There were eight provincial medals and numerous great performances by Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows athletes at the B.C. High School Track and Field Championships, held in Langley on Saturday.
Explosive long jumper Erick Villaneuva of Thomas Haney won gold in the junior event, with a leap of 6.40m. That was 20 cm ahead of second place, and would have placed him fourth among senior boys.
Reid Muller of Pitt Meadows Secondary won the men’s 1,500m, but was disqualified after an appeal and a controversial decision. He had been running third, and burst between the two leaders to win on his final kick. The judges ruled that he had made contact in the pass, and took his gold medal.
But Muller took second in the men’s 800m run, and his time of 1:53.55 was a fraction of a section behind winner Taylor Lyman of Reynolds who ran 1:53.46.
Jordan Ellingson of Maple Ridge Christian was third in senior men’s javelin with an impressive throw of 50.64m.
There were a lot of Maple Ridge Secondary athletes who either won medals, or placed in the top eight, to score points for their team.
Jorrin Lenton of MRSS was second in the junior boys 300m hurdles.
“That’s only the third time he’s ever run the hurdles,” said coach Ken Elphick, so he will be expecting big things from Lenton next year.
Marshall Shupe of MRSS was second in the Grade 8 boys 800m. Elphick noted that he is a high-level speed skater who managed a provincial silver on the track, despite it not being his first sport.
Ilse Rafter of MRSS was third in the Grade 8 girls 3,000m, and also impressed her coach.
“If there was a 5,000m she would win it for sure – the longer she goes, the better she is,” said Elphick.
The Ramblers junior girls relay was second in the 4x400m, despite having dropped the baton. The runners stopped for a second, not sure if they were allowed to continue, then picked up the baton and almost caught the first-place team.
Elphick said the entire relay is in Grade 9, so Emily Morley, Aaryanna Kurucz and sisters Blithe and Brooke Parry should be looking at a gold medal next year.
“They were lose this year. If they hadn’t dropped the baton they would have been really close to the team that won it.”
In the junior girls 400m dash Kurucz placed third.
As a team, the MRSS junior girls finished sixth in the province, and the senior girls 15th, out of more than 100 teams.
There were numerous Rambler athletes who didn’t medal, but had solid results to score points for their team. Jamie Hennessey ran sixth in the junior girls 1,500m; Abisayo Ajibike was fifth in the senior girls’s 100m dash; Kate Meredith was fifth in junior girl’s shot put; and Edward Elphick was fifth in the junior hammer.
Garibaldi’s Sarah Hoffman was fourth in the junior girls long jump and ran sixth in the 100m.
Eden Waring-Jones and Sierrah Burrows of Pitt Meadows were fourth and fifth respectively in the Grade 8 girls long jump, separated by only a centimeter. Waring-Jones also made the final in the 200m, finishing seventh, and Burrows was sixth in the 80 m hurdles.
Madelyn Huston of Thomas Haney was fifth in that event, and also fifth in the junior women’s 800m.
