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Reynolds leads way to track provincials

Saanich athletes Brendan Hoff, Martin Eckard and Max Eckard set Island track and field records
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Reynolds secondary Grade 12 stunent Brendan Hoff set two Island track records and is looking to double in the same

Reynolds secondary’s track and field team is seeking a big result at this week’s B.C. High School Championships in Nanaimo.

Reynolds led the way last week as Saanich athletes pulled in massive results at the Island track and field championships at Centennial Stadium.

Brendan Hoff led the Reynolds senior boys team to a second place finish, setting two Island records, while Kelsey Carrothers snared three golds to help the Reynolds senior girls take first.

(See 'Saanich throwers set new records' here.)

Hoff narrowly broke Thomas Getty’s (Mount Douglas) 2013 senior boys 3,000-metre record of 8:34.93 with a new time of 8:34.7, and set a record in the 1,500m, breaking Tom Griffin’s 1975 record of 3:58.7 with a time of 3:56.36.

“The thing about Reynolds athletes is they do so much, we have some really fantastic track athletes, and also some [all-around] athletes who do more than one thing but are buying into track and field,” said Reynolds teacher Brad Cunningham, who organizes and coaches the track and field team.

Carrothers is the epitome of the latter, Cunningham said.

The Grade 12 student is captain of the Reynolds soccer team and won gold in the shot put, javelin and discus.

“Carrothers is a tremendous athlete who hasn’t been focused on throwing this year as she has in the past, but she won three gold [even though her numbers were similar to last year].”

While it’s not likely that Carrothers will hit the podium at provincials, she is ranked fourth to sixth in her events and those are valuable points. She’ll likely miss one of the events as the Reynolds girls soccer team will be at the AAA girls B.C. High Soccer Championships in the mainland.

“The core of this team started in Grade 9 with [Carrothers], Taylor Lyman, Lauren D’Agnolo and Lara Irwin, and then others come along [such as Hoff] and it got even better,” Cunningham said.

Reynolds’ Lauren D’Agnolo won gold in the 200m and 400m dashes. D’Agnolo is one of two Reynolds students headed to the University of Guelph next year with Taylor Lyman.

Interestingly, Lyman “cruised” through his individual events, finishing third in the senior boys 400m and second in 800m. But the national level athlete can do much better.

Reynolds’ senior boys 4x400m team of Jake Dziwenka (Grade 9), Kieran Waters, Lyman and Hoff won silver at Islands. Simon Norgrove won bronze in the boys 110m hurdles. (Dziwenka was first in the Grade 9 400m and in 800m).

Reynolds junior aged athlete Nicole D’Agnolo broke her own record set last year in the 300m hurdles with a time of 47.02 and was gold in the 100m and 200m dashes.

The D’Agnolo sisters also combined as the first and last runners on Reynolds’ gold medal-winning senior girls 4x400m relay and took silver in the 4x100m with Jasmine Liudzius and Lara Irwin.

Reynolds’ Keenan Vrooman won gold in the senior boys hammer with a throw of 36.64, and is looking to win back-to-back gold after winning the B.C. junior gold last year.

Mount Douglas’ Lindsey Frederiksen won the senior girls hammer, throwing 19 metres farther than the next competitor.

Claremont's Max Szczawinski won three medals, setting a new Island record of 43.91 with in the discus, silver in the shot put and bronze in the javelin.

Lambrick Park's Martin Eckard set the senior boys Island shot put record of 14.01m.

Mount Douglas’ Luke Yakielashek won silver in boys’ 1,500m race walk and Reynolds’s Avril Petri took silver in the girls.

Saanich’s Jesse O’Neill-Bains, a Lake Hill resident at Glenlyon Norfolk School, won silver in the senior boys 400m hurdles.

Mount Doug’s Gavin Cobb, this year’s provincial championship football MVP, won silver in senior boys 100m dash (11.59) behind Syria Silaya of Parkland (11.34).

Mount Doug’s Cassidy Steen won bronze in the senior girls 800m. Steen also won gold in the 1,500m steeplechase in a field of two.

Lambrick’s Brody Brubacher was third in the senior boys 200m dash. Claremont’s Max Szczawinski won gold in the senior discus with a record-breaking throw of 43.91m. Szczawinski took bronze in the senior boys javelin.

Claremont’s Elija De Hoog won gold in senior boys triple jump with a total of 12.84m. De Hoog won silver in the long jump and St. Michaels University’s Conrad Chin won bronze. Mount Doug’s Franis Abrill won silver in the senior boys pole vault.

To follow the B.C. Championships visit bctfa.ca.

This story is an updated version from the May 27 print issue with the corrected results for the Reynolds' boys and girls team finishes. Saanich News regrets the error.