Each spring, historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon becomes the epicentre of high school track and field during the Oregon Relays-a premier West Coast meet that attracts elite athletes from across the continent. This year was no exception, and British Columbia was well-represented as a number of athletes made the trip south to test themselves against top-tier competition in one of the sport's most iconic stadiums.
With standout performances across multiple events, BC athletes showed they belong on the big stage. Below are just some of the amazing moments that took place.
Distance Events
In the girls 800m, Chloe Symon of Lord Byng delivered a sensational win, crossing the line in 2:10.68. She also placed 6th in the 400m, clocking 57.19. Not far behind in the 800m was Adrianna Buitelaar of MEI, who finished 2nd in 2:12.81. Buitelaar doubled back for another silver in the mile, running a strong 4:50.34. Her teammate, Elizabeth Orr, placed 18th in the girls 2 mile, running 12:19.22.
In the boys 800m, Noah Louwerse of Credo Christian placed 12th in 1:56.89 and later ran 4:13.63 for 8th in the mile. Armaandeep Pannu of Earl Marriott (1:59.17) and Henry Nestmann of Seaquam (1:59.58) placed 27th and 31st, respectively, while Charlie King of St. John Paul II Academy followed closely in 33rd (1:59.70).
Samuel Jay of W.J. Mouat had a busy weekend, taking 5th in the 2000m steeplechase (6:10.03) and 16th in the mile (4:18.59). Isaiah Johnston of Clayton Heights clocked 9:15.92 for 12th in the boys 2 mile, followed by Andrew Neill of WPGA in 26th (9:28.55). In the same event, Daniel Zhang of Elgin Park ran 10:50.86 for 41st, and Benjamin Smith of Templeton finished 94th in 10:37.29.
In the girls mile, Cadelle Roberts and Rachel Milau of WPGA placed 29th and 47th, respectively, while Jeevut Sajjan of Lord Byng ran 5:18.59 for 42nd. Bernardo Sada and Matthew McCaslin of Walnut Grove went 42nd (4:29.84) and 78th (5:11.28) in the boys mile. Sada also placed third in the 800m with a time of 1:53.41.
In the girls 2000m steeplechase, Mary Neill of WPGA placed 7th in 7:47.85.