Category: Results

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.

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.  

Django Lovett recorded a season best high jump performance of 2.23 meters Saturday at the Mt. Sac Relays in Los Angeles.   The event was won by American Jesse Williams who cleared an identical height to Lovett but accomplished his clearance on a second attempt to Lovett’s third.   But all in all it was a pleasing performance by the Valley Royal athlete who recorded his best height in several years and at present it ranks him first in Canada.

Other Valley Royal performances of note at Mt. Sac included Lindsay Butterworth’s   big break through and personal best 4:17.99 in placing 6th in the women’s 1500 meters.  Butterworth’s clocking gives her seventh place in the Canadian rankings for that event.    Jessica Smith was sixth in the women’s 800 meters (2:03.89) and Helen Crofts ran 2:07.21 in her section of the same event.

At the Oregon Relays in Eugene, OR four Valley Royal athletes took part in the high school division of the meet.  Tanner Geary ran 1:57.18 to place fifth in the field of more then 40 athletes.  Daniel James competed in the second section of the 800m and turned in a time of 2:03.94.  Kristin Biela ran a personal best 4:08.73 in the boys 1500 meters and proved to himself that even faster times are now very possible.

Vikramjit Gondara claimed Gold at the Oregon Relays on April 15 in the Senior Boys Hammer with a throw of 60.70m.

Congratulations, Vik!

When Coach Sue Northey announced to her athletes that the Holder Relays Meet Director had asked that her athletes and coaches form a group and sing “Oh Canada”  as part of the Opening Ceremonies.  Tanner Geary stepped forward and volunteered as the choir leader and armed with a microphone and backed by the other nine athletes and three coaches that had made the trip, he led the Abbotsford group in belting out a boisterous rendition of our national anthem that did our group proud.

Then a couple of hours later Geary turned his attention to performing well on the track and he came through in great style by winning the mile run in a time of 4:26.30.  Geary followed his coach’s direction by biding his time through the first 400-meters and then putting on a finishing burst that provided him with a
comfortable win.

A pair of club steeplechasers won medals at the meet.  Kris Biela ran his first ever 2000m steeple chase event and put forth an excellent effort to finish third (6:22) crossing the finish line just three seconds back of the winner.  Not to be outdone, Erica Johnson donning a cape so she could fly over the water jump, placed second in the girls’ 2000-meter steeplechase.      

Rachel Mortimer ran the first lap of her mile run a bit fast and it took a toll on her during the later stages of the race.   Mortimer made up some lost ground in the latter part of the race and finished in third place (5:21.88).   Teammates Kate Sokolowski and Gurleen Gill also took part in the mile finishing 11th and 23rd positions respectively.

Daniel James was relegated to the second line in the very crowded mile run (won by Geary) and did not recover from the early jostling for position.  James did run strongly over the last lap putting forth a good finishing kick to finish in a time of 4:43.00.

The club also took part in both distance medley relays.  The boys team had a solid performance led by James who ran his 800-meter leg in 2:01 and at the finish the team was second just three seconds behind the winner.   The Royals girls’ distance
medley team came fourth in their event.

All in all it was a great experience for the Valley Royal contingent that got to compete in a huge American meet (1500 athletes took part) on a very warm and pleasant spring day.