Author: Emma Hatfield

Great BC High School Cross Country Championships

Our Valley Royals athletes had a strong showing at the BC High School Cross Country Championships this weekend, in Victoria.
Starting to round back into form after a season set back by injury Sam May ran his best race of the season with a 3rd place finish in a field of approximately 300 of BC’s top junior boys. With a very strong finishing kick Sam defeated the East Valley Champion Bernardo Sada to grab the bronze behind the Vancouver Island Champion Charlie Mlotshwa, and South Valley Champion Stephanus Snyman.
Our junior boys as a group had a fantastic showing with Will Van Schagen stepping up his game yet again to grab the 12th spot, which was an incredible performance for this middle distance runner over four kilometers. 
Miles Graham, Arata Nakanishi and Riley Simmonds finished 16th, 18th and 19th to give us five runners in the top 20. Remarkable performances for all these boys. 
Despite not having her best race Adrianna Buitelaar recorded a very strong 14th place performance in the junior girls race, and Zoe Unger showed well to take the 16th position in the senior girls. Mackenzie Lascelle and Mark Molina ran well in the senior boys to finish 17th and 22nd.
 
 Athletes that have made huge jumps in performance this season were Arie Wassenaar and Tristian Steiger, who ran with the best in the province to finish in the 28th and 29th positions, as well as Jasmine Halwas and Jonah Dyck who stepped it up to qualify for provincials and finished 117th and 143rd in fields approaching 300 runners.
 
So very well done Royals.  – Coach Scott

Wonderful East Valley Championship Performances

Our Valley Royals Distance Group had a fantastic showing at the recent East Valley Cross Country Championships.

Running against very large fields of competitors, both Adrianna Buitelaar and Damian Sutton finished close to a minute ahead of their nearest competition to claim East Valley Titles in the junior girls and grade 8 boys divisions.

In the junior boys division, we had seven athletes in the top nine positions who all advanced to provincial championships. This was an amazing accomplishment in the toughest junior boys qualifying race in the province where the top three finishers were Canadian Champions or silver medallists. For this accomplishment a big shout out goes to Sam May, Will Van Schagen, Arata Nakanishi, Miles Graham, Riley Simmonds, Arie Wassenaar, and Tristian Steiger.

In the senior boys division, Mark Molina and Mack Lascelle had strong races grabbing the silver and bronze medals, and in the senior girls division Zoe Unger took the silver. Jasmine Halwas ran a very strong race to grab a qualifying berth to provincials finishing 14th in the junior girls and Jonah Kasse, and Jonah Dyck both came up with big races to secure an East Valley Team Championship for Sardis. William Steiger ran strongly in the grade 8 boys division despite not being in full form, and Sam Rasquinha came up with a strong race running up a category in the senior boys division.

Way to go Royals and we will have a great contingent heading to Victoria for the BC High School Championships in early November. – Coach Scott

BC Cross Country Championships Results

Congratulations to our Valley Royals Cross Country Runners who participated at the BC Club Championships this past weekend in South Surrey. Despite some bad colds and injury difficulties, our athletes showed well against the best runners in the province. Of particular note was Adrianna Buitelaar’s 4th place in the U16 division, placing her as the top 14 year old;  Damian Sutton’s very strong 5th in the province; and Zoe Unger starting to get back to form with a 7th place performance in the U18 division. Our U16 boys team of Sam May, Will Van Schagen, Miles Graham, Riley Simmonds, and Arata Nakanishi  put in a great effort but were just edged out for the provincial championship by Penticton.
 
A big congratulations goes out to our JD competitors who represented us proudly. Well done Royals. – Coach Scott
 
U11 Girls-Averie Westbrook (10), Paige Delange (12), Halle Roth (13)
U11 Boys-Quinn Kenny (27), Wren Siemens (23)
U12G-Hannah Booth (23)
U12B-Owen Westergaard (12)
U14B-Damian Sutton (5)
U16G-Adrianna Buitelaar (4), Maggie Epp (12), Jasmine Halwas (19)
U16B-Sam May (5), Will VanSchagen (6), Miles Graham (11), Riley Simmonds (12), Arata Nakanishi (21)
U18G-Zoe Unger (7)
U18B-Mackenzie Lascelle (9), Mark Molina (13), Arie Wassenaar (29)
U20B-Will Gaudreault (24)

Final Valley Royals-Hosted Cross Country Meet October 29

Valley Royals have one more meet that we are hosting for this cross country season. Join us on Saturday, October 29, at Clearbrook Park.

Track Rascals (aged 6-8) and JD runners (aged 9-13) race between 10am and 12:00pm.

Download the meet information package: Valley Royals Oct 29 2022 JD Cross Country Meet Information Package

Registration is $10 and can be completed on Trackie until 6pm on Wednesday, October 26:  https://www.trackie.com/online-registration/event/valley-royals-jd-invitational-cross-country-meet/482843/