Quesnel had a remarkably strong showing at the North Central Zone Track and Field Championships in Prince George last week (May 14-15).
Correlieu Secondary School (CSS) and Quesnel Junior School (QJS) representatives have so far qualified for 23 slots at the provincial championships,with a few more expected once the results from the Grade 8 athletes are tallied.
Over 260 athletes took part in what was one of the larger zone championships in recent years.
Correlieu track coach Janet Barker says the Junior Boys Long Jump competition saw 31 competitors.
“[Rylan Murphy and Ryan Pugh] came first and second in that event and that was huge,” Barker says. “It’s not like they came first and second and there were only three kids. It was significant.”
While many of the track athletes put forth terrific performance, of specific significance was the exceptional performance of the Quesnel throwers.
While the city has not always been known for it’s Discus, Shot Put, Javelin or Hammer athletes in the past, a new throwing cage installed before last year’s Zones has seen a new trend emerge.
“This year over last year, we’ve had an almost 200 per cent increase in throwers,” says Charles Kramer, Correlieu’s other track and field coach, who has concentrated his efforts on the town’s tossers.
“It’s sort of that old adage, if you build it, they will come. Since we’ve have a cage, we’ve had a huge increase in throwers. As soon as you have the facility, you have people who see it, they get interested and they want to try it.”
“And our throwers are doing quite well,” he adds.
CSS Junior Girl Kara Hanson finished first or second in the four events she competed in, while her teammate in the same category, Destiny Bautista, also finished first in two events.
Even though it is her first year throwing, Kramer says she came within two metres of breaking a meet record, which she found astounding.
All three of the CSS Senior Girls finished top three in their tossing competitions too.
CSS’s Senior Boy Ian Mancor finished first in Shot Put and second in Discus and Hammer; while Christopher Henderson finished right behind him in Shot Put.
Olivia Momer, who competed for QJS in the Junior Girls Category, finished second in Javelin, while coming third in Hammer.
The QJS Junior Boys also cleaned up their category, with Kyle Eggert finishing first in every throwing event but Javelin, which was won by his teammate Linden Spencer.
For the Grade 8s, Laura Balkwill finished second in Hammer and Shot Put, Shayla Plante finished second in Hammer and third in Shot Put, Phoenix Knauff finished second in Discus, Jeff Hollowell finished second in Shot Put and Jed Gordon finished first in Shot Put, Discus and Hammer.
Although the event was held at Prince George’s Masich Place Stadium, it was technically hosted by Quesnel. Becky Whitehouse, who coaches the QJS team, also doubles as the zone representative, while Barker is the assistant rep.
This meant the Quesnel athletes were responsible for arriving an hour early to set up the track and had to wait until all the events were complete to take it all down.
On Tuesday, the rain was not their friend, as it shorted some of the electronic timers on the newly -renovated track, resulting in all the athletes having to stay until well past 10 p.m.
“The thing that was most heartwarming in some ways for us was the number of [opposing] coaches who came up to us saying, ‘We can’t believe how helpful your kids are!”‘ says Barker.
“They’re fantastic.”
Next up for the athletes will be the Provincial Championships in Kelowna,which will be held from May 30- June 1.
“All next week we’ll be refining technique,” says Kramer,
“We don’t want to train too hard because we don’t want to blow out any muscles. We just want to keep the technique good and maybe work on a tiny bit of strength.
“Then we’ll go down there, try to place high and hopefully break records.”
RESULTS:
Correlieu:
Junior Girls
Emily Milliken Heape
• 3rd 100m
Megan Strand
• 2nd 1500m
• 2nd 3000m
Lauren Pastachak
• 3rd High Jump
• 3rd Long Jump
Kara Hanson
• 1st shot put
• 2nd discus
• 2nd hammer throw
• 1st javelin
Destiny Bautista
• 3rd shot put
• 1st discus
• 1st hammer throw
Senior Girls
Lexi Plante
• 2nd shot put
• 2nd hammer throw
Ally Fulton
• 2nd discus
• 3rd hammer
Lucy Jespersen
• 3rd shot put
Junior Boys
Rylan Murphy
• 1st long jump
Ryan Pugh
• 2nd long jump
Andrew Armstrong
• 1st 1500m racewalk
Tanner Bolton
• 2nd triple jump
Senior Boys
Ian Mancor
• 1st shot put
• 2nd discus
• 2nd hammer
Christopher Henderson
• 2nd 400m hurdles
• 3rd 2000m steeplechase
• 3rd 110m hurdles
• 2nd shot put
Joshua Andres
• 3rd 400m
• 4th 800m
QJS:
Junior Girls
Reese Jacobsen
• 1st 100m dash
• 2nd 200m dash
Ruby Nicholas
• 1st 1500m run
• 1st 1500m steeplechase
• 1st 800m
Emma Blair
• 1st 80m hurdles
• 1st 300m hurdles
Lidia Solecki
• 2nd 80m hurdles
• 2nd 300m hurdles
• 2nd triple jump
Baillie Jackson
• 1st high jump
• 3rd triple jump
Olivia Momer
• 3rd hammer
• 2nd javelin
Junior Boys
Linden Spencer
• 1st high jump
• 1st javelin
Caleb Woollends
• 2nd shot put
• 3rd 1500m steeplechase
Kyle Eggert
• 1st shot put
• 1st discus
• 1st hammer
• 2nd javelin
Special Olympics
Josh Tilsner – 1st in 100m and 400m
QJS Zones Grade 8 Results
Female
Brooklyn Karey
• 1st 100m dash, 200m dash, 80m hurdles, high jump and long jump
• 2nd triple jump
Laura Balkwill
• 2nd hammer, shot put
• 3rd 800m run
• 4th long jump
• 4th triple jump
Taylor McGillivray
• 2nd 80m hurdles
• 2nd long jump
• 6th triple jump
Halle Hasselgrave
• 4th 80m hurdles
• 8th long jump
Shayla Plante
• 2nd hammer
• 3rd long jump
* 3rd shot put
Nora McKinnon
• 1st triple jump
Pheonix Knauff
• 2nd discus
• 3rd triple jump
• 4th shot put
• 6th javelin
Ciara Springle
• 4th discus
* 4th javelin
Relays
1st 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m
Male
Jeff Hollowell
• 2nd 100m,
• 2nd shot put
• 3rd 200m
• 4th 100m hurdles, triple jump
Judah Klaussen
• 1st 400m, long jump, triple jump
• 2nd high jump, 100m hurdles
• 5th 100m
Mitchell Dunn
• 2nd triple jump
• 3rd 100m hurdles
• 6th high jump
Scott MacPhail
• 2nd 200m
• 3rd 100m
Tyson Roberts
• 1st 3000m
• 2nd 1500m
• 3rd 800m
Jed Gordon
• 1st shot put
• 1st discus
• 1st hammer
Relays
1st 4x100m and 4x400m
READ MORE: Quesnel high school to acquire throwing cage ahead of district track and field meet
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