Up against many of the top track and field athletes in Canada, New Westminster’s Max Jones and Jenevieve Patry-Smith combined for four medals at the Legion National track and field championships last week in St. Therese, Que.
Jones’ pole vault in midget under 16 boys hit 3.20 metres, equal to the silver medalist’s clearance. He was also a member of the third-place B.C. team in the boys 4 x 100 relay race.
Patry-Smith, meanwhile, secured a pair of bronze in field events, placing third in midget u16 javelin and shotput.
Her best javelin throw, of 38.21m, came on her sixth and final attempt, and was just 0.02 behind second place. Patry-Smith’s shotput toss hit 12.09m.
Both are members of the Royal City Track and Field Club.
Another member, Brianna Bates, finished fifth overall in 16-17 year old girls javelin, with a throw of 37.98m.
It’s been a strong four weeks for members of the Royal City club, as Patry-Smith won gold in the javelin at last month’s B.C. Summer Games in Abbotsford. Her top throw reached 39.44m. She also picked up a bronze in shotput, with a toss of 11.67m.
Jones would collect gold in pole vault, equalling his 3.20m distance.
Securing bronze in boys 300m dash was Gavin Fan. Also representing Zone 4 at the Summer Games were clubmates Jeremy Belcher and Ryan Jensen.
Two weeks ago, eight Royal City athletes competed at the Junior championships in Surrey, with Katie Stewart Barnett capturing twin gold in the 1200- and 2000m distance races. The 13-year-old also picked up silver in the 800m event.
Emily Bowles brought home the 1200m girls bronze in the 12-year-old division, while Kathryn Doyle did the same in 11-year-old girls javelin.
On the boys side, Jaden Knight won silver in 13-year-old boys javelin, while Max Holmes finished second in 10-year-old boys 600m. Picking up bronze were Noah Brolin, in 10-year-old boys’ shotput, Julian Lauritzen, in nine-year-old boys’ 600m, and Markus Savela, in 10-year-old boys javelin.
