The track scene continues to thrive in New Westminster.
Members of the Royal City Track and Field Club put up strong numbers at the recent B.C. Athletics Jamboree, with numerous medals and personal bests added to the list.
Among the top results for Royal City were distance runners Grace Fetherstonhaugh and Kate Stewart-Barnett.
Fresh off a 3000-metre bronze medal performance at the Canadian track and field championships, Fetherstonhaugh topped the girls 16-17 division’s 2000m steeplechase with a personal best time of 6:48.43, more than 30 seconds quicker than North Van’s Rhian Paterson. It was also a seven-second reduction on her PB.
The New West Secondary athlete also collected silver in the 1500 and 3000m races, trailing Okanagan’s Taryn O’Neill in both. Fetherstonhaugh finished the 1500m in 4:31.49, just 3.57 seconds back of first, and completed the 3000m in 9:45.20, just over four seconds behind the winner.
The latter time carved a whopping 46-plus seconds off her previous quickest time, set just a month earlier in Langley.
Stewart-Barnett, meanwhile, was victorious in her 14-15 girls 1500m steeplechase debut, topping out at 5:04.66, two seconds ahead of her nearest challenger. She also finished second in her two other events: finishing the 1200m race in 3:42.25, just half a second back of first, and the 2000m in 6:38.73, just over six seconds out of top spot.
Also cashing in for three medals was Jenevieve Patry-Smith, whose gold in the 16-17 girls discus came on a throw of 33.04m nearly one metre farther than the next-best distance. She also picked up silver in javelin with a distance of 41.27m, and third in shotput.
Emily Chilton posted her first sub-60 second time in the 18-19 girls 400m, and scored a silver for her efforts. She also netted a bronze in the 800m.
For the men, Finnley Cookson, Nikhil Hirani and Max Jones each achieved silver in their respective events. Cookson and Jones cleared identical pole vaults of 3.20m in
the boys 16-17 division, trailing B.C. Flyers’ Ethan Foster’s 3.90m winning mark. Hirani was second
in the 14-15 boys 1500m racewalk, with a time of 9:08.05.
Also picking up medals for Royal City were: Brianna Bates, a bronze in 16-17 girls javelin; Jeremy Belcher, third in boys 16-17 triple jump; Zuzanna Liniewski, silver in 14-15 girls discus; Lauryn Savela, bronze in 14-15 girls javelin; Hannah Sidhu, bronze in 14-15 girls 1500m racewalk; Evan Smith, bronze in 16-17 boys javelin; and Lauren Vanee, silver in 18-19 women’s javelin.
Other results were: Dierdre Bos, 16-17, 6th discus; Emma Dolman,
14-15, 8th 300m, 300mH; Gavin Fan, 16-17, 9th LJ; Ryan Holloway, 16-17, 4th discus; Ryan Jensen, 16-17, 7th 110mH; Zuzanna Liniewski, 14-15, 9th discus; Lauren Sidhu, 14-15, 9th 300m; Lauren Vanee, 18-19, 4th 100mH.
