A Nanaimo track and field athlete is the fastest girl in B.C.
Hassy Fashina-Bombata of Wellington Secondary School won the senior girls’ 100-metre dash this past weekend at the B.C. High School Track and Field Championships in Langley.
Fashina-Bombata finished in 12.07 seconds to edge out Georgia Lam of McNair and Jasneet Nijjar of Queen Elizabeth, who crossed the line in 12.13 seconds and 12.14 seconds, respectively.
“I wasn’t nervous or anything. I was just ready for the race…” Fashina-Bombata said. “As soon as I got out of my blocks, it was great. My start was really good.”
By the 50m mark she could tell her competitors were struggling to keep pace and with 10m to go, Fashina-Bombata knew she had things well in hand.
“I was [thinking] I could possibly break 12 seconds. I didn’t, but I was really close,” she said.
Winning the 100m meant a lot in her last year of high school, said the UBC-bound athlete. She had wanted to come out of high school provincials feeling proud of herself.
“All of the winter training I’ve been doing, all the hard work, going in I was like, it’s now or never. This is my last chance to actually prove that I could make something out of myself and I did.”
Fashina-Bombata had another podium finish at provincials, finishing third in the 200m.
She’s got some more big races coming up, including Western Canada Summer Games trials this Saturday (June 10) in Coquitlam and then the Harry Jerome International Track Classic, also in Coquitlam, on June 28.
Wellington Secondary can boast another high school provincial track and field champion, too, as Madison Paugh won the Grade 8 triple jump, making it 10.55 metres.
Nanaimo’s other B.C. champion is Sash Barbour of Dover Bay Secondary School, who finished first in the Special Olympics 200m with a time of 29.49 seconds.
Top-three results from track and field provincials include:
Grade 8 girls - Madison Paugh, Wellington, first, triple jump.
Grade 8 boys - Gage Zanette, Barsby, second, 3,000m.
Junior girls - Olivia Lundman, Dover Bay, third, 1,500m race walk.
Junior boys - Ethan Katzberg, Barsby, third, hammer throw; Steen Rasmussen, Barsby, second, pole vault.
Senior girls - Hassy Fashina-Bombata, Wellington, first, 100m dash, third, 200m; Jessica Katzberg, John Barsby, third, hammer throw; Marina Andersen, Nanaimo District, second, 1,500m race walk.
Special Olympics - Sash Barbour, Dover Bay, first, 200m, second, 100m dash.