Ballenas Secondary 4x100m relay team was among the fastest at the BC High School Track and Field Championships held at the McLeod Athletic Park in Langley last week.
The Whalers team, consisting of Logan Pepper, Gabriel Dodd, Anthony Rowdy and Simon Morrison, sprinted to fifth place in the preliminaries to earn a spot in the finals.
Against some of the top high school relay teams in the province, the Whalers showed their mettle to finish in the top three and earned Ballenas a bronze medal. It was the only medal the Whalers brought home from the three-day provincials that was held June 1-3.
In the field events, two of the Whalers’ top throwers just missed the bronze medals.
In the junior discus, Libby Elliott came close, finishing fourth with a throw of 32.54m. She placed 18th in the junior javelin and 10th in the junior hammer.
Another athlete that ended up just outside the medal placing was Libby’s older brother, Elliot, who came in fourth in the discus. He also placed 18th with his 4x400m relay team.
Morrison, who helped the relay team land a medal, came close to qualifying in the finals of the 200m when he placed 9th overall in the preliminaries, just .08 seconds behind the 8th place qualifier. He also placed 14th in the 100m race.
The other Whalers that competed at the provincials were Juliette Desvaux, Shane Stewart, Michael McKee, Joanna Waite, Elise Cole, Jordan Lee, Anthony Rodway, Erica Friesen, Olivia Bau, Spencer Bradbury, Kate Morrison and Harrison Glass.
The Ballenas track team will be out on the field again next week but not to compete. The team will be volunteering at the Elementary District Track and Field meet on Thursday, June 15 at the Ballenas track.
The track team will also operate the concession stand to help keep the high school track program running.