One athlete was just happy to be healthy again, another was forced to grind through nagging injuries, while a third thought she was just going for some experience down the road.
But all three found the podium at the B.C. high school track and field provincial championships.
The meet was held May 29-31 at Langley’s McLeod Athletic Park.
Walnut Grove’s Robyn Buckingham — who won silver in heptathlon the week before as part of the multi-sport championships — added to her haul with a silver in the long jump and bronze in the javelin. Her Gators teammate Chelsea Borrowdale delivered a pair of silver medals in the 1500m steeplechase and the 3000m.
And Langley Fundamental’s Hannah Beaton won silver in the shot put.
While some graduating athletes may have been disappointed without winning gold at their final high school meet, Beaton was elated to win silver.
“A few weeks ago, I was throwing in the 9s and it was a challenge for me,” she explained.
“But on Saturday, it just felt right. I knew I was going to medal.”
She had thrown a personal best (PB) of 10.2m the weekend before in the heptathlon, finishing sixth overall.
But on Saturday, all six of her throws exceeded 11m and she won with toss of 11.45m. 
Boaz Joseph/Black Press
Langley Fundamental’s Hannah Beaton won silver in the shot put at the B.C. high school track and field championships.
“I think I finally PB’d so much because my body was fresh,” Beaton said.
“Normally, I would have done hurdles and high jump before throwing shot put.”
Beaton was fifth in the javelin (36.45m) and 14th in the long jump (4.63m).
Buckingham, a Grade 11 student, has been dealing with a nagging back injury she first suffered in August at the Canadian Legion track and field championships.
“It was a tough meet because I was hurt,” Buckingham explained, adding that she also suffered a recent leg injury.
“All season it has been a nagging pain (so) I am happy with my results.”
In addition to her silver the week before in the heptathlon, Buckingham won silver in the long jump on Thursday afternoon and then added bronze in the javelin on Saturday.
Her best throw in the javelin came in at 39.73m while her leap of 5.34m in the long jump was a personal best, bettering her previous best of 5.26m.
As for Borrowdale, she had no expectations of a podium finish, let alone finishing with a pair.
The Grade 9 student was competing at the senior level and won silver in both the 3000m race and the 1500m steeplechase race.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” she admitted.
“I was just hoping for personal bests; I didn’t think I could achieve a podium finish, so that was a nice surprise.”
Borrowdale crossed the finish line in 10:18.06 in the 3000m race and 5:10.08 in the 1500m steeplechase.
The former is her main event while she was doing the latter for just the third time.
“I took up the steeplechase because I thought it would be fun,” Borrowdale said.
Gary Ahuja/Langley Times
Walnut Grove’s Chelsea Borrowdale (#1771) won the silver medal in the 1500m steeplechase at the B.C. high school track and field championships.
