Sports
McMath's senior girls 4x400 relay team consists of Morgan Game, Danielle Cosco, Macaela Bradley-Tse and Dakota Chan.
Photo submitted
McMath runners ready for BC's
McMath Wildcats are poised to make some noise
at the B.C. High School Track and Field Championships in Langley this week, but
coach Bob Riddell is tempering the volume just a little.
Riddell cautions that the provincials “can be
really overwhelming and intimidating for students going for the first time.”
“When you are in against the best you have to
have a different mindset,” he explains. “It is never automatic for a young
competitor.”
Next year was supposed to be the year for the
Wildcats. When the Grade 11s, the core strength of the team, would be Grade
12s. But someone forgot to tell them.
Going into the B.C.’s, McMath has a lengthy
list of medal candidates, starting with Liam McLeod who raced in the
prestigious Oregon Relays this spring, and Carson Bradley who is nationally
ranked in the 200 and 400 metres. Riddell even finds himself shaking his head
at their talent.
“Just being trackside is an experience, how
fast they can run. It has to rub off on the other students,” he says.
Riddell doesn’t discount the contributions of
past Wildcats either. He says the Loewens, Cathcarts and Higashitanis, who were
also members of the Richmond Kajaks, helped establish a tradition of
excellence. He says the elementary schools (Homma, Dixon, Westwind,
Diefenbaker, Byng and Steves) that feed McMath also established a positive
track and field culture.
“It is a big commitment for the school
coaches, and for some a really hard slog to get their athletes out. Fred Chiang
and Peter Thackwray at MacNeill really took the district program on their
shoulders and made it work. MacNeill is developing super junior and Grade 8
teams.”
In addition to McMath’s Alicia Lo, a medal
possibility in the triple jump, Burnett’s Eric Che looks to overcome an
early-season injury in the long jump.
2 Hours of free financial consulting
Jai Xin Planning Ltd.
C$120.00 C$0.00
Use any of our home staging service and get a second month rental for free!
MiiX Interiors
C$500.00 C$0.00
Get 10% off any order
Phantom Screens Lower Mainland
C$200.00 C$180.00
