It was a golden performance by Kwalikum Secondary and Oceanside Track and Field standout Felix Richter at the B.C. High School Provincials in Langley.
Richter, a Grade 10 student, was in fine form at the provincials. This marked the first time that Richter took to the track as a member of the KSS track and field team, which he helped spearhead.
“They didn’t have a track and field team last year so I wanted to see if we could have one this year,” Richter said.
“Having the success that I did last year helped out and this year we had a team, so it was cool to help out with that and to be able to represent KSS at the provincials this year.”
Richter took part in three events at the provincials, the 100-meter hurdles and both the 100 and 200-meter dash.
These events are Richter’s staple events and he’s been steadily near the top at each meet and event he’s taken part in. Last year Richter made Team B.C. and finished second in hurdles at the nationals and should have had a better showing in the 100 and 200–meter dash events according to him.
“I definitely didn’t run as good as I have before, that’s for sure,” Richter said. “It was nice to finish high in the hurdles but not finishing in the top three in the other two was real hard to take.”
At the provincials in Langley, Richter walked away with a gold medal in all three of the events he took part in. In the 100-meter hurdles, Richter posted a first place time of 13.97 seconds.
In the 100 meter dash, he posted a time of 11.41 seconds, for another first place finish. The 200-meter dash saw Felix post a time of 22.46 seconds, for his third gold at the provincials.
“It was a good tournament and I had three really good events,” Richter said. “Being able to win gold in all three events I entered was great and I’m happy to be able to represent KSS like this.”
Richter will now turn his attention back to the Oceanside Track and Field Club, where he will be tuning up for a chance to once again make Team B.C. and have a chance to run at the nationals if all goes according to plan.
“That’s the short term goal, for sure, to get back to Team B.C. and the nationals,” said Richter. “I’ve been running well this year and I’m meeting the standards that I have to meet so I’m going to try and improve over this next little while heading towards qualifying for Team B.C.”
From there, Richter hopes to one day compete in some international events with the Canadian National Team and even perhaps race in the Olympics.
“That’s the dream, to run in the Olympics. I think that anyone who takes part in track and field wants to run in the Olympics one day.”