Month: October 2019

JOur Royals athletes had a great showing at the BC Athletics Provincial Cross Country Championships this past weekend in Victoria. Proving themselves resourceful, almost all the families and athletes involved managed to overcome severely disrupted ferry service to get to the meet. Once there, our athletes represented the Valley Royals proudly. Each age group raced with boys and girls running together and were separated statistically in the results.  

Riley Simmonds, ran an outstanding race in the 11 year old division to finish 4th, Mark Molina had some cramping problems and still managed an outstanding 5th place finish in the 13 year old division. Aryka Bennet managed a seventh place finish also in the 13 year old division. William Steiger 10th, Tristian Steiger 24th, Hanna Booth 23, Jessie Booth 25th, Noah Molina 26th, Arie Wassenaar 27th, Andrena Johnson 22nd, Andrew Thompson 37th, Teigen Scholander 52nd Sarah Theil 57th.  

All ran with heart and determination against the best runners in the province and should be very proud of their efforts. – Well done Royals and Congratulations to all our families who participated. 

~ Coach Scott Svelander 

The BC Cross Country Championships are fast approaching. For more information please visit https://www.bcathletics.org/Content/bc-x-country-champs/42/

This will be the last meet for the cross country season and it would be great for the club have a big showing in Saanich on Vancouver Island.  To encourage participation, the club will pay the race entry fee for each Royals athlete that registers via Christa by 10:00 PM on Monday, October 21. If you have any questions, email Christa at [email protected] or chat with your child’s coach. 

Results for Week #4 of the Valley Royals Grand Prix are posted on the Grand Prix Page at:  https://valleyroyals.ca/valley-royals-grand-prix-cross-country-series/

The Valley Royals Congratulate the Award Winners!

See the GRAND PRIX page (at link above) for RACE RESULTS FOR WEEKS 1, 2 ,3 & 4 and INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS based on points.

School/Team points have been calculated and Abbotsford Christian Elementary School is the recipient of the Jane Swan Fitness Award!

Congratulations to our new ALL TIME TOP TEN RECORD HOLDERS from the 2019 Grand Prix Racing Series:

Grade 4 Girls – #8 Shyla Maiden (Auguston Traditional)  7:06.58, #9 Zoe Hartman (McMillan Elementary) 7:07.89 

Grade 5 Girls – #5 Alexia Smith (Unattached) 6:48.13

Grade 6 Girls – NEW ALL TIME TOP 10 CHAMPION #1 Sorell Lenz (Abbotsford Virtual School) 6:22.12

Grade 7 Girls – #2 Chanine Klaus (Abbotsford Christian Middle) 6:14.93

Grade 5 boys – #10 Kaiden Gleeson (Auguston Tradional) 6:27.61

Grade 6 Boys – #7 Riley Simmonds (Vedder Middle) 6:06.29

Grade 7 Boys -#5 Sam May (Chief Dan George) 5:47.02, #10 Arata Nakanishi (Clayburn Middle) 5:54.33 16

Grade 8 Boys –NEW ALL TIME TOP 10 CHAMPION #1 Brendan O’Brien (Unattached) 5:15.28, #5 Mark Molina (Clayburn Middle) 5:34.39, #10 Saihajpal Takhar (Eugene Reimer) 5:44.55

See the All Time Top 10 Record Holders for the Grand Prix Racing Series here: https://valleyroyals.ca/grand-prix-top-10-of-all-time-updated-with-results-from-2019-season/

No Power/Speed practice this Monday.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

No Endurance Running Practice this Tuesday.

The final Grand Prix Race of 2019 shone brightly with a beautiful sunny day and a special occasion. October 9th, 2019 marked more than the completion of the Grand Prix Season. It was an occasion to celebrate the contributions and volunteer efforts of  Mr. Gerry Swan.

At the final Grand Prix Race day for 2019, just before the start of the first race, Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun presented Mr. Swan with “The Valley Royals Lifetime Achievement Award” as hundreds of students, teachers and parents cheered and applauded.

Mayor Braun, himself a former President of the Valley Royals Track & Field Club, spoke about Mr. Swan’s long history of coaching and teaching. The Mayor was coached as an athlete by Mr. Swan as was his son and his grandson too. Mayor Braun spoke to recognize, honour and thank Mr. Swan for creating the Grand Prix Racing Series and for his 35 years of service starting the races. 

In addition to founding the Valley Royals Track & Field club and coaching hundreds of athletes over the years, Mr. Swan has made a great investment in the development and health of children in the community. He and his wife Jane established the Grand Prix Racing Series in 1983 with the first races happening in 1984 at Centennial Park.

A 12-page thank you card for Mr. Swan was signed by athletes, their families and teachers at the finish line. The pages are filled with expressions of gratitude and appreciation. The Valley Royals express deepest thanks to Mr. Gerry Swan for all that he has done for the club and for the community as a whole.  

On Wednesday October 16th, the Abbotsford News published an article about Gerry Swan and this special occasion: https://www.abbynews.com/sports/abbotsford-sports-legend-gerry-swan-earns-royals-lifetime-achievement-award/

Results for Week #3 of the Valley Royals Grand Prix are posted on the Grand Prix Page at:  https://valleyroyals.ca/valley-royals-grand-prix-cross-country-series/

Parking is available on neighborhood streets south of the park and at Abbotsford Exhibition Park. Athlete Drop off is available at the west parking lot (off Clearbrook Rd) and the South Parking Lot (off Sparwood St.) Please don’t park at Maranatha Baptist Church as they have an after-school care program happening and need parking spaces available for the parents to pick up their children. Caution: Clearbrook Elementary locks their gates before the Grand Prix is over–don’t get locked in for the night. In Clearbrook Park: Jumping the curb to park on the grass or parking against the curb in lane-ways of the parking lots is illegal and could result in being ticketed and/or towed. Thanks for your help in keeping the lane-ways clear for emergency vehicle access should there be a need to call an ambulance.

Congratulations to all of the Royals Athletes who competed at the Sunfair Invitational in Yakima, Washington this past weekend. Here is a race-day report from Coach Scott Svelander…

Our Royals athletes had a first rate experience in Cross Country Running this past weekend in Yakima Washington, and represented us with distinction. The Sunfair Invitational is the largest one day high school event in the Pacific Northwest and sees runners from Washington, Idaho, California, Hawaii, and British Columbia, as well as some of the eastern states. Running against this first rate competition our athletes without fail rose to the occasion. Opening the morning Riley Simmonds ran an outstanding race to finish 3^rd in a field of one hundred and seventeen runners in the grade three to six division. Aryka Bennett then powered her way through a field of seventy nine grade seven and eight girls to finish 3^rd and was rapidly gaining ground on the leaders at the end of the race. Just because three seemed to be our lucky number Mark Molina left one hundred and three of his competitors in the dust over the last part of the race to grab the 3^rd spot once again and was closing on the leaders. Arie Wassenaar really stepped up his game in this race as well, with an outstanding 18^th place finish and Kane Bang ran strongly for a beginning runner to place 51st in this field of one hundred and six runners. To finish up our morning Noah Molina recorded a very strong 17^th place finish in a field of one hundred and two Freshman boys. These results were outstanding for young runners who are just starting to get serious about regular training in distance running.  A good time was had by all and congratulations to our athletes and parents who participated in this event. – Go Royals!!

• In the Grades 3-6 Boys 1-mile Race: Riley Simmonds placed 3rd out of 117 athletes.
• In the Grade 7&8 Girls 1.5-mile Race: Aryka Bennett placed 3rd out of 79 athletes. 
• In the Grade 7&8 Boys 1.5-mile Race: Mark Molina placed 3rd, Arie Wassenaar placed 18th, Kane Bang placed 51st out of 106 athletes.
• In the Frosh (Grade 9) Boys 2-mile Race Noah Molina placed 17th out of 102 athletes.
• The Royals thank Coach Scott for his coaching and leadership in coordinating this trip to one of the best cross country competitions in the Northwestern United States. 
• For all of the race results from the Sunfair Invitational go to: https://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=4929&do=news&news_id=586485

Calling all volunteers…. We need you! ESPECIALLY FOR PARKING & COURSE MARSHALLING on Wednesday Afternoons – Oct 2nd & Oct 9th
We are looking for more people to help fill various roles including;
Set-Up (beginning at 2:00 PM each race day)
Race Day Volunteers (beginning as close to 2:45 PM as possible, including Take-Down, ending approx 5:45 PM)
Concession
Volunteer Coordinator

To Register as a Volunteer please contact Debbie Foote at [email protected] or 604-614-4044