Sports posted May 11, 2017 @ 02:15pm by By Lorne White

Owls, KLO and KCS among top schools in zone track and field

<who>Photo Credit/Cover Design: Lorne White/KelownaNow </who>

With Nick Cornell doing most of the heavy lifting, the Kelowna Owls claimed both the Central Okanagan zone senior boys and girls track and field championships this week at the Apple Bowl.

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Cornell’s three victories — in shot put (11.75 metres), hammer (42.41) and javelin (45.36) — led the Owls to the senior boys team title on Tuesday with 163 total points and a healthy margin over runner-up Okanagan Mission Huskies (122). The Rutland Voodoos were third with 38 points.

<who>Photo Credit: Lorne White/KelownaNow </who>Nick Cornell of Kelowna Secondary School finished first in three <br>Central zone events including the senior shot put. KSS teammates Alex Taylor and Joel Aitken also contributed significantly to the Owls’ total by collecting 20 points each for their double wins. Taylor won both the 100- and 200-metre events with times of 11.24 and 22.82 seconds respectively while Aitken ran and jumped to a win in the 400-metre hurdles (1:03.90) and senior triple jump (11.51).

Leading the OKM Huskies with a pair of first-place finishes were Turner Woodruff and Owen Harris. Turner ran to top spot in the senior boys 800-metre run with a time of 2:11.04 and earned a win in 1,500 in 4:30.62. Harris took first place in the 3,000 metres with a clocking of 9:59.10 and was an easy winner in the 2000-metre steeplechase (6:41.67).

On the girls side, the senior Owls finished with 82 points to take stop spot, edging out the George Elliot Coyotes of Lake Country who placed second with 66 points.

Bryn Walsh of KSS proved the fastest sprinter in the Central Okanagan with dominating performances in the senior 100- and 200-metre events. She ran to first in the 100 with a time of 12.79 seconds while leading the field in the 200 with a clocking of 26.59.

<who>Photo Credit: Lorne White/KelownaNow </who>Alex Taylor, right, of the Kelowna Owls lunges to edge Jesse Benneke, left, of the Mt. Boucherie Bears in the senior boys 100-metre sprint. Taylor's winning time was 11.24 seconds while Benneke was clocked at 11.25. In the middle is Steven Johnson, who placed fourth. Matthew Klak of the Rutland Voodoos finished third. The Owls’ Zoe Brown was also a double winner, finishing first in both the 100- and 400-metre hurdles. She posted a time of 16.38 in the 100 hurdles and 1:13.52 in the 400 hurdle event.

Joining Cornell as a triple winner at the zone championships was Phoebe Price-Roberts of Aberdeen Hall, who threw to senior girls wins in the shot put (9.25 metres), discus (31.23) and in her specialty (2016 Canadian midget champion), the 4 kg hammer (43.05).

<who>Photo Credit: Lorne White/KelownaNow </who>Phoebe Price-Roberts of Aberdeen Hall was a triple zone winner. Other double winners among the senior girls were Carla Schneider of Rutland, in the 800 metres (3:08.82) and the 3,000 metres (13:46.75), and Rylee Paulson of George Elliot in the 1,500 metres (6:09.01) and the steeplechase (6:55.39).

The Central Okanagan junior girls pennant went to the Kelowna Christian School Knights, who combined for 112.5 points. The KLO Cougars were second with 94 points and OKM finished third with 92.5 points

Madelyn Hettinga set the pace for KCS with a pair of wins — in the 300-metre hurdles and the high jump while Muriel Stroda of OKM led all junior girls with three wins — in the long jump, shot put and 80-metre hurdles. Huskies teammate, Ella Rolleston, contributed a pair of individual wins, finishing first in the junior girls 1,500 and 3,000 metres.

Kelowna Secondary’s Kenaysha Lyder was the other double winner in the junior girls division with first-place finishes in the 100- and 200-metre events.

The junior boys championship went to a well-rounded KLO team, which pulled away from the pack with 145 points, well ahead of second-place Mt. Boucherie Bears (71).

<who>Photo Credit: Lorne White/KelownaNow </who>The Central Okanagan junior and senior boys 1,500-metre events were won by Jasper Stone of Aberdeen Hall and Turner Woodroof of the OKM Huskies respectively. The Bears were led by Noah Russell and his wins in the 100- and 300-metre hurdles, while Jasper Stone of Aberdeen Hall ran to victory in the 1,500 and 3,000 metres. Jordan Barker of George Elliot earned 20 points for his junior team by placing first in the discus and javelin.

The Dr. Knox Falcons continued their history of outstanding team performances in the Grade 8 girls and boys competition, winning both titles. The KLO Cougars swept the Grade 7 boys and girls team championships.

<who>Photo Credit: Lorne White/KelownaNow </who>The Rutland Voodoos' Davron Mardonov hits the water hard during the junior boys 1,500 steeplechase event. Multiple event winners in Grade 7 and 8 were: Emma Cannan (Dr. Knox), Tristan Morgan (Dr. Knox), Mekhila Brown (KLO), Aiden Vint (KLO), Joel Worman (KLO); Nick Tonogai (KLO); Anna deWynter (KLO), Jared Hanenburg (KCS), Tatum Wade (OKM), Abby Hettinga (KCS), Camden Elkin (OKM); Nolan Humphries (OKM), Michael Schriemer (KCS), Teagin Winthrop (RSS), Jacob Doweden (KLO) and Georgia Maclean (GESS).

The top three finishers in each zone event earned a berth in the Okanagan Valley track and field championships being held in Kamloops on May 18. The top performers at the Valley meet will advance to the B.C. School Sports provincial meet in Langley June 1-3.

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