Penticton Secondary’s Maverik Rahkola was the outstanding athlete of the meet as he ran to three first place finishes at the 2023 Okanagan High School Track and Field Championships in Kamloops on Wednesday, May 24.
Individually, the Grade 10 Penticton Secondary School student ran a personal best time of 2:01.82 in the junior boys 800m, narrowly missing the Okanagan record of 2:01.00. He also recorded a fast time of 4:16.93 to win the 1500m and then anchored the Penticton Secondary School junior boys 4x400m relay team to victory.
The Team of Rahkola, Miles Hayden, Lorenzo Antilano and Devan Kozak ran a time of 3:49.78 to finish well clear of Revelstoke in second place. Revelstoke had a time of 4:02.77.
Kozak also had a strong meet as he took first in the 100m hurdles in a personal best of 16.30 and then claimed second in the 300m hurdles in 43.34. Hayden took second in both the 800m and 1500m for Penticton Secondary School.
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Max Patenaude of Summerland Secondary School was also a force in the junior boys competition as he took home victories in the 100m (11.41) and the 200m (22.84.)
Peter Kunka of Summerland Secondary School won the junior boys 3000m in a personal best 9:28.48 and took third in the 1500m.
Summerland’s Ian Robinson won the junior boys long jump (5.69m) and was third in high jump and fourth in the 400m to qualify for B.C. Championships in all three events.
Jasmine Henry ran her fastest 3000m race ever (11:06.91) to take second place and followed that up with a third place finish in the junior girls 1500m.
Rounding out Summerland’s provincial championship qualifiers was Emma Scholefield who took fourth in both the senior girls 1500m and 3000m.
Penticton Secondary School Grade 12 student Matt Pinsonnault won his first-ever Okanagan title with a victory in the 800m and followed that up later in the meet with a second place finish in the Senior Boys 1500m.
The Penticton Secondary School senior girls 4x100m relay team dominated their event as they ran their fastest time of the year (51.92) to beat Westsyde of Kamloops by almost a full second. Individually, the relay team members also had outstanding results.
Grace Campbell took second in the 400m hurdles and 4th in the 100m hurdles.
Josie Nickel finished second in high jump and Katya Pentecost was third in both the 100m and 200m.
Grade 10 student Baylee Leduc ran a powerful anchor leg to secure the relay victory and she also qualified for provincials with third and fourth place finishes respectively in the junior 100m (13.07) and 200m (27:34).
Another junior, Alexis Duncan stepped up to support Campbell, Nickell, and Pentecost on the senior girls 4x100m relay, helping them record a third place finish.
Duncan will also advance to Provincials individually with her rgues place finish in the 300m hurdles. Grade 9 Penticton Secondary School teammate Anna Hatch will join her in that event based on her second place finish in the 300m hurdles.
Princess Margaret Secondary School had a strong showing from a trio of Grade 12 girls who did very well in the senior girls category.
Olivia Carelton-Palanio finished in a tie for third in high jump with teammate Kaydence Hickie
Alex Petrasek took third in javelin with a throw of 25.80m.
Miles Illingworth, also qualified for provincials with a fourth place finish in junior boys triple jump.
A small group of Grade 8 athletes travelled to Kamloops to represent KVR Middle School. The best performance of the meet came from Sophia Carleton-Palanio as she set an Okanagan Championship record in the 200m Hurdles where her time of 31.26 eclipsed the former record by just over one second. She also jumped 4.29m to come third in the long jump.
On the Grade 8 Boys’ side, Tyler Hvidsten had a great day, winning the 200m Hurdles and finishing third in both the 100m Hurdles and the high jump.
The B.C. High School Track and Field Championships will take place in Langley June 8 to 10.