Royals Canadian Champions

Seven athletes from our Valley Royals distance group represented Team BC this past weekend at the Canadian Championships in Sherbrooke Quebec. Running against the best competition our Nation had to offer they represented us in a spectacular fashion. These big hearted and immensely talented young people rose to the occasion in every instance. After a very successful season at the provincial level in 2022, the goal set a year ago by these athletes was to make an impact at the Mari

National level this season. Without exception they achieved and exceeded this goal.

I cannot express how proud I am of these exceptional young people for having the courage, commitment, and strength of character to turn their dreams into reality. – Coach Scott

Results Valley Royals Distance Group Canadian Championships

1) Will Van Schagen (in conjunction with Coach Trevor’s sprint group)
Canadian Champion U18 400m Hurdles

2) Riley Simmonds
Canadian Champion 1500m S/C

3) Mark Molina
Canadian Silver Medalist U18 1500m and Bronze Medalist U18 800m

4) Zoe Unger
Canadian Silver Medalist U18 2000m Steeplechase

5) Adrianna Buitelaar
Canadian Bronze Medalist 2000m

6) Sam May
Canadian Bronze Medalist U18 2000m Steeplechase

7) Maggie Epp
4th in Canada U16 800m

 

Outstanding National Championships Performances

Shout out to Royals power/speed athletes for their outstanding performances this past weekend at the National Championships in Langley.    Sanaa Musonge and Christine Chittattu, both competing up an age-category, sprinted well against some intense competition in the 100 and 200 meters.   Theo Manuel and Will Van Schagen both ran well in the 400 hurdles.    Special shout out to Mayci Falk who contested her first ever heptathlon.   Achieving 5 personal bests, Mayci placed 15th overall in the nation.

 Great job everyone.   We wish Will and other Royals athletes competing at Legions in about 10 days the best of luck.   – Coach Trevor

 

JD Practice Update

Wednesday, July 12 – Regular JD practices

Saturday, July 15 – NO practice because of Provincial Championships

Sunday, July 16 – Provincial Championships

Monday, July 17 – joint practice from 6-7pm (last JD practice for the season)

Royals Deliver Champion Performances at Provincial Championships

POWER AND SPEED GROUP

Valley Royals power/speed athletes delivered numerous personal bests at the BC Athletics Jamboree from July 7-9 in Nanaimo.   For a good number of our athletes, this meet marked the end of an intense, long season already highlighted by the BC High Schools one month ago.  This meet was also the first provincial club championships for many of our new athletes, who have joined over the recent months.   We wish those athletes whose seasons have now concluded all the best for their summer.  And we wish the best for our athletes continuing on to Nationals in Langley at the end of July.  

I am extremely proud of this crew, for their hard-work, team-spirit, dedication, and sportsmanship. – Coach Trevor

Here are more specific results.   

U16s 

Neven McNeil – Relatively new to the Royals, Neven stepped up to run PBs in the 100 and 200.  He further added a PB in the 100 hurdles to claim 4th.   Neven also ran a great lead-off leg in the 4 x 100 relay. 

Gurpartap Sandhu – Resident workhorse Gurpartap started her meet with a PB in the triple jump to claim 4th.    The next day, she took on the gruelling Pentathlon, placing fourth with a personal best score.   In the process, she had another PB in the hurdles and a massive 6 cm PB in the high jump.   If that wasn’t enough, Gurpartap scored another PB in the 300 hurdles the following day and then finished off the meet with solid performances in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays.    

Evan Booth– On the track, Evan had strong showings in both the 100 (placing 8th) and in the 200.   In the jumps, Evan captured 5th in the triple jump and 8th in long jump.   Evan also ran a great lead-off leg in the 4 x 100 relay.   

U18s 

Sanaa Musonge –   With the Nationals later this month as her season’s biggest goal, Sanaa’s form is coming along.  She placed 8th in the both the 100 and 200.  After running a great leg in the 4 x 100 relay, Sanaa stepped in at the last moment and anchored our 4 x 400 team to a 4th place finish.  Sanaa, who rarely ever runs the 400, improved her 400 time by an astonishing 10 seconds.   

Luke Wight – Luke scored a long-awaited and huge PB in the triple jump to take 5th.  He followed that up with an 8th in the long jump and excellent legs in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays.    

Tristan Steiger – Tristan had strong showings in both the 200 and 400, running a PB in the latter.   Tristan also had excellent legs in both the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays. 

Nimritha Dhesi – Newcomer and aspiring heptathlete, Nimritha’s fearlessness to try new events helped her to capture five PBs the following events:   100 hurdles (8th), 400 hurdles (4th), long jump (9th), shot put (11th) and javelin (7th).   Nimritha followed this up with solid performances in both the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays.    

U20s 

Theo Manuel – After only one season with the Royals, Theo has quickly become a leader on our team with his strong work-ethic and commitment.   Primarily a javelin thrower, Theo has been recovering from an arm-injury since March.  Having switched his focus to the track, Theo ran huge PBs in both the flat 400 to claim 8th and 400 hurdles to claim silver.     

Simran Dhesi – Also a newcomer, Simran’s work ethic led to PBs in the 200, 400 hurdles (5th) , and a strong showing in the 800 later that same day.   Simran ran an excellent anchor leg in the 4 x 100 to finish off a tiring day.    

 
DISTANCE GROUP
Our Valley Royals Distance Team competed this past weekend in the BC Athletics Championship Jamboree in Nanaimo. A great time was had by all, and I could not have been more proud of our athletes and the parents who support them. In what was probably the biggest pressure meet of the year for our team, they came through in shining colors with another round of personal best performances and podium finishes while running against the best athletes in the province of British Columbia.
 
For many of our athletes, the season goals that they established almost a year ago all came down to their performances in this meet because it was the selection trails for our U18 and U16 National Championship Team. I think you will see from the following results that without fail every athlete in our group rose to the occasion and performed to the very best of their abilities. We will be eagerly awaiting the announcements for the provincial team later this week.
 
So very well done Royals.  – Coach Scott
 
Distance Group Results Provincial Championship Jamboree

Mark Molina – Provincial Champion U18 800m (PR 1:53.37) and Provincial Champion U18 1500m

Adrianna Buitelaar – Provincial Champion U16 1200m(PR 3:33.94) and Provincial Champion U16 2000m 

Riley Simmonds – Provincial Champion U16 1500m steeplechase (PR 4:27.41) and Silver Medalist U16 2000m (PR 5:50.66)

Maggie Epp – Provincial Champion U16 800m and Silver Medalist U16 1200m (PR 3:39.07)

Zoe Unger – Silver Medalist U18 2000m steeplechase (PR 7:09.64) and Bronze Medalist U18 1500m

Will Van Schagen – Silver Medalist 400m hurdles (PR 55.68)

Sam May – Silver Medalist 2000m steeplechase

Arata Nakanishi – Bronze Medalist 2000m (PR 6:22.45) and 17th 1500m

Mackenzie Lascelle – 4thU20 1500m and 5th U20 800m

William Steiger – Great running U16 1200m and 800m

Santos Svelander  Great running U16 300m

Arie Wassenaar – Great Running 1500m and 800m(PR 2:14.67)

Sam Rasquinha – Great Running 1500m and 800m