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Quarterway Elementary tops at school track and field meet

Results from the Nanaimo District Elementary Track and Field Championships, held in June
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Elementary school athletes had remarkable results at the district track and field meet at Rotary Bowl stadium at the end of last school year. (News Bulletin file photo)

BY IAN THORPE

The final sporting event for local elementary students this past school year was the Nanaimo District Elementary Track and Field Championships. The annual event held last month at Rotary Bowl made a successful return from COVID-19 cancellations, featuring qualifiers from approximately 25 local schools. This week we feature top three finishers from girls’ events…

In the tyke (born 2012-13) division, Departure Bay runner Anya Caul was first in the 100-metre dash. Runner-up was Hayden Esleyer from Coal Tyee, who also placed second in the 200m. Taking first in both the 200m and 600m distances was Virtue Nnadi from Georgia Avenue. Third in the 100m went to Hammond Bay’s Elsie Feagan, while third in 200m was Amelia Switzer, also from Hammond Bay. Second in the 600m race was Claire Hildebrand from Cilaire. Quarterway’s Makena Racher won the 1200m event as well as taking third in the 600m. Sophia Bodnaruk of Rock City was second in 1200m and Quarterway runner Wren Vaitekunas earned third.

With field events for tyke girls, top three long jumpers were Sienna Heavy from Forest Park, Elsie Feagan representing Hammond Bay and Anya Caul of Departure Bay. In the softball throw event, Jillian McAdam from Ladysmith Intermediate was first, Aizlynn Roine from Cedar Intermediate placed second and Seaview’s Talia Swanson was third.

Competition on the track for peewee (born 2010-11) girls resulted in a 100m title for Sophia Luvisotto-Baird from Departure Bay. Quarterway’s Ruby Allison was first in 200m as well as in the 1,200m event. McGirr’s Kaitlyn Azcarraga placed second in both 100m and 200m. Summer Warburton from Cedar Intermediate won the 600m race and was third in 100m. Molly Dreger from Frank J. Ney was second in 600m, while Chase River athlete Sienna Palmer took third in 200m and 600m. Second and third in the 1,200m went to Megan James from Chase River and Ember Vaitekunas of Quarterway.

Top three peewee girls in long jump were Kaia Kong from Cilaire, Lucy Huang of Hammond Bay and Chase River’s Saige Arkwright. Kailyn Paproski representing Hammond Bay was a double winner, claiming both the triple jump and shot put titles. Second in triple jump was Beth Linder from Frank J. Ney, with Ladysmith Intermediate’s Stelle Wotherspoon third. Second and third in shot put were Bella-Lynn Martinez of Ladysmith and Lauryn Legary from Frank J. Ney. Mountain View’s Brooklyn Chase was first in discus, with Cedar’s Rylin Olshanowski placing second and Karina Wilson of Hammond Bay third. Winner of the softball throw event was Cedar’s Charlie McLeod, who outdistanced Kennedy Rees of Park Avenue and Ladysmith’s Paige McAdam.

With bantam (born 2009) girls, action on the track featured Karlin Korkowski from Mountain View winning the 100m race, outsprinting Danaea Brand from Pleasant Valley and McGirr’s Charlotte Shepherd. Shepherd was the winner of the 200m event and Brand the runner-up. Third spot went to Leia Wells from Quarterway, who also placed second in 600m. North Oyster’s Skyla Lewis was a double winner in the longer track distances, capturing both the 600m and 1200m. Charli Slater from Departure Bay finished second in 1200m. Third in 600m was Seaview’s Kiona Miller and third in 1200m was McGirr’s Katelyn Cunningham.

Turning to field events, Tessa Bell representing Quarterway was the champion in both long jump and triple jump, with Mountain View’s Karlin Korkowski taking second in both events. Third in long jump went to Leia Wells from Quarterway, with third in triple jump going to Departure Bay athlete Janelle Brook. Quarterway’s Ella Creed was the discus winner and also placed second in shot put. First in shot put went to Sophia Monpetit from Quarterway, with Pleasant Valley’s Kate Staines getting third place. Second and third in discus went to Sarra Douhabia from Rock City and Hammond Bay entrant Emma Chen.

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We’re staying on track, continuing a review of the Nanaimo District Elementary School Track and Field Championships to acknowledge top performances from the three age groups of boys’ competition. My thanks to coordinator Alana Lavery for passing along results, which included three new district records…

In the tyke (born 2012-13) division, Max Peacock from Randerson Ridge set one of those new records by winning the 1,200m in four minutes,18.88 seconds. Second and third went to Departure Bay’s Curtis Gross and Rory Wilson of Uplands Park. Top three in the 600m distance were Ben Blightt of Departure Bay, Logan Van Aerde from McGirr and Kailo Grain of Departure Bay. In both the 100m and 200m finals, Departure Bay runner Liam Kosowan took first place, with Ladysmith Intermediate’s Kade Fiddick second. Briggs Lee of Uplands was third in 100m and Rylan Havelaar of Pleasant Valley third in 200m.

With field events for tyke boys, Departure Bay’s Kailo Grain was the top long jumper, outleaping Pleasant Valley’s Rylan Havelaar and Mason Walsh from Randerson Ridge. Walsh took second place in softball throw, where Cilaire’s Bryce Aske was first and Will MacGregor from Pleasant Valley was third.

Turning to peewee (born 2010-11) boys’ track action, Quarterway’s Julien Slobodan was fastest in 100m. Baraka Gibson from Cinnabar Valley placed second and was also third in 200m. A double winner in 200m and 600m was David Wu from Randerson Ridge. Reid Benjamin of North Oyster placed second in 200m. Second and third in 600m were Ryan Cam from McGirr and Frank J. Ney’s Bodin Olsen. The 1,200m title went to Mountain View’s Nolan Penner, who finished ahead of Quarterway teammates Caden Sugiyama and Lucas Ross.

Julien Slobodan from Quarterway was the top peewee boys’ long jumper, out-leaping Cohen Saretsky from Coal Tyee and Ryan Cam of McGirr. Top three triple jumpers were Carson Quitley of Coal Tyee, Pleasant Valley’s Jaden Havelaar and Eric Zhang from McGirr. Pauline Haarer athlete Will Lindsay won the discus event and placed second in shot put. Hammond Bay’s Kevin Wilson was runner-up in discus, with James Boulding from Pauline Haarer third. Tyler Couchman of Park Avenue was tops in shot put and Malone Mann-O’Brien claimed third place. Best in the softball throw were Mountain View’s Eli Fisher, Malcolm Wells from Quarterway and Pleasant Valley’s Lucas Krampl.

Track events for the bantam (born 2009) boys were highlighted by two new district records. Both were set by Jaxon Clark from Pleasant Valley, who broke with 600m record with a time of 1.41.59 and set a new 1,200m record with a finish in 3.49.16. Second and third in 600m were Will Cram from North Oyster and Donnie Denholm of Chase River, while second and third in 1,200m were McGirr’s Tye Vanden Elsen and Nico Perez from Uplands Park. In the shorter track distances, Hayden Louwers from Coal Tyee was fastest in both 100m and 200m. Second and third in 100m were Mason Miller from Forest Park and John Yan of McGirr. In 200m, Quarterway’s Fletcher Geddes was runner-up and Levi Larsen of Chase River third.

In bantam field events, top three long jumpers were Ben Tomasson from Mountain View, Trey Zollinger of Randerson Ridge and Chase River’s Nova Tropea. McGirr’s John Yan was best at triple jump, with Joe Linder from Frank J. Ney second and Cilaire’s Archer Irving third. First in shot put went to Rylan Maughan representing Chase River and the longest discus throw was that of Cinnabar Valley’s Cameron Patterson. Second and third in shot put were Mason Miller of Forest Park and Kadin Briegel of Frank J. Ney. Randerson’s Jack Broekhuizen was runner-up in discus and Quarterway’s Josh Hamilton took third place.

Total points accumulated during the district meet for all events resulted in an overall school title for Quarterway, with McGirr second, Departure Bay third and Hammond Bay fourth. Congratulations to all participants and to the large team of volunteer helpers.

Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair, and show good sportsmanship.