Jack Brow results inspire PGTFC members
Ten-year-old Devyn Bjorn went 10-for-10 at the Jack Brow Invitational track and field meet in Kelowna.
The Prince George Track and Field Club member signed up for 10 events in the weekend meet and finished in the top 10 in each of them, including a gold-medal performance in the javelin throw.
Hana Liston, 10, also climbed the medal podium, winning silver in high hump and bronze in the 60-metre, 100m and 600m runs. She also posted top-five final results in 60m hurdles, 1,000m, javelin and long jump.
In her firstever track meet, 10-year-old
Azalea Cartwright captured silver in the 1,000m, bronze in discus and was a top-10 finisher in long jump. Liston, Bjorn, Asha Schokking and Teeghan Sapergia-Loewen, all of the PGTFC, placed sixth in the 12-year-old girls 4x100m relay.
Nine-year-old Fynnley Loewen, the youngest PGTFC athlete, claimed silver in the high jump and was a top-10 finisher in five events.
“We had a few young athletes who had never been to a meet before so it was a really positive experience for them to learn that placing isn’t everything – it’s about your personal bests and how you are improving every time you try out,” said PGTFC head coach Elena Thomas.
“I think we did great, pulling home some hardware but more importantly lots of PBs got posted and that’s what we look at.”
The meet was a final tune-up for 17-year-old distance runner Jordan Bax before the B.C. Jamboree meet in Coquitlam, July 13-14. Bax won bronze in two Jack Brow events in the 16-17 men’s category, finishing third in the 1,500m and 3,000m. In the same age category, Max Schonewille threw two personal bests as a silver medalist in discus and bronze medalist in hammer.
Bax and high jumper/middistance runner Bazil Spencer of Quesnel will represent the PGTFC at the Jamboree next weekend, a qualifying meet for the Legion national championships in Brandon, Aug. 10-12. Spencer hurt his back two weekends ago at the Harry Jerome meet in Vancouver and did not compete last weekend in Kelowna.
In other PGTFC results, Erica Turgeon won silver in discus and bronze in long jump in the women’s 16-17 class, while Elena Emon earned bronze in hammer throw and Vaila Baxter was the bronze medalist in javelin.
Caleb Emon won silver in 13-year-old boys high jump, bronze in long jump and placed in the top-five in the 100m and 200m sprints.
The club is still using Lac des Bois school field as its home base and Thomas is hopeful it will be the revamped Masich Place Stadium sometime in August, once renovations are complete.
“We’d like to see a family day where all of our athletes can come back with their families and try all of the events we typically host,” said Thomas. “We haven’t had a meet in our own venue in almost two years.”
The PGTFC will be sending six athletes – Sophia Mahmoud, Isabelle Lindsay, Maya Little, Morgan Lawrence, Brenn Smith and Josh Fiala – to the B.C. Summer Games, July 19-22 in Cowichan Valley.
The younger athletes in the club will be competing in the B.C. junior development meet, July 27-29, in Kelowna.