yale‘s Russell Gilroy (silver, male high jump), MEI’s Lyzandria Enns (bronze, female long jump), Mouat’s Charlotte Koopmans (bronze, female triple jump), Mouat’s Nathaniel Boudreau (bronze, male high jump) and the Mouat women’s 4 X 400m relay team who won bronze.
Junior competition saw Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators win top spot, with ACS finishing the best amongst Abbotsford schools with a seventh place showing.
MEI’s Josh Carsience (male pole vault) and Yelissa Beugelink from ACS (female hammer throw) were the lone local junior athletes to win gold medals.
Junior silver medals were awarded to Abbotsford Senior’s Thane Timmerman (male 100m) and MEI’s Rajvir Brar (male hammer throw). Locals earning bronze included: MEI’s Anya Peters (female javelin throw), Mouat’s Alyssa Lane (female pole vault), Lexie Kampman from ACS (female high jump) and Jarryd Viljoen from ACS (male 1500m race walk).
The MEI Eagles won the Grade 8 competition, edging out Port Coquitlam’s Archbishop Carney Regional Secondary School by two points. The ACS Knights also cracked the top-10 in that division, finishing eighth overall.
The Eagles win was fuelled by an excellent showing in relay competition. The women’s 4 X 400m won gold, women’s 4 X 100m earned silver and the men’s 4 X 400m took home bronze. MEI’s Allyssa Hutchison took home silver medals in the female 800m and 400m races.
St. John Brebeuf‘s Sugar Moo had a strong day, with silver medals in the male 100m run and 100m hurdles.
Also winning multiple medals was ACS student Emily De Jager, who earned silver in the female 3000m and bronze in the 1500m. Other silver medallists were: Jacinda Fleming from ACS (female long jump) and MEI’s Vanessa Pirani (female 200m hurdles). MEI’s Thomas Frew also took home a bronze in male triple jump.
For full results from the event, visit fraservalleytrack.net.
The top qualifiers now head to the BC Track and Field Championships, which run from May 31 to June 2 in Langley.
