Sports
Golden records at track and field finals
It was a golden weekend all around for
Richmond athletes at the 50th annual B.C. High School Track and Field
Championships in Langley.
It was another record-breaking one for Camryn
Rogers.
On her way to the University of
California-Berkeley in September on an athletic scholarship, the Grade 12
McMath student put the finishing touches on her career as a Wildcat with a
winning the hammer throw of 60.49 metres, eclipsing her own meet record of
59.15 metres established a year ago. She also topped the field in the shot put
with a best throw of 13.65 metres, narrowly missing the long-standing meet
standard of 13.92 metres set by Joan Pavelich of University Hill in 1971.
“I felt very relaxed and so it was a lot
easier to throw with the correct technique,” Rogers said of her gold-medal
victory in the hammer throw. “As for the shot put, I was very happy with my
result because hammer has been a really big focus for me this year and I haven’t
practiced the shot put as much.”
Rogers said she didn’t comprehend until after
her final throw “this is my last high school meet. I was just focusing on what
I had to do.”
Fellow McMath athlete Carson Bradley also
earned a pair of individual gold medals and added a silver in the 4 x 100-metre
relay. The promising 16-year-old won the junior boys’ 200 final in a personal
best and meet record 22.78 seconds, erasing the old standard of 22.46 set by
Kwalikum’s Felix Richter in 2014, and took the 400 final in 50.57 seconds—another
personal best time.
“I ran a season’s best in the 400 prelims to
secure the first-place seed, and so I had few doubts I would be able to bring
it home with a personal best,” Bradley said of his victory in the 4000-metre
race. “But before the final I was a bit on edge. Since I haven’t had a ton of
races this season the nerves really kicked in as I was warming up. Nonetheless,
I stuck to my game plan and was able to push through.”
Bradley said he was hoping to break 50
seconds, but is confident that’s not far off.
By Saturday’s 200 metres, Bradley was drained
from all the racing the day before and “a bit more anxious” in regards to
performing at his best. After a smooth win in the heats, he focused on being
able to make a strong finishing kick in the final.
“My winning time is a real confidence booster
since I hadn’t been able to break 23 seconds until that point,” he said. “My
goal is that by mid-July I’ll be clocking low 49 seconds for the 400 and low 22
seconds for the 200. I’ll be working towards being able to maintain my speed in
the last 80 meters of the race.”
Selin Tasdemir’s victory in the Grade 8 girls’
800-metre final (her winning time was two minutes, 21.90 seconds), Liam McLeod’s
second-place finish (11.34 seconds) in the Grade 8 boys’ 100 metres and Claire
Bosma placing third in the 400 (1:00.03) and second in a pair of relays
provided further affirmation of McMath’s promising future. Cheered on heartily
by her teammates, Morgan Flynn provided one of the meet’s most inspiring
results when, in determined fashion,
she finished the junior girls’ 3,000 metres in 13:04.46.
Grade 12 McNair student Georgia Lam concluded
her high school career with a silver medal performance in the girls’ 100-metre
sprint, crossing the finish line in a clocking of 12.13 seconds. She narrowly
missed adding a bronze medal in the 200, placing fourth in 25.52 seconds, while
Canadian junior women’s rugby star Valerie Wideski demonstrated her
multi-faceted athleticism by taking silver in the girls’ discus with a throw of
42.97 metres.
Other medal performances came from Burnett’s
Hiroki Sato with a silver (22.81 seconds in the junior boys’ 200 metres) and
bronze (11.34 seconds in the 100 metres) and teammate Eric Che with a bronze in
the long jump; and Steveston-London’s Merveilles Amisi in the boys’ triple jump
(13.60 metres).
In relays, McMath’s Grade 8 girls finished
second in the 4x100 in 53.78 seconds and 4x400 in four minutes, 12.39 seconds;
McMath’s junior girls were 25th in the 4x100 and 11th in the 4x400, while the
senior girls A and B teams were 17th
and 25th respectively in the 4x100 and the A team 11th in the 4x400.
McMath’s junior boys placed second and MacNeill fifth in the 4x1000.
Gold:
Camryn Rogers, McMath, hammer, shot put
Carson Bradley, McMath, 200m, 400m
Selin Tasdemir, McMath, 800m
Silver:
Valerie Wideski, Steveston-London, discus
Liam McLeod, McMath, 100m
Hiroki Sato, Burnett, 200m
Georgia Lam, McNair, 100m
Junior Boys, McMath, 4 x 100m relay
Grade 8 Girls, McMath, 4 x 100m relay
Grade 8 Girls, McMath, 4 x 400m relay
Bronze:
Eric Che, Burnett, long jump
Hiroki Sato, Burnett, 100m
Merveilles Amisi, Steveston-London, triple
jump
Claire Bosma, McMath, 400m
Fourth:
Alicia Lo, McMath, triple jump
Georgia Lam, McNair, 200m
Merveilles Amisi, Steveston-London, high jump
Matt Van Eeuwen, Palmer, hurdles
Nate Loewen, McMath, 400m
Fifth:
Claire Bosma, McMath, 800m
Serge Serbinenko, McMath, 800m
Senior Boys, Burnett, 4 x 100m relay
Junior Boys, MacNeill, 4 x 100m relay
Sixth:
Shae Server, McRoberts, javelin
Macaela Bradley-Tse, McMath, hurdles
Sam Loewen, McMath, 400m
Seventh:
Shae Server, McRoberts, shot put
Eighth:
Sarah Dawson, McMath, javelin
The following Richmond athletes also competed
at the meet:
Olivia Northrup, McMath, 100m, 200m
Madeline Folkeringa, Richmond Christian,
3,000m
Katrina Wong, Richmond Christian, long jump,
triple jump
Naomi Leung, Richmond Christian, long jump,
triple jump
Samantha Trueman, McMath, 200 metres
Maria Patron, McMath, 80 metre hurdles, 300
metre hurdles, 100 metres
Emma Lo, McMath, high jump
Caitlyn Bradley-Tse, McMath, long jump,
triple jump
Macaela Bradley-Tse, McMath, 400 metres
Morgan Game, McMath, long jump, triple jump
Reynalle Maranion, MacNeill, shot put
Kyra Bates, McRoberts, shot put, javelin
Jessica Nonay, Cambie, discus
Juliana Burara, MacNeill, discus
Hannah Pieritz, McMath, 800 metres
Holly Clark, McNair, high jump
Ayden Weber, McMath, long jump
Mikee Macapagal, MacNeill, discus
Pierre-Jayden Gonzaga, Cambie, 100 metres
Hassan El-Azzi, MacNeill, 400 metres
Rio Hutchful, McMath, high jump
Cardin Le, Cambie, high jump
Kenneth Wong, McMath, high jump
Adrian Peralta, MacNeill, triple jump
Anson Leung, Richmond Christian, javelin
Tommy Yang, McMath, javelin
Joshua Woolgar, Richmond Christian, 3,000
metres
Javed Gill, McRoberts, high jump
Michael Li, MacNeill, high jump
Elijah Kim, Richmond Christian, triple jump
Eli Krause, Richmond Christian, discus
Eric Che, Burnett, 200 metres
Ryan Heroux, McRoberts, 3,000 metres
Jamieson Lee, McMath, high jump
Andrew Ton, Cambie, high jump, long jump,
triple jump
Kyle San Juan, MacNeill, javelin