At the South Fraser Zone Championships this past week, teamwork was the name of the game. The relay events produced exciting races and excellent results on the path to the 2024 BC Provincial Championships in 3 weeks' time.
R.A. McMath showed outstanding depth in the relay events this week. In the Senior Boys 4x400, their A team won in a time of 3:35.04, which would've made last year's provincial final. They also fielded a second squad which took the bronze in a time of 3:46.79. In the Senior Boys 4x100m relay, they fielded an incredible 3 squads. R.A. McMath are the defending provincial champions in the Senior Boys 4x100m, and the A squad produced a time of 43.87, showing that they are well on their way to defending their title. R.A. McMath also won the Senior Girls 4x100m relay in a time of 51.85, which could get them into the provincial final this year based on last year's results.
While R.A. McMath showed great depth, there were some story moments for other schools. Southridge School, classified as a single A sized school, won the Senior Girls 4x400m by 8 seconds in a time of 4:16. Their time would have made the provincial finals last year. Another strong performance came from the Holy Cross Junior Girls team, who won their 4x400 in 4:19. 4th at least year's provincials, they will surely be in the podium hunt again this year.
In the 4x100, Pacific Academy won the Junior Boys race in a time of 45.52, which puts them firmly in the chase for a medal this year at provincials based on the results from 2023. On the Junior Girls side, Holy Cross was victorious once more in a time of 51.16, and R.A. McMath continued their success with a silver medal finish.
While the relays produced exciting results, there were plenty of noteworthy individual results as well. Here are a few of those notable results.
The women's sprints were a battle for every medal position. In the Junior Girl's sprints, three athletes were the headliners. In the 100m, Isabel Ogbes won in a time of 12.75 into a strong -3.2 headwind, the only sub-13 performance of the day, other than Grade 8 Avionne Marie Dean who ran 12.93 in a -2.8 headwind. The 400m saw a trio of sub-60 performances, with Madeline VanSpall leading the way with a 58.31. Alexia Latore took silver in 59.93, and Tanaz Aulakh-Kahlon the bronze in 59.99. Over the median distance, the 200m, Latore took first place, with VanSpall second and Ogbes third. Aulakh-Kahlon also won the 300m hurdles in a time of 48.43, which will have her in the medal hunt at provincials.
Arden Mathis had a very successful zone championship, winning three individual senior girls titles. Mathis won the 400m in 58.84, a 2-second victory, which would've qualified her for the provincial final last year. She won the 800 in 2:19, and also won the 400m hurdles just one hour later, in a time of 1:09.
The boys' distance hurdles showed that the South Fraser zone has some potential provincial podium finishers moving on. In the Senior Boys 400m hurdles, Liam Barnes finished just ahead of Matthias Dee, 1:00.14 to 1:00.94, respectively. Both times have the potential for a provincial podium. In the Junior Boys 300m hurdles, Ethan Moran of Pacific Academy ran a 41.13, which could put him in contention for the provincial title in June.
In the racewalk events, the two senior champions ran (or quickly walked) away with the zone titles. Amazia Wandzura, last year's provincial champion in the Senior Girls 1500m Racewalk, impressed in the event with a win of over 80 seconds, walking a time of 8:12. Joshua Gordon won by nearly a minute, walking 8:07 in the Senior Boys 1500m Racewalk.
Out in the field, there were some note-worthy jumps. David Ude of Pacific Academy won the Junior Boys Triple Jump with a huge 12.71m leap into a -2.2 headwind, a jump that would've won the 2023 provincials by 20cm. Ude also took the long jump silver with a jump of 5.79. Treah Bennett, who was just off the podium last year at provincials, looks to challenge for a medal this year. Bennett won the zone championship in the Junior Girls Triple Jump with a leap of 10.89m. Jasleen Nagra, last year's provincial champion in the triple jump and silver medallist in the long jump, looks to be in great form again this year. Nagra won the Senior Girls Triple and Long jumps with jumps of 10.94m and 5.07m.
The 2024 high school track season is shaping up to be an exciting one, so keep watching Milesplit BC to follow along so you don't miss any of the excitement!