With no club training and no real track for her school’s team to practice on, Hannah Vorell entered the provincial high school track and field championships last week as unknown as could be.
Competing in the invitational Grade 8 event, the 13-year-old multi-sport athlete wasn’t expecting a medal but was going to make sure she was in the hunt.
To her surprise, the Burnaby Mountain Lions runner finished the 400-metre girls race second overall, overcoming a handful of runners to lean ahead at the line for silver.
“I wasn’t expecting to get any medals because I was ranked fifth or sixth, so finishing second was a real surprise. I’m pretty happy,” said Vorell. “My goal was just to make it to provincials and just have fun.”
Her time of 59.99 seconds, trailing Dr. Knox’s Emma Cannan’s 59.16, was a new personal best. Considering she hasn’t benefitted from any club training, it’s an impressive feat, Lions’ athletic director Larry Ryan said.
“She’s a naturally talented athlete,” remarked Ryan, who also serves as the school’s track and field coach. “She did very well at the districts and I knew she definitely had the talent to do it; we just had to make sure she was prepared mentally for the start line.”
Vorell skis, has played soccer for a number of years, and is on Burnaby Mountain’s basketball team.
When the track team practiced, they didn’t have a true track to train on. Things had to be improvised, creating various challenges for runners. But it was no fuss for Vorell, who fought off the regular pre-run jitters before breaking out of the blocks.
“I was pretty nervous until I started running, but I was really happy to get under one minute.”
Ryan said he was impressed how after her race, Vorell returned to the track just over an hour later to compete in the 4x400 – and ran a 1:03.
“She just ran a phenomenal race. She just leaned out to get that silver at the perfect time,” he said of the 400m medal.
For Vorell, it was no sweat. Her mom was a competitive runner in her high school days and was a nationally ranked athlete. Entering last week’s final, the teenager didn’t feel much pressure. She shook it off like a true competitor.
“It’s only one minute of pain, so you finish quick and you’re done,” she said.
