Day 2 of the BC High School Championships brought challenging conditions to Langley, but just like the rain, records fell.
In the Junior Girls 400m, Chloe Symon of Lord Byng ran a new Junior Girls Provincial Record of 56.02 to win, smashing the old record of 56.22. Charli Packford of Spectrum Community finished second, and Madeline VanSpall took home bronze. In the Junior Boys race, Spencer Blomerus of West Point Grey Academy took the win, with Gabriel Hanzek taking silver and Theo Serowka taking bronze.
In the Senior Boys 400m, Pishon Haughton of Okanagan Mission became the BC Champion with a time of 48.75. Hudson Irvine of Earl Marriott was second with a time of 49.77, and Hayden Hall was third with a time of 50.52. In the girls race, Elly McDowell-Mitchell from Oak Bay Secondary was crowned champion with a time of 56.14. Maiya Brunoro took silver with a time of 56.45, and Mia Cameron completed the podium.
Kaylie Dyste of Pacific Academy broke the 60-second barrier in the Grade 8 Girls 400 to win in 59.63. On the boys side, a tight race was won by Tyse Wagenaar from Langley Christian with a time of 54.86.
More sprint records were broken in the 100m.
Ryan Lofstrom of Carihi Secondary broke the Junior Boys 100m Provincial Record into a heavy -2.2 headwind, running a time of 11.06. Massimo Ardizzoni of Point Grey and Maximilian Patenaude of Summerland were second and third, respectively. In the Junior Girls race, Makenna Self of Dr Charles Best won the championship with a time of 12.58. Alexia Latore and Caitlin Peever rounded out the podium.
In the Senior Girls 100m Final, Jordyn Reed representing Crofton House is the new BC Champion with a time of 12.19. Alexandra Tenn of Sentinel won the silver and Aliyah Adomi of Maple Ridge took the bronze over Kerlinda Chatwin in a photo finish for the final podium spot. In the men's final, Liam O'Donnell of Clayton Heights won gold with a time of 11.20. Logan Duley of Robert Alexander McMath was second with a time of 11.25, and Joe Kanuka of Handsworth was third with a time of 11.37.
Kaylie Dyste had a busy Day 2 at the track. Less than an hour before taking the Grade 8 Girls 400m title, she won the Grade 8 Girls 100m title with an impressive time of 12.89. In an exciting final, Andre Meltzer of Saint Thomas More Collegiate won the Grade 8 Boys 100m Final by just .03 seconds with a time of 12.00.
In the Girls AWD-II 100m, Lina Liang won and Tayla Harnik came second, both athletes representing Seaquam. In the Boys AWD-II 100m, Chima Obi Nzeadibe took the title, with Abeti Gutsche coming in second and Ryland Mallari taking third.
The relays brought the heat to a cold day, breaking yet more records still.
In the Junior Girls 4x100m Relay, Okanagan Mission ran a new Junior Girls Provincial Record of 49.70, under the previous record of 49.91. York House came in second and GW Graham came in third. West Point Grey Academy became the Junior Mens BC Champions in a time of 44.35, with Walnut Grove Secondary and Vancouver College taking second and third, respectively.
In the Senior Boys 4x100m Finals, Robert Alexander McMath took home the gold with a lead of over half a second. Vancouver College took silver, and Handsworth took home bronze. On the girls side, Crofton House became BC Champions, with Oak Bay taking second and Handsworth taking bronze.
The Grade 8 4x400m Relay Finals also took place on Day 2. Vernon Secondary became the BC High School Champions in the girls race with Kitsilano just beating Langley Christian for silver. In the Grade 8 Boys 4x400m Finals, Langley Christian was crowned champions with White Rock Christian Academy and Saint George's coming in second and third, respectively.
Meanwhile, the juniors and seniors had qualification rounds in the 4x400m relay. The top Junior Girls qualifier was Mennonite Educational Institute, and on the Junior Boys side, the top qualifier was Walnut Grove. In the Senior 4x400m heats, Oak Bay heads into the girls final in first, while Pacific Academy claims that spot on the boys side. The 4x400m Relay Finals will close out the championships on Day 3.
Hurdling action also got underway on Day 2 with the sprint hurdle finals.
In tough conditions, Michael Scherk of Collingwood became the BC Senior Boys Provincial Champion in the 110m hurdles with a time of 13.89, winning by over half a second. Oluwaniyimi Fagbamiye of Holy Cross Regional High School took silver and Jose Montessori of Vancouver College went home with bronze. In an excitingly close final, Lacie Simmons of Carihi Secondary is the Senior Girls Provincial Champion in the 100m hurdles, just beating out Amelia Kristen of Crofton House with times of 14.74 and 14.75, respectively. Tanya Dhanoa of Enver Creek claimed the final podium spot.
In the Junior Girls 80m Hurdles, Delaney Self of Dr Charles Best is the BC Champion, breaking 12 seconds with an 11.99 second run. Lily Stroda and Mbunya Tateh rounded out the podium. In the Junior Boys 100m Hurdles, Zimo Liu of Walnut Grove took the win with a time of 14.73 in tricky conditions. Maclean Carlson and Ethan Hull claimed second and third, respectively.
Vanessa Pang of Crofton House is your Grade 8 Girls 80m Hurdles Champion, and on the boys side, Acheleke Tateh of Holy Cross Regional High School became champion.
In the steeplechase, competitors braved the weather and put up some excellent performances.
Ella Madsen of Riverside won the Senior Girls 1500m Steeplechase final, with an 8-second gap over Jaina Kang of Credo Christian. Rachel McDonald took home the bronze. In the Senior Men's final, Yemane Mulugeta of LA Matheson took the win, with James Hodgson of Elgin Park in second and Dylan Belcourt of Cedar Community taking third.
Day 2 also saw 1500m titles successfully defended.
Mark Molina of Mennonite Educational Institute has been crowned the Senior Boys 1500m Champion with a time of 4:02.02. Just behind and just 4 hours after becoming steeplechase champion, Yemane Mulugeta took silver with a time of 4:02.72. Tyler Browne of Oak Bay was third with a time of 4:03.61.
In the Senior Girls 1500m Final, Maya Baechler of Kitsilano successfully defended her BC title with a time of 4:31.71. Sidney Clement of Sentinel was second with a time of 4:34.74, and Ella Ballard of Royal Bay took bronze with a time of 4:38.44.
The defending junior champion, Alexa Dow, also successfully retained her title, winning the Junior Girls 1500m with a time of 4:29.36. Adrianna Buitelaar and Tessa Hunter-Siebert were your silver and bronze finishers, respectively. On the boys side, Noah Louwerse of Credo Christian is your new BC Champion with a time of 4:05.61. Bernardo Sada and Charli Mlotshwa round out the podium.
Even more new records came from the field on Day 2.
In the Senior Mens Triple Jump, Praise Aniamaka of Pacific Academy flew to a new Senior Mens Provincial Record of 15.42m, smashing the old record. Lyle Lo of Robert Alexander McMath came in second and Paul Ude of Pacific Academy came in third. In the Junior Mens Triple Jump, Kyle De Waal jumped 12.51m for the gold, winning with an impressive 30cm gap to second. Kevin Malo was second, and Rowan Trousil came third.
Both senior high jump competitions took place on Day 2. In the Senior Girls High Jump, Marlena Tresnjo of Handsworth took the win with a 1.65m clearance, 10cm higher than silver, which was claimed by long jump champion Madison Gordon. Gordon won silver on countback over Lydia Paris of Nanaimo District, as both athletes cleared 1.55m. In a nail-bitingly close competition, Caidyn Maver of Saint Thomas More Collegiate won the Senior Boys High Jump on countback with a jump of 1.95m. Levi Tuura of New Westminster also cleared 1.95m to take silver, while Alec Brent of Alpha took bronze on countback after a clearance of 1.90m.
The first two pole vault competitions of the meet took place on Day 2. In the Junior Mens Pole Vault, William Millard of Handsworth won with a jump of 3.30m, with Maclean Carson in second and Luke Theunissen in third. In the Senior Girls Pole Vault, Nathalie Flood of New Westminster won with a jump of 3.35m, an impressive 35cm lead over Valeria Pagliassotto of Oak Bay, who took second with a jump of 3m. Naomi Corwin of Saint Margaret's took bronze.
Rounding out the jumps for Day 2, Lily Stewart became the BC Champion in the Junior Girls Long Jump with a jump of 5.14m. Lily Stroda came in second and Makenna Self took bronze shortly after becoming the 100m champion. In the Grade 8 Girls competition, just 2cm decided gold, silver and bronze: Elle Davison (4.85m), Keziah Stelmach (4.84m), and Paige Bailey (4.83m) are your podium finishers, in order.
The throwers continued to deliver on Day 2.
The javelin runways were busy on Day 2, with 3 javelin finals taking place. Gillian Galik of Mark R. Isfeld threw a new Junior Girls Provincial Record en route to taking gold, with a throw of 42.54m, nearly a metre further than the previous record. Erika Burry took the silver, and Helene Stuebinger took the bronze. In the Grade 8 Boys competition, John Harris was crowned your BC Champion, throwing over 6m further than anyone else with a throw of 43.33m. In the Grade 8 Girls Javelin, Dhea Kondolay threw 8m further than her competitors to win the championship with a throw of 32.07m.
In the Senior Boys Discus, Addison Chan representing Steveston-London is your BC Champion with a throw of 39.23m. Evan Mayer of Cowichan took silver with a throw of 34.72m, while Matthew North of King's Christian took bronze with a throw of 34.25m.
In the circle, the hammer throwers were on fire. Deven Marrero of Grandview Heights threw a massive 56.71m to win the Senior Boys Hammer, over 18 meters further than second place. Matthew Minchin of Windsor was second with a throw of 38.18m, and Dominic Mikacevich Warholm was third with a throw of 35.52m. Elise Drake from Kelowna Secondary is your Senior Girls Hammer Champion with a throw of 48.33m. Keerat Dhillon of North Delta is your silver medalist with a throw of 46.29, while Elena Gabellini threw 40.56 for bronze. The Junior Boys Hammer came down to the wire, with Gursher Gabri of Enver Creek winning on his last throw of 46.86m. Chase Longley and Will Curtain took second and third, respectively.
Joshua Williams of Quamichan School is the Grade 8 Boys Shot Put Champion for 2023. In the Junior Boys Shot Put, Roman Yeterian of Lord Byng was crowned BC Champion with a throw of 12.77m. Hammer champion Gursher Gabri was second with a throw of 12.58m, and Jimmy Tang was in third with a throw of 11.70m.
Despite the challenging weather, Day 2 was action-packed with broken records, amazing performances, and determination. Day 3 will be the final day of the BC High School Championships, and we can't wait to see what it will bring!