Two Revelstoke Secondary School records were smashed on the track during the B.C. high school track and field championship meet last weekend at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby. During the two days of competition there was a fist full of season’s best results, a few top 8 finishes, and a few athletes who were fractions away from making finals.
Megan Evans set the new RSS standard in the junior 1500m race on the first day of competition at provincials. After competing in the 3000m a few hours earlier, Megan ran to an eighth place finish in the 1500m then remarked, “I think I like the 1500m better -- it’s the right distance for me.”
And proof that sibling rivalry is alive and well, older sister Brittany wasn’t about to let her younger sister be the only Evans with a new RSS track and field record. Brittany broke her own school record, one she set at last year’s provincials, as she finished with a seventh place finish in the province with a mark of 4:50.20.
“I’ve never been in a race like that,” said Brittany noting that the pack of 12 finalists ran in very close quarters for more than half of the race, which translated into a lot of contact as athletes used their elbows to prevent becoming ‘boxed-in.
Rounding out the top 8 finishes were Delyth Harper’s gutsy 400m hurdle race. Harper, who has a reputation on the team for clipping hurdles and steeples during her races, was a bit surprised.
“I don’t even think I clipped [a hurdle],” she said.
In the throwing events, RSS athlete Chris Andrews pushed the 4 kilogram shotput to a season’s best mark of 12.34 meters during the first day of competition earning himself a top 8 finish.
“I can’t wait to come back next year,” said Andrews knowing that, as a grade 8, he still has one more year of eligibility in the junior portion of the competition.
Several athletes found themselves on the outside looking in as their performance was just a fraction from making the finals. Peter Behncke’s hammer throw and Brittany Evans’s steeplechase race had them in ninth place and Lachlan Hicks was a few tenths of a second too slow and ended up in 10th spot in the junior 100m hurdles.
Also, included in the results were a number of athletes who had season’s best performances – they included Bronte Viznaugh’s 24.62m hammer throw, Alei Mohr’s 18.38 100m hurdles, and Brittany Evans’s 5:28.86 steeplechase mark.
After a difficult year in terms of weather – the first outdoor practice was April 30th down at the track – the RSS track team finished up the season by improving on last year’s overall team results by winning three of the six Okanagan valley penants. And with young talent including the likes of Chris Andrews, Amy Gagnon, and Rhys Evans, the future continues to shine with expectation for the RSS Track and Field team.