A robust contingent of nine Trail Track and Field Club athletes shone brightly at the BC Junior Development Track and Field Championships held July 21-23 in Surrey, earning a total of 16 medals and 11 top-8 ribbon placings.
The event was moved from it’s original location in Kelowna to Surrey due to concerns over smoke caused by wildfires. Despite the longer drive, all Trail athletes placed in at least one event in the meet, which is held annually to determine the provincial champions in the 9-13 years old age bracket. Medals are awarded to the top-three competitors in each event with ribbons up to eighth place.
Thane Joyce, competing in the boy’s nine-year-old division, was crowned the BC champion in the Long Jump event leaping to a whopping 3.79 metres, which also qualified him for a provincial award. A run of 12.59 seconds in the 60-m Hurdles race earned Thane a silver medal. He also placed fourth in the 60-m sprint in 9.81 secs and fifth in 16.08 seconds in the 100-m sprint.
In the girl’s 10-year-old age group Gabby Paterson cleaned house taking home three Provincial Championship titles for the 60-m sprint in 9.0 seconds, the 100-m sprint in 14.85-secs and 60-m hurdle race in 10.95 secs, qualifying for provincial awards for the 60-m sprint and hurdles. She was also the silver medalist in Long Jump with a mark of 3.42 m and earned a bronze medal for her 1.15-m effort in the high jump event where she narrowly edged Trail Track’s Taylor Singer who also cleared 1.15 m and took fourth place after faults were counted. Taylor also earned fourth place in the 60-m hurdle race in a time of 11.16 secs where she also qualified for a provincial award for her 10.78-sec performance in the heats, and ran the 60-m sprint in 9.57secs for a sixth-place finish.
Ellery Shields earned the seventh-place ribbon in the girl’s 10-year-old Javelin Throw event with a 11.44-m toss and ran a solid 60-m Hurdles race in a time of 12.46 secs.
On his way to baseball provincials, Aiden Paterson managed to run 41.52 secs over 300 m for the bronze medal in the boy’s 13-year-old age group before hopping on a ferry to Vancouver Island.
In their final year as Junior Development athletes, Jendaya Shields, Sadie Joyce, Jordan Singer and Maya Amantea competed in the girl’s 13-year-old division. Jendaya had solid performances in the throwing events becoming the provincial bronze medalist in the Discus Throw with a 24.93-m fling, the Javelin Throw with 26.18 m and in the Shot Put with an 8.15-m mark. She also placed sixth in the 200-m Hurdles race in 32.68 secs and eighth in Triple Jump with a 8.51-m mark.
Sadie battled an aggravated hip all weekend and still came away as the silver medalist in High Jump with 1.43 m, as well as placing sixth in Long Jump with a leap of 4.37 m and eighth in the 100-m sprint. Sadie cleared a height of 1.51 m earlier in the year which qualified her for a provincial award. Jordan ran a personal best to place seventh in the 300-m race in 47.01 secs, and Maya had personal bests in multiple events including a 15.91 secs 80-m hurdle race and 7.76-m Triple Jump mark.
With Sadie sidelined, the girls called up 10-year-old Gabby to stand in and ended up running their way to a round of bronze medals for all in the girl’s 13-year-olds 4x100-m relay in a time of 58.59 seconds.
These athletes, including Aiden, will move into the Midget age group next year and vie for a chance to represent the Kootenays at the 2018 BC Summer Games.
As of August 1 the Provincial rankings for 2017, as recorded by Athletics Canada, have Thane ranked first in Long Jump and 10th in 60m Hurdles. Gabby is ranked third in 60 m, second in the 60-m Hurdles and eighth in High Jump. Taylor is ranked fourth in 60-m Hurdles. Aiden is ranked third in 300m. Sadie is ranked first in High jump, fourth in 100m, sixth in 200m and eighth in Long Jump. Jendaya is ranked third in Discus, fourth in Shot Put and sixth in Javelin. Athletics Canada does not list rankings for the 100 m for ages 11 and under, or for Triple Jump.
The club is now on its yearly August break and will resume regular practices in September for athletes ages 9 to 13 in its Junior Development program, and High School aged youth.
Visit trailtrackclub.ca for more information.
