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It’s back to work for Sue Northey’s secondary school aged middle distance group as fall practices commence on Tuesday, September 8 at Ron Wiebe Park (Clearbrook Park) from 4:00-5:45.   New athletes are welcome to be on hand for the fall practices that will concentrate on cross country running and background conditioning for the middle distance track competitions.

New comers (both male and female) are welcome to come and give the cross country discipline a try.  Athletes that are a minimum of 13 years of age and older are invited to be on hand for the first practice.  Practice days will be Tuesday and Thursday at 4:00 p.m. and Saturday at 10:00 a.m.

Athletes, both returnees and prospective newcomers, are urged to do some background running commencing this coming week.  The emphasis should be placed on runs beginning with 30 minutes and working up to 45 minutes completed at a steady pace and done four or five times per week.   

Although he was a late addition to the BC team that traveled to Northern Alberta for the Western Canada Games, Josh Adhemar came through with an excellent performance.  Competing in the 400m hurdle event, Adhemar placed fourth with a personal best performance of 55.55 seconds.  

Valley Royal athletes won two gold medals, silver and a bronze at the Canadian Legion Midget/Youth Championships held in St. Therese, Quebec.  

Leading the way for the Royals was Vikramjit Gondara with a gold medal in the Youth division hammer by tossing the implement 58.68 meters.  The victory meant Gondara had an unblemished season as he went undefeated in that event.  Gondara also competed in the discus placing fifth with a throw of 43.99m.

Rowan Hamilton won two medals at the meet by placing first in the under 16 hammer (55.65m) and third in the shot put (14.45m).  For good measure Hamilton also took part in the discus placing fourth with a toss of 42.13m.

Jayden Driver rounded out the medal performances by Royal athletes by placing second to Gondara in the Youth Hammer.  Driver won the silver medal with a toss of 55.65m and in addition placed 7th in the discus with a 42.13m performance.

This past weekend some Valley Royals athletes took to the track in Nanaimo to compete in the Jamboree (B.C. Club Championships).  A first year Royal, Daniel James, lead the middle distance crew winning gold in the 1200m Midget event in a time of 3.26.37.  Rachel Mortimer, a first year midget had a busy weekend winning silver in the 2000m event in a personal best time of 6.40.40, running 3.44.57,another personal best , to place 5th in the 1200m and finishing things off with another 5th place in the 800m in 2.22.13.  Caitlin Leblanc brought home a silver medal in the Junior 1500m and a 5th place in the 800m while Tanner Geary finished just outside the medals in the Youth 800m race placing 5th in 2.00.31.

Performances for Valley Royals middle distance group

David Sawatsky Senior men 800m 12th 2.10.47

Tanner Geary Youth Men 800m 5th 2.00.31

Daniel James Midget Men 800m 5th 2.10.39, 1200m 1st 3.26.37

Parmvir Waring Youth Men 1500m 19th 4.30.23, 3000m 9th 9.43.27

Josh Adhemar Junior Men 400mhurdles 1st 56.94, 400m 5th 51.96

Caitlin Leblanc Junior Women 800m 5th 2.20.10, 1500m 2nd 4.56.08

Kate Sokolowski  Youth Women 800m 14th 2.30.80, 1500m 14th 5.11.53

Delaney Chapman Junior Women 800m 8th 2.32.75, 1500m 5th 5.28.37

Harneet Uppal Youth Women 1500m 22nd 6.39.67, 3000m 5th 14.18.27

Rachel Mortimer Midget Women 800m 5th 2.22.13, 1200m 5th 3.44.57, 2000m 2nd 6.40.40

Gurleen Gill Midget Women 800m 20th 2.45.44, 1200m 19th 4.25.48

Katrina Palmer Junior Women 800m 9th 2.53.79, 1500m 7th 6.19.80

Jessica Smith won the women’s invitational 800-meters and Mike Mason placed first in the men’s high jump Monday evening (June 8) at the Harry Jerome Track and Field Classic that took place at Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium.

It was a crucial victory for Smith as her winning time gave the Valley Royal runner a Canadian leading time for the distance and put her in good position to be selected to the team that will compete at this summer’s Pan American Games to be held in Toronto.

With just 50 meters to go in the race, Smith was in third but well positioned on the outside of the two leaders and ready to strike.  Smith then made her move edging past Toronto’s Melisa Bishop and then, with 5 meters left, she picked off Trinity ‘Western’s Fiona Benson.    At the finish only 27/100th of a second separated the top three finishers with Smith was clocking in 2:01.40, Benson second (2:01.48) and Bishop third (2:01.67).  No doubt it was one of the most exciting races of the evening and had the stadium crowd on their feet to witness the drive to the tape.

Smith’s victory was crucial as it put her into prime position for selection to the Canadian team that will take part in next month’s Pan American Games to be held in Toronto.   Only two runners from each participating country will be selected for a particular event and Canadian selections will be made on the basis of the top two times in the country come next Sunday.  So if things stand as they are, come Sunday Smith will be one of Canada’s two selections for the women’s 800-meters.

Mike Mason had to participate in a jump off before being declared the winner of the men’s high jump.   But after the jump off was concluded Mason was declared the winner with a 2.21 meter performance and Dante Nall of the United States in second (2,20m).   Third place was taken by former Valley Royal Django Lovett, just returned from University in the United States, with a leap of 2.10 meters.

The high jump venue at Swangard is poorly positioned for high jumping.  Stuck away in a corner of the stadium, the jumpers have a concrete wall in the background that seems to make the high bar look a lot higher then it actually is.  An optical illusion for sure but one that is not kind for those seeking outstanding high jump performances.

With selections to the Pan American Games taking place in less then a week’s time it looks like the Valley Royals could have two athletes named to the Canadian team.

There were a number of good performances turned in by Valley Royal athletes at the BC High School Track and Field Championships that took place on three days late last week.

But the standout performances came from an elite group of athletes that utilized their talent, a dedicated work ethic and a will to win that made them standouts.

Vikramjit Gondara once again led the way for the Royals by winning gold medals in both the junior boys discus (42.82m) and hammer (51.67m) both performances that most likely will stand as BC high school meet records.   Behind the technical expertise of throws coach Harold Willers, Gondara is a 16 year old grade 10 athlete, is undoubtedly a standout talent, and wants to win.  Gondara enters every competition with the desire to excel and he puts forth the effort and dedication that makes that happen.   In Willers’ words, Gondara is the type of individual that makes coaching worthwhile.   Although he was happy with his wins, Gondara felt that he was a little shy of what he is capable of and hopes to improve particularly on his hammer as the season progresses.

Tasha Willing, another of Willers protégés, won gold and silver medals in the senior girls division.  Willing secured a gold medal in her favorite event, the shot put (11.48m) and won a bronze medal by tossing the discus 36.52m.  Willing finished out the meet with a fourth place in the hammer (47.73m).

If the Royals had an award for an inspirational effort during the meet it would undoubtedly go to Josh Adhemar.  Competing in the final of the 400-meter hurdles, Adhemar encountered more problems then usual with his pacing between hurdles and coming up to the last barrier he was two meters behind Carter Higgins of Dover Bay.  But Adhemar put forth a drive to the tape that won him the gold medal (57.25) to Higgins 57.50.

Adhemar’s success was in part due to a rather peculiar coaching regime.  Part of the distance group, Adhemar seemed to thrive on the volume of work designed by Sue Northey and the technical knowledge of former hurdle specialist Gerry Swan.  In the end the diligence of a good athlete who followed the advice of his coaches resulted in success for an athlete who can perform under pressure.  

But it was Adhemar’s performance in the 4×400 meter relay that demonstrated his determination to succeed.  Receiving the baton in fifth place the Mouat runner made a drive over the last 100 meters that lifted his team into third place by recording a personal best of 50.08 for his 400-meter anchor leg.

Other medal performances by club athletes included Rowan Hamilton with a 2nd in the junior boys hammer (47.99m), Monique Sever (3rd triple jump-11.25m), Devon Kular (2nd Jr. PV 3.00m), and Ben Ingvaldson (2nd Sr. Hammer 51.13m).