Raquel Tjernagel of New Westminster helped Canada to the final of the women's medley relay at the world youth track and field championships in Donetsk, Ukraine.
Tjernagel, the B.C. high school 200-metre champion, qualified for the semifinals following a fourth-place finish in the 200m in a time of 24.61 seconds. The New Westminster Secondary student failed to qualify for the final.
In the relay, Canada won its opening heat in a time of 2:08.52, edging eventual silver medallist British Virgin Islands by almost three-tenths of a second. Canada finished fifth overall in the relay final.
Another Royal City athlete Mihailo Stefanovic, who trains with the New West Spartans, failed to make it to the finals of the men's 110m hurdles following a sixth-place finish in the semifinal heats.
Stefanovic qualified for the semis with a personal-best time of 13.98 in the opening heats.
Not long enough At the Canadian junior national track and field championships in Quebec, Burnaby South Secondary student Ahmad Nizamani placed ninth in the men's long jump.
Nizamani, who won the provincial high school title with a leap of 6.95m, jumped 6.40m in the qualifying round. B.C. title for RC Track The Royal City track club won the B.C. Athletics junior development provincial championships in Nanaimo last weekend.
The provincial meet followed a winning weekend at the Trevor Craven Memorial track meet at Swanguard Stadium in Burnaby, where club athletes performed exceptionally well, winning a total of 41 medals including 15 gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze, along with an additional 45 top-eight finishes in preparation for the provincials.
Eighteen Royal City athletes, between the ages of nine and 13, contributed with many personalbest performances.
The club walked away from the championships and a total of 50 awards, including 18 medals and 32 additional top-eight finishes.
Grace Fetherstonhaugh won a silver medal in the 2,000 metres and was third at 1,200m. Jenevieve Patry-Smith was second in javelin and third in the shot put. Devin Strome also won a silver medal in the high jump. Ryan Jensen won two medals in hurdles, placing second at the 80m and third at 200m. Jeremy Belcher was as runner-up in the 100m dash, 200m hurdles and long jump. Emmanuel Dadson also came second in the pole vault, as did Tomas Ward in the shot.
The 11-year-old girls' distance medley relay team made up of Michelle Dadson, Anaiyah Bernier, Lauryn Savela and Elizabeth Bowles also won a silver.
Bronze medals were won by Katelyn Stewart-Barnett in both the 600m run and high jump. Michelle Dadson also placed third in discus.
The 10-year-old girls' 4x100 relay team made up of Kaia Polanska-Richardson, Annette Scott, Malena Kalisch and Stewart-Barnett took bronze, as did the boys' 13-year-old relay team made up of Belcher, Jensen, Ward and Dadson.
There were an additional 32 top-eight finishes achieved by the club athletes.
Malena Kalisch, Bernier, Bowles, Amanda Scott, Fetherstonhaugh, Strome, Patry-Smith, Michelle Dadson, Brianna Bates, Joelle Pinvidic, Lauryn Savela, Jensen, Emmanuel Dadson, Belcher and the 13-year-old girls' relay team made up of Brianna Bates, Fetherstonhaugh, Scott and Strome, which placed fourth in both the distance medley relay and the 4x100.
