BC Athletics Provincial Cross Country Championships – Outstanding!

A big congratulations goes out to all of our Valley Royals athletes who competed in the BC Athletics Provincial Cross Country Championships this past weekend in Vernon. Our athletes represented us in an outstanding manner.

Adrianna Buitelaar was the U18 girls provincial champion winning the race by a large margin over Lexi Dow who was last seasons 2nd place finisher at Nationals so we are looking very good going into this years event. The Ontario girls are also on fire so this years nationals promises to be crazy.

Riley Simmonds and Sam May ran strongly to secure spots on Team BC with a 5th and 6th place finish in what was one of the toughest U18 guys races ever. With Miles Graham, Arata Nakanishi, Jonah Dyck, and Sam Rasquinha following up close behind we are definitely in contention for the top team spot and will find out when official results are released shortly.

In the U16 boys race Parks Siemens, Laken Olsen, Will Steiger, and Nick Chester ran very strongly and will also be in contention for the team title. Maggie Epp keeps getting stronger every race out and was in contention for a spot on Team BC until the later stages of the race and Arie Wassenaar ran very well over 8k in the U20 category.

Well done Royals. – Coach Scott

JD Cross Country Meet Schedule

There are three meets that the JD group will be attending in October and November:

  1. Valley Royals Grand Prix Race #3 – Oct 9

2. Frank Reynolds Memorial Meet – Oct 19

3. Cross Country Championships, Vernon BC – Oct 26
 
 
4. Fraser Valley Cross Country Ramble – Nov 16

All of these races are optional. However, if there is a practice on a meet day, the practice will be cancelled.

Valley Royals Grand Prix was a Great Success!

The 2024 Valley Royals Grand Prix – one of the Fraser Valley’s most popular cross country meet series – welcomed a range of runners and abilities. We may be done for this year, but keep up training for more seasons and fun.

School results are coming soon.

All races are at Clearbrook Park, Abbotsford.

Download the information pack: 2024 Grand Prix School Letter & Package

Download the meet pack: Grand Prix Meet Package 2024

 

Cross Country Starts Soon

It’s time to get those legs moving again! Join Valley Royals 2024 Cross Country season. All practices are at Clearbrook Park, and all levels and abilities are welcome to join. Contact Christa ([email protected]) to register.

First High School Practice – August 27

  • Tuesdays & Thursdays 4:30pm – 6:00pm
  • Saturdays 10:30am to 12:00pm

First JD Practice – September 5

  • Tuesdays & Thursdays 3:30pm to 4:30pm
  • Saturdays 9:15am – 10:15am

Peak Performances at Legion Nationals

Power and Speed Group
It has been duly noted by many in our BC track circles the crazy length of this 2024 season.  It’s a big ask to expect athletes to peak for the BC High School championships in June, for the Jamboree in July, and yet again for the Legion Nationals this past weekend in Calgary.  Luckily, our approach of training hard but smart over this past month paid off with several personal bests and great efforts by our power and speed athletes.   
 
Jesse Booth placed 6th overall in a pole vault competition, which saw the bar raised in substantial 20 centimetre increments.  Jesse cleared 2.90 and had 3 good attempts at 3.10 (which would have been a personal best).   
 
Thanks to personal bests in shot put, high jump, the 200 and javelin, and with solid performances in the hurdles, long jump and 800, Gurpartap Sandhu had a huge 300-point PB in the gruelling heptathlon, placing 9th in the country.  But because the heptathlon wasn’t quite enough, and just for good measure, Gurpartap competed in the triple jump the day after her heptathlon, jumping a PB of 10.69, which placed her 12th. 
 
Luke Wight contested the long jump, and despite falling backwards a bit with his elbow on the landing of his last jump, likely costing him 10-15 centimetres, it was still good enough for a PB of 6.32 meters, placing him 16th in the country. 
 
Harveer Nigah, fighting several injures still managed an 8th place finish  in the high jump. 
 
 In the 400meter hurdles, Will Van Schagen set a blistering pace in the first 200, allowing him to hang on for silver with a massive PB of 53.30, about 1.4 seconds faster than his previous best. Side note, Will’s time is 0.19 seconds faster than the current BC High School record.  
 
Well done to all of our Legion athletes.   – Coach Trevor
Luke Wight
Jesse Booth

 

 

 

 

 

Will Van Schagen

 

Gurpartap Sandhu
Harveer Nigah

 

 

 

 

Distance Group

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of our Valley Royals Athletes who competed at this past weekends Canadian Legion Championships in Calgary Alberta. For many of our athletes it was their first time competing at the national level and they all without exception should be proud of their efforts against the best competition our country has to offer. With regards to our distance athletes we represented both Valley Royals and Team BC with distinction.

Adrianna Buitelaar finished off an outstanding season by claiming her first Canadian Championship in the 3000m and taking the bronze medal in the 1500m.

In the Steeplechase Sam May ran an inspiring race to finish 4th and Miles Graham ran strongly to finish 7th in the country. Arata Nakanishi felt the fatigue from a long season and despite not being at his best still managed a 14th place finish. Will Van Schagen made a big breakthrough in the 400m hurdles with a silver medal performance and new PR of 53.30 which is faster than the current BC High school record and both coach Trevor and myself are very proud of his accomplishments. Riley Simmonds  made a valiant effort in the 3000m but felt the effects of a long season and was far off his best but we will be looking forward to many great runs from this fine athlete in the future.

A big congratulations and thank you goes out to all the parents and board members for your support throughout what proved to be an outstanding  season. Go Royals! – Coach Scott

Will Van Schagen
Adrianna Buitelaar

BC Athletics Jamboree Celebrations

Our Valley Royals team had a stellar performance and this year’s BC Athletics Jamboree. What an amazing group of athletes, parents, coaches, and volunteers!

Power and Speed Group Performance
Despite strong gusty winds making for tough conditions in the sprints and for inconsistent boards in the jumps it was a great weekend in Nanaimo.   The athlete’s performances were far better than the mechanical reliability of a BC Ferry.   Here’s a quick rundown of the weekend. 
 
  • Harveer Nigah – 4th in 100 hurdles, Silver in the 100, Silver in the High Jump
  • Neven McNeil – Great runs in the 100hurdles and 100 and 4 x100  
  • Tristan Stieger – Strong performances in the 200, 400 and 4 x 100 relay
  • Sydney O’Neil – Great runs in the 100, 300 and 4 x 100. 
  • Luke Wight – Bronze in triple jump, 4th in long jump, strong run in the 4 x 100
  • Sanaa Musonge – Great runs in the 100, 200 and 4 x 100
  • Nadege Henderson – Good high jumping, great run in the 80hurdles, 300 hurdles, and 4 x100
  • Derek Zhou – Gold in his first ever decathlon, great run in the 4 x 100
  • Jesse Booth – 4th in discus, javelin, pole vault, hammer and pole vault, good run in the 4 x 100
  • Evan Booth – Good performances in the long and triple jumps, good runs in the 100, 200 and 4 x 100
  • Logan Sutherland – Silver in pole vault, great run in the 4 x 100 relay
  • Will Van Schagen – Gold in 400 hurdles, great run in the flat 400
  • Caleb Okoti – Great runs in the 100, 200 and 4 x 100
  • Lindsay Foster -Bronze in the triple jump, great run in the 200 and 4 x 100 relay
  • Gurpartap Sandhu – 3rd in triple jump, 5th in heptathlon
We want to wish good luck to all of our athletes competing this week at the BC Summer Games in Maple Ridge.  -Coach Trevor
 
Throws Group Performance
 
Jesse in Hammer Throw 
After a long day of travel due to Cancelled Ferries and throwing on a brand new very slippery circle, Jesse adapted to these challenges and placed fourth with a throw of 23.77.
 
Jesse in Discus
It was very windy Saturday, and Jesse again rose to the challenge and threw close to his PB for another fourth place finish with a throw of 31.34
 
Jesse in Javelin
Sunday was hot but the wind calmed down. Jesse was on fire with great energy and technique he placed fourth again with a throw of 29.94 
 
Alana in Javelin
Alana took the ferry over very early Sunday morning but kept great energy up as she was attempting for Team BC standard of 38.72 . Alana threw very well with a 2 meter PB of 37.25 and silver medal finish.
 
I’m very proud of both throwers as they have put in hours of hard work and their performances showed this.  – Coach Debbie
Distance Group Performance
I would like to send out a big Congratulations to all of our Valley Royals athletes who competed at this weekends Provincial Championships Jamboree in Nanaimo. For many of you it was a great wind up to the season, and for a few of you a step towards Canadian Championships coming up early August in Calgary. 
 
Thanks to the organizers of our club picnic on the lake a good time was had by all. As well a big congratulations to Adrianna Buitelaar, Sam May, and Will Van Schagen for being selected to Team BC  and to Arata Nakanishi, Miles Graham, and Riley Simmonds who will also be representing us at Canadian Championships in early August.
 
The following are the results from the Valley Royals Distance group. 
 
  • Sam May – Gold in the Steeplechase 
  • Miles Grayham – Silver in the Steeplechase
  • Arata Nakanishi – Bronze in the Steeplechase
  • Adrianna Buitelaar – Gold in the 1500m and Gold int the 3000m
  • Arie Wassenaar – 18th in the 1500m and 14th in the 800m
  • Santos Svelander -10th 400m/H
  • Maggie Epp – Bronze in the 800m and 4th in the 1500m
  • Malcolm Reid – Silver in the 3000m Steeplechase and 8th in the 1500m
  • Jonah Dyck – 8th Steeplechase
  • William Steiger – 8th 1200m and 7th 2000m
  • Will Van Schagen (In conjunction with the sprint group) Gold 400m/H and 5th 400m
  • Laken Olson -5th 1200m and 4th 2000m
  • Syra Dhaliwal – 6th 3000m and 13th 1500m
  • Samuel Rasquinha – 25th 1500m and 22nd 800m
  • Riley Simmonds – Bronze in the 3000m 

Without fail you all represented the Valley Royals with heart, determination and class and you have done us proud. – Coach Scott