Trail track and field athletes jumped and ran to new heights at the Provincial Championship Athletics Jamboree in Kamloops July 8-10.
Trail Track and Field Club (TTFC) athletes and an alumnus joined the best in the province to compete for a spot on Team BC and a chance to represent the province at the U16/U18 Royal Canadian Legion Nationals.
Ella Frisk from the Trail club won her championship event, earning a gold medal in U18 high jump, while TTFC alumnus Jaxon Kuchar raced to first in the U20 5,000-m run.
Frisk cleard the bar at 1.55-m or just over 5-feet-1-inch, with zero faults up until that point. She just missed the jump at 1.6-m, but claimed gold and very likely a spot on Team BC.
“This was a big meet personal best and currently, with a cleared jump of 1.55, places her in the top-10 nationally with Athletics Canada,” said Trail track coach Kylie Lakevold. “We are very optimistic that she will meet the standard and attend Nationals next year as a member of Team BC.”
Kuchar, who also competed for J. L. Crowe Track Team, recently won bronze in the 1,500-m run at the BC High School Track and Field championship. He duplicated that 1,500-m finish in Kamloops with a time of 4:02.75, and then raced to the top of the podium in the 5,000-m event in a time of 14:55.88. He also finished in sixth place in the 800-m.
In addition, TTFC athlete Ellery Shields placed fourth in U16 shot put, narrowly missing the bronze medal with a throw of 9.26-m.
“This was another meet personal best for Shields who also competed in discus, a new event for this young athlete, and placed fifth with a throw of 20.03-m.,” said Lakevold.
Shields will also represent Zone 1 Kootenays next weekend at the BC Summer Games in both discus and shot put.
Newcomer to the Trail Track and Field Club, Jessica Boily, competed in a staggering five events over two days and earned a personal best in every event.
Boily’s top result came in the U16 long jump, where she placed sixth with a jump of 4.32-m. She also placed ninth in shot put and 80-m hurdles, 12th in 200-m, and 15th in 100-m.
Jessica will also be attending the BC Summer Games next week and will compete in the long jump, 100-m, 200-m and the 4x100-m relay.
In all, eight Trail Track and Field athletes are set to represent Zone 1 at the BC Summer Games from July 21-24 in Prince George.
TTFC’s Boily and Shields will be joined by Emily Maniago, Lucia Gelber, Isla Stevens, Olivia Carney, Bodhi Webster and Ella Svenson. Lakevold will also attend the Games as a Zone 1 Athletics coach.
Read: Strong showing for J. L. Crowe athletes at BC high school championship
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