Valley Royals Track & Field Club
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Volunteer coaches are needed by the Royals – please contact Christa if you are interested….
Our JD program is expanding and we are in need of our parents and athletes to help with coaching our youngest club members. If you are able to help even once a week, please email Christa McAuley at [email protected]
Sainte-Therese, QC—August 5-7—Three club athletes traveled last week to the Canadian Youth Championships in Quebec and each of them returned home with a medal….
Sainte-Therese, QC—August 5-7—Three club athletes traveled last week to the Canadian Youth Championships in Quebec and each of them returned home with a medal.
Vikramjit Gondara brought his two years in the Youth division (16/17 year olds) to a conclusion by adding yet another gold medal to his collection. Undefeated during the year in his age division, Gondara tossed the 5-kg hammer 64.95 meters to win the event by more than four meters.
Teammate Rowan Hamilton, who has another year of competition remaining in the Youth age division, was the bronze medalist in the hammer with a toss of 60.11 meters. In addition, Hamilton’s toss moved him into third place in the Canadian Youth division rankings behind Gondara in first (65.46m) and Alberta’s Andreas Troschke (61.11) in second.
The club’s third medal was secured by high jumper Michael Lambert. Injured through the first three months of the outdoor season, Lambert made the best of his limited season by clearing 1.96m to win the bronze medal in his specialty.
Ocean Athletics Alexa Porpaczy, who is a VR training athlete, cleared 1.69 meters to win the gold medal in the Youth Division female high jump. Porpaczy completed her year ranked number one in Canada in her age division with a season’s best jump of 1.76 meters achieved at the BC Athletics jamboree.
Congratulations to the Royals Junior Development athletes on a fine weekend in White Rock at the BC JD Championships….
Congratulations to the Royals Junior Development athletes on a fine weekend in White Rock at the BC JD Championships.
Kristin Kotyk, in her first ever competition performed very well in the hurdles and in the high jump.
Ally Hutchison had strong performances in the discus and javelin.
The dream team of Trevor Matthysen, Gurshaan Gill, Trystan Castro and Lockhart MacGregor dominated the medley relay earning a gold medal and then went on to capture a silver medal in the 4 x 100 metre event.
Lockhart MacGregor was the Royals top performer of the meet, winning gold in the 300m, 800m, and 200m hurdles. Congrats to all our competitors on a fine meet and a great season.
Today we made $730.30 on the BBQ And sold 4 cases of chocolates….
Today we made $730.30 on the BBQ And sold 4 cases of chocolates! Way to go!!!! Thanks so much to everyone who volunteered! It was a huge success! Despite the rain it was a fun and productive day. We were even visited by past athletes which was awesome to see them supporting us!
Former Valley Royal athlete Jimmy Stewart stopped by to support the club.
Alison Bricco, a former athlete, also stopped by.
Victories and personal bests for Royals athletes at the Upper Fraser Valleys……
Several club athletes had multiple victories while a number of others established personal best performances at the Upper Fraser Valley Championships that took place last week at the Swan Track in Abbotsford.
Thrower Tasha Willing recorded triple wins during the two-day meet as she had no trouble winning the senior girls shot put (11.52m), discus (25.56m) and hammer (46.66m). Other wins by throwers were produced by Rowan Hamilton, first in junior boys hammer (54.11m) and discus (39.54m) while Vikramjit Gondara won the senior boys hammer with an impressive 59.95m performance as well as the discus with a throw of 40.91m. Jayden Driver was his reliable self and turned in silver medal performances in the senior boys shot put (11.23m), discus (38.26m) and hammer (51.40m).
Middle distance runners Tanner Geary, Daniel James and Rachel Mortimer led the way for the Royals in the running events. Geary established a personal best in the senior boys 800m battling to the finish with last year’s Canadian Youth team member Dean Ellenwood. Geary started his finishing drive with 300m to go but was caught a few meters from the line by Ellenwood. The Langley runner won the event in a time of 1:55.6 but Geary recorded a personal best with his second place clocking of 1:55.9.
Daniel James, a 16-year old grade 10 student, ran in the junior boys age division. James placed first in the 400m (53.10) and 1500m (4:18.4) but had to settle for second place in the 800m (1:59.8). In the 800m James jumped into the lead with 200m to go but that move may have cost him the win as he was caught at the tape by Langley athlete Jordan Schmidt (1:59.2).
Rachel Mortimer, as a grade 9 runner, was competing in her first Fraser Valley Championship meet. Competing in the junior girls division, Mortimer was first in the 1500m (4:52.6) and 3000m (10:30) and came second in the 800m (2:25.9).
Cassidy Hutchison placed 3rd in both the 400m and 800m races. Marley Hutchison set a PB of 13.12 in the 80 m hurdles and together Marley and Cassidy qualified for the Fraser Valley meet for all 5 events they competed in!
Cassie Brandsma was a double gold medalist with victories in the junior girls high jump recording an impressive 1.63m and pole vault (1.90m). Bryce MacKenzie was first in the junior boys high jump with a very good height for his age group of 1.85m.
Other medal winners by club athletes included Angela Gourley, 2nd in both 100m hurdles (16.34) and 400m hurdles (71.65), Hannah Konrad with silver medals in 400m (61.24) and 800m (2:21.7), Abresia Foote, 2nd in the jr. girls 1500m RW (8:51), Devon Kular with second place in Sr. boys PV (3.00m) and Erica Johnson, 3rd in senior girls’ 1500m steeplechase (5:59).
Joan Wager Poms, on loan to the Royals from Spain, had an easy victory in the boys’ 2-k SC (6:40) with teammate Parmvir Waring 2nd (6:50).
Now it’s on to the Fraser Valley Championships that take Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of next week at the Coquitlam track.
Smith Achieves Olympic Standard and #1 Ranking……
Jessica Smith traveled to Palo Alto, California last Sunday to take part in the Stanford Invitational. It was a good day for running that featured very warm temperatures and good fields of runners. Smith placed second in the 800m. Her time of 2:01.84 was under the Canadian Olympic standard and puts her in excellent position to be selected for this summer’s Brazil Olympic Games as well as gaining Smith the top ranking in Canada for her event so far this year.
Now that she has achieved the all-important standard, if Smith places amongst the first three in the 800m at the Canadian Championships, she should secure herself a place on our country’s Olympic team.
Lindsey Butterworth and Helen Crofts also took part in the 800m at the Stanford meet with both VR athletes producing notable performances. Butterworth ran her all time best clocking of 2:04.00 to place fifth and Crofts put forth her best effort of the season in coming eighth (2:05.06). The weekend’s results at Stanford places Smith first in the current Canadian rankings for the 800m with Butterworth in fifth spot and Crofts in eighth.
Django Lovett holds second place in the Canadian rankings for the men’s high jump. Last Saturday Canadian record holder Derek Drouin jumped 2.24 meters in Des Moines, Iowa but Lovett’s jump of 2.23m achieved earlier in the season places him second in the Canadian rankings.
In the junior men’s Canadian rankings, Joel Della Siega, of Ocean Athletics, who is a Valley Royal training member, is tied for first in the rankings (2.05m) with Michael Lambert in third position with a height of 1.95m.
This coming Wednesday and Thursday a large number of club athletes will represent their various schools at the Upper Fraser Valley Championships that take place at the Swan Track in Abbotsford. This meet is the first step in qualifying for the Provincial High School Track and Field Championships in Nanaimo during the first week in June.