A 13-year-old Nanaimo boy is not only a provincial champion, but a quintuple gold medallist.
The Nanaimo Track and Field Club’s Nate Paris won five gold medals at the B.C. Athletics Junior Development Championships last weekend in Surrey.
Paris won the 200-metre race, the 80m and 200m hurdles and the high jump and also set a new personal best of 5.39 metres to win the long jump.
Several other local youths excelled at club provincials.
Kynan Shurniak won the 11-year-old boys’ 1,000m and the 600m, while Jayden Watson won the 2,000m, the triple jump and the pole vault in his 13-year-old division. Watson added a silver in long jump and bronze in high jump.
Annika Lundman won the 800m race walk and Evelyn Trepke finished first in the 1,500m race walk. Emma Kirk won javelin and took silver in hammer throw.
In other results, Jake Putz finished second in the 1,200m and took bronze in both the 2,00m and the 800m. Bailey Rossnagel was second in the girls’ 2,000m.
Also, Ava Martiniuk earned silver in the 800m race walk and third in long jump. Stirling Henry was second in pole vault. Haley Martin finished second in long jump and third in 60m hurdles, 200m and high jump. Lydia Paris earned silver in high jump.
Ben Martin was third in discus, so was Katelyn Putz, and Hunter Shurniak got a bronze in javelin.
A club press release notes the results confirm the Nanaimo Track and Field Club’s “status as one of the strongest in the province.”