Reynolds girls on the right track
Oak Bay wins overall team title
It’s not a contact sport, but you still have to be physically unyielding to compete in track and field.
Lauren D’Agnolo of Reynolds, recruited to run next fall in the CIS for the University of Guelph, overcame a stress fracture to win three gold medals — the 200 metres in 25.55, 400 metres in 57.93 and 4x400 — to be named top girls’ track athlete Wednesday at the Lower Island high school championships at Centennial Stadium.
“The goal is to stay healthy to the fall when I start my career at Guelph,” said D’Agnolo, who trains with coach and Olympian Dacre Bowen at the Victoria Speed Project.
“Ideally, I would like to take it to the international level after [CIS],” added the future criminaljustice major.
It’s a busy time in a Grade 12 athlete’s life. “There is grad and track to juggle. But when everything is going well on the track [as it did Wednesday], everything else seems to fall into place. I am looking forward to the Island championships [next week at Centennial Stadium].”
Max Szczawinski of Claremont won gold in the discus and javelin and silver in the shotput, with a healing broken elbow that is “about 40 per cent,” to be named top boys’ field performer. Claremont athletic director Darren Reisig labelled Szczawinski a “hidden gem.”
But he’s not so hidden anymore after his discus throw of 43.53 metres set a new meet record. His results Wednesday in both the discus and javelin were season bests in Canada in junior.
“The season is still early,” said the self-effacing Spartan, who will study kinesiology next fall at UVic.
Szczawinski explained why he enjoys the throws: “What I like about solo sports is that it’s just you … there’s no one else to blame.”
Lindsey Frederiksen of Mount Douglas was named best in girls’ field events for her meet record of 47.34 metres in the hammer throw. Selected boys’ track events top performer was Liam Gatensby of Oak Bay for his sprint sweep of the 100 and 200 metres in 11.04 and 22.64 seconds, respectively.
Gatensby’s performances helped Oak Bay win the senior boys’ team title with 188 points with Lambrick Park second with 58, SMUS third with 49 and Reynolds fourth with 48. Oak Bay also won the girls’ senior title with 132 points. Reynolds rode D’Agnolo’s surge to a close second place with 129 points. Mount Douglas, with Cassidy Steen winning the steeplechase, was third with 57 and St. Andrew’s fourth with 55.
HIGH SCHOOL NOTES: It’s rugby palooza today with four championships on the line at SMUS. The big one between Oak Bay and SMUS, for the Howard Russell Cup, is at 6 p.m. The Col. Hodgkins Cup final between Claremont and GNS is at 4:30, Community Bowl final between Belmont and Reynolds at 3 p.m. and Shield final pitting Edward Milne and Spectrum at 1:30.