Quesnel’s track and field athletes put forth a terrific effort at the 2019 B.C. High School Track and Field Provincial Championships in Kelowna last week (May 30-June 1).
Competitors from Quesnel Junior School (QJS) and Correlieu Secondary School (CSS) combined to earn three medals and six top-ten ribbons.
“For our kids [to get top ten finishes] is huge,” says QJS track coach Becky Whitehouse. “We start training on April 1 and don’t even go outside until April 15, so for us to finish that high is a great achievement.”
QJS’s Josh Tilsner blew by the competition in the Men’s 100 m and 400 metre Special Olympic sprinting races.
This was the first time Special Olympics athletes had to earn their way into the provincial championships. Previous competitions had been by invite only but this year, the top athletes from the zones got to compete.
Although the competition was tough, Tilsner was more than up for it.
“He did phenomenal,” says Whitehouse. “He also ran on both relay teams and just steps up for his team.”
Long distance wunderkind, Ruby Nicholas earned a bronze for her performance in the Junior Women 1500 m Steeplechase.
This was the first year competing in that discipline for QJS’s Nicholas but she rose to the occasion.
“When we went down last year I pulled her aside and said, ‘OK Ruby, we’re going to watch the steeplechase this year because it’s something I think you’ll do really well in,'” says Whitehouse. “I know she was really surprised when we came back from the zones that her steeple chase was only nine seconds off her 1500 metre run, so I thought, ‘well, that tells me that A: you could have pushed your 1500 metre a little more but B: you are going to be quite competitive in the 1500 metre steeple chase.'”
Nicholas also earned a seventh place finish in the Junior Women 800m dash.
Brooklyn Karey had a wonderful meet too, earning a pair of ribbons. She placed fourth in Grade 8 Women’s Long Jump and eighth in Grade 8 Women’s 80m Hurdles.
Also landing a couple top-ten ribbons was Destiny Bautista. The first-year thrower placed eighth in Junior Women’s 3kg Hammer Throw and 10th in Junior Women’s 1kg Discus Throw.
Rounding out the ribbons were Baillie Jackson, who finished eighth in Junior Women’s High Jump.
FULL RESULTS:
Women 1500 Meter Steeplechase Junior
3rd place Ruby Nicholas 5:11:38
Women 1500 Meter Run Junior – prelims
19 Ruby Nicholas Quesnel JR School 5:08.
31 Megan Strand Correlieu 5:38.83
Women 4×100 Meter Relay Junior – prelims
18 Quesnel JR School ‘A’ 54.27
1) Emma Blair 2) Reese Jacobsen
3) Olivia Martins 4) Lidia Solecki
29 Correlieu ‘A’ 57.99
1) Lauren Pastachak 2) Megan Strand
3) Destiny Bautista 4) Kara Hanson
Men 4×100 Meter Relay Junior – Prelims
28 Quesnel JR School ‘A’ 53.69
1) Kyle Eggert 2) Joshua Tilsner
3) Caleb Woolends 4) Linden Spencer
Women Triple Jump Junior
23 Lidia Solecki Quesnel JR School 9.44m
Men Long Jump Junior
19 Rylan Murphy Correlieu 5.62m
29 Ryan Pugh Correlieu 5.33m
Women Discus Throw 1 kg Senior
23 Ally Fulton Correlieu 20.36m
Women High Jump Gr 8
13 Brooklyn Karey Quesnel JR School 1.35m
Women 80 Meter Hurdles Junior
24 Emma Blair Quesnel JR School 14.24
Women Shot Put 3 kg Junior
24 Destiny Bautista Correlieu 8.28m
Men Discus Throw 1.5 kg Junior
19 Kyle Eggert Quesnel JR School 28.29m
Men Discus Throw 1.75 kg Senior
22 Ian Mancor Correlieu 28.02m
Women Long Jump Gr 8
4 Brooklyn Karey Quesnel JR School 4.74m
Women Hammer Throw 4 kg Senior
26 Lexi Plante Correlieu 21.72m
Women Javelin Throw 500 gram Junior
29 Olivia Momer Quesnel JR School 21.02m
31 Kara Hanson Correlieu 16.36m
Men Shot Put 5 kg Junior
26 Kyle Eggert Quesnel JR School 9.76m
30 Caleb Woollends Quesnel JR School 9.00m
Men Hammer Throw 6 kg Senior
13 Ian Mancor Correlieu 30.91m
Women Long Jump Junior
31 Lauren Pastachak Correlieu 4.09m
Men Hammer Throw 5 kg Junior
20 Kyle Eggert Quesnel JR School 27.37m
Women 80 Meter Hurdles Junior – prelims
21 Lidia Solecki Quesnel JR School 13.89
Women 80 Meter Hurdles Gr 8 – prelims
6 Brooklyn Karey Quesnel JR School 14.79
Women 100 Meter Dash Junior – prelims
25 Reese Jacobsen Quesnel JR School 13.55
Women 80 Meter Hurdles Gr 8
8 Brooklyn Karey Quesnel JR School 14.53
Men 100 Meter Run Special O
1 Joshua Tilsner Quesnel JR School 12.64
Men 400 Meter Run Special O
1 Joshua Tilsner Quesnel JR School 59.02 10
Women 4×400 Meter Relay Junior – prelims
16 Quesnel JR School ‘A’ 4:32.42
1) Emma Blair 2) Reese Jacobsen
3) Olivia Martins 4) Ruby Nicholas
26 Correlieu ‘A’ 5:02.50
1) Lauren Pastachak 2) Megan Strand
3) Destiny Bautista 4) Kara Hanson
Men 4×400 Meter Relay Junior – prelims
30 Quesnel JR School ‘A’ 4:07.46
1) Kyle Eggert 2) Joshua Tilsner
3) Caleb Woolends 4) Linden Spencer
Women Discus Throw 1 kg Junior
10 Destiny Bautista Correlieu 24.90m
Men Javelin Throw 700 gram Junior
26 Linden Spencer Quesnel JR School 28.89m
Women Hammer Throw 3 kg Junior
8 Destiny Bautista Correlieu 32.44m
13 Olivia Momer Quesnel JR School 25.53m
Men High Jump Junior
18 Linden Spencer Quesnel JR School 1.65m
Women Shot Put 4 kg Senior
28 Lexi Plante Correlieu 7.72m
Women High Jump Junior
8 Baillie Jackson Quesnel JR School 1.50m
Men Shot Put 6 kg Senior
17 Ian Mancor Correlieu 10.53m
28 Christopher Henderson Correlieu 7.56m
Women 800 Meter Run Junior – prelims
8 Ruby Nicholas Quesnel JR School 2:23.71
Men 400 Meter Hurdles Senior
26 Christopher Henderson Correlieu 1:10.50
Women 300 Meter Hurdles Junior
12 Emma Blair Quesnel JR School 49.55 2
19 Lidia Solecki Quesnel JR School 52.01 3
Men 1500 Meter Race Walk Junior
— Andrew Armstrong Correlieu DQ
Women 200 Meter Dash Junior
23 Reese Jacobsen Quesnel JR School 27.97
Women 800 Meter Run Junior
7 Ruby Nicholas Quesnel JR School 2:23.57
READ MORE: Quesnel tosses way to victory at track and field zones
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