These athletes know how to swing a hammer.
There were some seriously long-distance tosses in the senior girls’ hammer throw event Friday morning at the B.C. High School Track and Field Championships at Rotary Bowl stadium.
Camryn Rogers of R.A. McMath Secondary in Richmond won the event with a throw of 59.15 metres.
“I’m just very happy to represent my school,” she said. “And it’s just very exciting. I love coming to provincials.”
Her championship-winning throw established a new senior girls’ B.C. record – the old record was 55.09m, set in 2003 – and wasn’t far off her personal best of 59.73, set just two weeks ago.
“I’m happy that I’ve hit [59m] again, because it’s showing me that I can hit that level again…” Rogers said. “I feel very happy because I’m becoming more consistent with my throws and the technique’s feeling really, really good.”
Chanell Botsis of Dr. Charles Best Secondary in Coquitlam took silver with a throw of 55.87m that would have won her gold in any other year, and Tanika Dolfo of Langley Fundamental was third with a 47.69m toss.
Sportsmanship was on display as hammer competitors from different schools were genuine in their support of one another.
“[With throwing events] it’s still a small group compared to a lot of other sports,” Rogers said. “I’ve noticed that a lot of competitions, you’ll see people just being really friendly, supporting each other and it helps so, so much.”
She will also be competing in shot put, and said winning one championship may decrease the stress level.
“You have to focus, no matter what happens in your other events,” she said. “But it is a good feeling to know that the hammer went really well.”
For schedule information about other events at the B.C. High School Track and Field Championships, please click here.
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