Nanaimo youths had the rare opportunity to compete at high school track and field provincials in their hometown.
Athletes from all Nanaimo’s secondary schools qualified for the B.C. High School Track and Field Championships held June 6-8 at Rotary Bowl stadium.
Six Nanaimo youths won provincial championships that week. Nanaimo District Secondary School’s senior girls’ 4x400-metre relay team of Lydia Paris, Ava Gauthier, Brea Gillette and Haley Martin won gold with a provincials record time of 3:59.78, beating out York House and Oak Bay Secondary.
Also, Dover Bay’s Rhys Beaudoin won gold in the junior boys’ 800m final in a time of 1:58.92, and Cedar Secondary’s Carter Cunning won gold in the Grade 8 boys’ 800m in 2:08.67.
Other top-three results from provincials included Paris coming second in senior girls’ high jump, Lucy Russell from NDSS coming second in senior girls’ pole vault, Gavin Esleyer of Wellington Secondary finishing second in the junior boys’ 400m, Beaudoin taking second in the junior boys’ 1,500m steeplechase, and Katelyn Putz of John Barsby Secondary placing third in senior girls’ hammer throw.
A week earlier on the mainland, multi-sport provincials were held and Tessa Bell of NDSS was second in junior girls’ heptathlon and Sacha Therrien of NDSS was third in senior boys’ decathlon.