Whether it was Al Jolson or Bachman-Turner-Overdrive, the popular saying ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’ certainly applies to the Burnaby Central track and field team.
Powered by a strong relays performance and a surprising showing in pole vault, the Wildcats shocked R.A. McMath at last week’s zone championships to take the overall title by 22 points.
Now, they take that accomplishment and apply it at the biggest stage this week – the B.C. High School track and field championships in Langley, which wraps up on Saturday.
“We have a big team, one of the biggest in years for the school,” outside coach Wes Stinson said of the Langley-bound squad. “We’re very strong in the relays.”
The Wildcats are sending 35 athletes to the provincials, competing in 38 events, including seven relays.
On the boys’ side, the team is well distributed, including a strong Grade 8 group, and some medal potential among the seniors.
Senior girls’ 100-metre runner Logan Bovell posted a number-1 seed time of 12.24 seconds, and sits third with a time of 25.74 in the 200m.
Junior boys’ Daniel Yu, meanwhile, ranks third in junior boys 1500m, as does Gr. 8 boys’ Ryan Goudron in the 3000m race. He is seeded fourth in the Gr. 8 boys 1500m event. Other top-eight seeds include senior boys’ Dmitri Williamson, in long jump, and senior girls 4x100m relay, and Gr. 8 boys 4x100 and 4x400m relays.
In the zones, which Burnaby Central hosted, Williamson finished second and Matthew Sam third in the senior boys pole vault, and Dylan Duggan placed second in the junior pole vault, to break a deadlock with McMath for the overall title. It was an extremely close competition, with Burnaby Mountain, New Westminster and three Richmond schools fielding strong teams, Stinson said.
“I didn’t really think we’d beat McMath because they have like 100 kids in their program. What helped us was we probably are the only school that does every event. That helped us put up points,” he added.
Here are the top-3 results for Burnaby schools at the zones:
GIRLS, Gr. 8 - Simran Aujla, BC, 2nd jav; Isabella Brunoro, BM, 1st 3000m, 2nd 1500m, 3rd 800m; Kelsey Kanyamuna, Alpha, 1st 200m, 2nd 100, 400m; Phoebe Lao, BC, 1st 80m-h, 200m-h; Vivian Truong, BM 2nd 200m-h; Hannah Vorell, BM, 1st 400m. Junior - Pamela Dragolov, BN, 2nd 3000m; Lauren Gaffney, BM, 2nd LJ, jav; Christina Heslop, BC, 1st 1500, 3000m, 1500m steeple; Danielle Labreche, BC, 1st 100, 400m-h, HT; Zuzanna Liniewski, BN, 1st HT, 3rd disc; Katelyn Malmquist, BS, 1st 200, 400m, 3rd 100m; Christine Ng, BM, 2nd 1500 RW; Kate O’Shea, BC, 3rd 80m-h; Emily Persiehl, BC, 2nd 100m-h, 1500m steeple; Hannah Sidhu, Alpha, 2nd 1500m RW; Lauren Sidhu, Alpha, 1st 800m, 2nd 400m; Chiara Stichling, 2nd 300m-h; Sophia Vivero, BM, 3rd LJ. Senior - Logan Bovell, BC, 1st 100, 200m; Saira Purhar, BM, 2nd 1500, 3000m; Elyse Willan, BM, 1st 1500 RW.
BOYS, Gr. 8 - Jeffrey Baldisimo, BC, 2nd 400m; Ryan Goudron, BC 1st 1500, 3000m; Lucas Han, BC, 3rd 3000m; Sebastian Knowles, BM, 2nd 200m-h; Gerald Natavio, BC, 3rd 100, 200m; Parsa Ranjbar, BC, 2nd 100, 200m; Henry Ruckman-Utting, Alpha, 2nd 1500m; Sebastyan Szymanski, BC, 1st 400, 800m; Chunhei Tse, BM, 1st 100m-h, 3rd HJ, TJ. Junior - Kosta Adzic, BM, 1st 3000m, 2nd 1500m; Tyler Chai, BC, 3rd 1500 RW; Dylan Duggan, BC, 1st HT, 2nd PV; Aidar Eshimbekov, Alpha, 3rd 800m; Constantine Georgas, Alpha, 3rd 100m; Nikhil Hirani, BM, 1st 1500 RW; Ryan Holloway, BS, 3rd disc; Shea Janke, BS, 1st 1500m steeple, 3rd 3000m; David Ligocki, BC, 2nd 400m, 3rd 200m; Thomas Luong, BM, 2nd jav; Kyle Nelsen, BM, 3rd 300m-h; Luis Ramirez, BC, 2nd 1500 RW; Ryan Roberts, BM, 2nd 800m; Gavin Theys, BC, 2nd 1500m steeple; Alastair Yeung, BM, 3rd TJ; Daniel Yu, BC, 1st 1500m. Senior - Michael Arias, BC, 2nd HT; Ephrem Belaineh, BS, 1st 800m, 3rd 1500m; Justin Bint, MOS, 3rd 200m; Jonathan Chow, BC, 1st 2000m steeple; Sean Lee, BC, 2nd 400m-h, 3rd HJ; Paul Perdido, BC, 1st HT, 2nd disc; Alex Romero, BM, 1st 3000m, 2nd 1500m; Matthew Sam, BC, 3rd 400m, PV; Mehar Thukral, BM, 2nd 1500 RW, 2000m steeple; Tomas Ward, BC, 2nd SP; Grant Welsh, BM, 1st jav, 3rd disc; Dmitri Williamson, BC, 2nd PV, LJ, 3rd 100m; Brent Wu, BC, 1st 1500 RW; Charles Yu, BC, 1st 1500m, 2nd 3000m.
