A lot of action took place at the McLeod Athletic Park this past weekend! BC high school athletes once again met in Langley, a few weeks after the BC High School Track and Field Championships, for the Pacific Distance Carnival, Canadian 10,000m Championships and the Langley Pacific Invitational.
With Vancouver still working out where it stands between spring and summer, the weather was definitely varied, with heat, a bit of rain and a lot of wind. Some events even saw headwinds as strong as -4.3m/s; however, that didn't take away from the great atmosphere, with over 1500 athletes running, jumping and throwing throughout the busy weekend.
And with the BC Athletics Provincial Track and Field Championships Jamboree just around the corner, set to take place July 7th through July 9th in Nanaimo, everyone is getting their final preparations in.
As for the results, let's take a look at just some of the highlights.
The Sprints at the Pacific Invitational
Pishon Haughton of the Okanagan Athletics Club completed the 100/200 double, even while running into strong headwinds. He won both the Open 200m and Boys U20 100m with times of 22.39 (-3.7) and 10.93 (-0.7) respectively. Liam O'Donnell of the Vancouver Thunderbirds followed close behind in the 100m running a time of 10.94.
Jordyn Reed took the win in the Girls U20 100m by the smallest of margins, running 12.45 (-1.9), over second place Jaeland Cummings who ran 12.47. As for the U18 division, Makenna Self won in a time of 12.36 (-1.1) while Iyimi Fagbamiye crossed the line in a time of 11.19 (-1.7).
Fagbamiye doubled to win the Boys U18 110m Hurdles, running a time of 14.65 (-1.7), while Self's sister, Delaney Self, won the Girls U16 100m hurdles by over half a second, running a time of 15.15 into a very strong -2.4m/s wind.
The Jumps at the Pacific Invitational
Caleb Emon of the Prince George Track and FIeld Club soared to 1.85m in the Boys U20 High Hump. Emon will continue his athletics career with the Trinity Western Spartans next year! Other top jumpers included Caidyn Maver who won the Boys U18 High Jump with a mark of 1.95m! Bridgette Hansen of Kajaks jumped 1.60m to win the Girls U18 event.
As for the other jumping events, Kairo Chiang jumped to a height of 4.03m to win the Boys U20 Pole Vault, Kevin Malo took a leap to 6.14m to win the Boys U18 Long Jump, while Jasleen Nagra jumped 5.06m to win the Girls U18 Long Jump.
The Throws at the Pacific Invitational
In the Boys U20 Javelin, Riley Malkoske won with a mark of 58.75m. Other javelin winners include Dhea Kondolay in the Girls U16 division with a distance of 31.65m and Martynas Bajarunas with a distance of 58.38m.
Gurleen Mander completed the triple, winning all three of her throwing events in the U18 division. She threw the hammer 52.48m, the discus 33.02m and the shot put 12.70m.
Chase Longley won the Boys U16 Hammer Throw with a toss of 56.60m, Gursher Gabri won the Boys U16 Shot Put with a mark of 14.69m, Nicholas Newman won the Boys U18 Discus Throw with a distance of 37.75m, while Talia Phangura won the Girls U16 Shot Put with a mark of 13.72m.
The Distance Carnival
Alexa Dow continues to show her dominance in the distance events. Coming off record breaking performances at the BC High School Championships only a few weeks ago, and a new personal best in the 1500m at 1500m night, she beat a strong field of collegiates, including NCAA Division I All-America, Madison Heisterman, and a pair of UBC Thunderbirds Rachel Mortimer and Holly MacGillivary, the latter who was recently named to the Canadian NACAC U23 team!
Two more dominant high school athletes, Chloe Symon and Maya Baechler, who each won individual events at the BC High School Championships placed 6th and 7th in the race, running 2:12.04 and 2:12.28 respectively.
As for the Men's 10,000m, Yemane Mulugeta stood his ground against a competitive field of collegiates and post collegiates, to place 12th in a time of 30:44.81.