The Record’s top athletes of 2014 still have a lifetime of accomplishments in front of them
Nina Schultz of New Westminster had a record-breaking year in track and field, setting a new B.C. youth mark in the girls’ heptathlon at a meet in Langley in June.
Raquel Tjernagel proved herself the fastest Canadian in the 200 metres at the IAAF world junior track and field championships in Eugene, Oregon in July.
The 15-year-old Schultz recorded 5,105 points in the seven-event discipline, including a leap of 1.78 metres in the high jump, which ranked her first in the country in the girls’ youth and junior divisions.
Earlier, Schultz, a Grade 10 student at New Westminster Secondary, helped the Hyacks win their first-ever provincial team and girls’ team banners at the B.C. high school championship.
Schultz won three separate events, including the heptathlon in her multi-event debut, high jump and triple jump – all with personal bests – and was named the provincial high school meet’s most outstanding female performer.
In her first-ever competitive heptathlon, Schultz recorded two victories and three other top-three finishes in the two-day, seven-event competition held earlier in Abbotsford in May.
“For my first heptathlon, it was pretty good,” said Schultz.
She also shared a fourth gold with Tjernagel and New West’s 4x400 metre relay team in Langley.
Later in the season, Schultz, who trains with the New West Spartans track club, also took gold in horizontal jumps at the Canadian Legion Youth track and field championships.
Schultz medalled in both the long and triple jumps in the u-18 division, winning the former with a personal-best leap of 5.82 metres in the final round.
Although already a serious challenger to national junior record holder Georgia Ellenwood of Langley in the multi-events, Schultz appears to be reluctant to make any serious commitment just yet.
“I’ll definitely do (the heptathlon) in my high school years. I don’t mind most of the events. … But personally, I don’t want to pursue it; it’s such a tough event,” Schultz said.
Tjernagel set a new B.C. open and native youth women’s record in the 200m, breaking the tape in 23.75 and smashing multi-record holder Krysha Bailey’s 14-year-old mark in the process.
The 16-year-old New Westminster Secondary student-athlete was eventually eliminated in the semifinals despite a second straight sub-24-second heat at the worlds.
Tjernagel finished with the 12th-fastest time at the championship meet.
At the B.C. high school championships, Tjernagel won both the 100 and 200m in personal-best times, garnering a combined total of 89 points with Schultz to help defeat defending titlist and 10-time provincial champion Oak Bay by a single point in the aggregate category, while also winning the girls’ provincial aggregate.
“I’m just proud of my school being rewarded with these two banners,” said Tjernagel.
