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Cool and collected for three days on her home track, sprinting speedster Emma Cannan, was caught on the radar of Canada’s national track and field teams.
Cannan, a Grade 10 Kelowna Secondary School student, not only ran to four gold medals and set a pair of provincial records at the B.C. High School Track and Field Association Championships in Kelowna’s Apple Bowl, but also reached the 200-metre qualifying standard for an international meet this summer.
Just 15 and with two years remaining to solidify a spot on a Canadian team, Cannan likely has only an outside chance of being chosen for the first time to compete for her country at the NACAC under-18 championships in Mexico next month. But her winning time in the 200 metres at the B.C. championships was under the 25.15 NACAC criteria and the accomplishment is a major motivator for her going forward.
She’s already committed to five days and 10 hours a week of on-track training with the Okanagan Athletic Club, and Cannan says she’s looking to add gym workouts to her diligent regiment as part of a plan to step up her game.
“I’m still in a bit of shock about how well the races went,” she said a week after her multiple provincial wins. “But I’m realizing just how much the extra work I’ve been putting in has paid off. So I’m ready to do more — to be stronger and avoid injury . . . and maybe make a Canadian team.”
Despite nurturing a hamstring pull this spring, Cannan appeared fully recovered at the B.C. championships by sweeping the junior girls 100-, 200- and 400-metre titles and helping the KSS 4x100 senior relay claim a gold medal.
“I was a little worried going into the meet because of the hamstring, and I knew there were going to be a lot of fast people competing,” Cannan conceded. “But I was also confident because I knew I had qualified (at the Okanagan Valley) championships without any pain.”
That she started her second of eight races at the meet with a win her preliminary heat and finished second overall among 30 runners in the 100 metres on opening day, added to Cannan’s positive vibes as she prepared for the provincial final in the afternoon.
Slow out of the blocks — by her standards — Cannan found herself lagging behind early in the final on Day 2, but was quickly gaining ground by the 40-metre mark and took the lead about halfway through the sprint. She glided to victory in a time of 12.28 seconds and broke the meet record of 12.34 seconds set by Hassey Fashina-Bombata of Wellington Secondary of Nanaimo in 2015.
“When I saw the time, I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I just didn’t think I had run that fast, especially after the slow start.”
Cannan admitted the win over runner-up Taya Batiste of Burnaby South (12.35) was something she had visualized periodically over the past year.
“I finished third in the final last year behind Taya and Estella (Mainella of Fraser Heights), so I was anxious for a rematch. I remembered how disappointed I was and determined to win it on my home track.”
Cannan had little time to savour the surprising record-setting performance in the 100. Ten minutes later she was preparing for the 400-metre final.
“It was a bit tough gearing down and getting mentally ready. I was so excited about the 100 record.”
Still, with a quick start she led briefly, but was in fifth place by the 200-metre mark before picking up the pace and finally taking over the lead for good on the final straight stretch.
“I was thinking for a split second that I was too far behind to catch up, but then I remembered that I had told myself before the meet to have no regrets — to give it 100 per cent. So I concentrated on driving my arms and legs hard and focused only on what I was doing and not worrying about those around me.”
Cannan’s time of 57.43, while short of the provincial record of 56.22, bettered her previous personal best of 57.89.
Taking advantage of competing in her hometown and living five minutes away from the Apple Bowl, Cannan headed home after her second win of the day for an ice bath — to recover faster and reduce any muscle pain and soreness.
“It’s something you don’t get a chance to do when you’re on the road, so it was a bonus,” said Cannan.
She was back at the track shortly afterward to run the second leg of the senior 4x100 relay that included KSS mates Madelyn Hettinga, Lindsay Maier and Kenaysha Lyder. The fleet-footed and multi-talented foursome — seeded fourth going into the race — ran away with the gold in a time of 48.17 seconds.
“We were pretty proud of that race, especially considering that we had run together only twice before and had been thrown together at the last minute at the Valleys. It was a really fun experience.”
With three gold medals already claimed, Cannan went into the final day of the meet oozing with confidence and with an eye on running to a provincial record in the 200 metres in front of friends and family.
She earned a berth in the eight-girl final by winning her heat and placing third among 29 athletes in the preliminary.
Once again Cannan’s thoughts went back to 2018 when she finished second in the final to Angelina Shandro of St. Michael’s, who set a record of 25.20.
“I remember thinking then that I’d like to break that record,” recalled Cannan. “But although my previous best was 25.44 , I felt confident after my heat, especially on the corners where I had injured my hamstring earlier in the spring.”
Running in Lane 3, Cannan found herself in third place at the final turn with plenty of territory to make up. Once more — holding her body high and arms driving hard — she dug deep to overtake Charity Obazughanmwen of North Delta and break Shandro’s record with a clocking of 25.10.
Although Cannan was somewhat surprised by her record-setting performances, her coach, Pat Sima-Ledding, had forecast great things from one of her star athletes at the Okanagan Athletics Club.
“Emma had been working extremely hard on all aspects of her training — her strike pattern, start and body position — and it has made a huge difference in her power output,” said Sima-Ledding.
“Add to that her exceptional overall athletic ability (she played rep hockey at the peewee and bantam Tier 1 level) and how conscientious she is about training, it’s not difficult to see why she had such great success at Provincials.
“We had high expectations for her and she surpassed them.”
Sima-Ledding and Cannan will continue a holistic approach to training and they know Cannan’s pure speed and endurance will open doors going forward.
“Emma’s got a lot pieces in the suitcase,” her coach added.
Cannan will be away from home for most of the next month, competing at invitational meets — including the annual Jack Brow Memorial in Kelowna June 28-30 — and will run all three of her sprint specialties at the B.C. Athletics championships in Kamloops July 5-7, with the hopes of making the provincial team for the 2019 Canadian Legion national track and field championships in Cape Breton, N.S. Aug. 9-11.
Further down the road, Cannan has her sights set on national age-group opportunities and hopes to secure at track scholarship south of the border.
Overcoming more hurdles than most in the past year, Noah Russell of the West Kelowna was named the most inspirational athlete at the B.C. High School Track and Field Championships in Kelowna.
The Grade 12 Mt. Boucherie Secondary School student, who missed a year of competition due a torn ACL, battled all the way back to win the senior 400-metre hurdles championship and finished fourth among 31 competitors in the 110-metre hurdles at the Apple Bowl.
Russell, heading to Simon Fraser University and the Clan track team this fall, earned a berth in the provincial 400-metre hurdle final by winning his heat in the preliminaries with the best overall time of 57.58 seconds. He set the gold-medal pace in the eight-man final with a clocking of 56.57.
The 110-hurdles preliminaries saw Russell lead a field of eight in his heat with a time of 15.31 while he was second overall among 30 athletes to qualify easily for the final where he lowered his time to 15:04.
“They were beautiful moments,” said Okanagan Athletics Club coach Pat Sima-Ledding of Russell’s gold-medal performance and the presentation of the inspirational award. “For most athletes, especially hurdlers, the injury would have been career-ending. But Noah worked so hard to come back under extremely difficult circumstances.”
Not only did he have to prevail over the injury, but also the loss of his father Troy, a West Kelowna firefighter and former hurdler who died of cancer in September.
Tyson Carr of KLO Middle School ran to gold in both the Grade 8 400 metres and 200-metre hurdles while leading his Cougars to first place in the 4x100 relay and 4x400 relay at the BCHSTF championships.
Despite struggling with a nagging backache this spring, he personal best in the 400 with a time of 52.59 and won the 200 hurdles in 26.72 seconds.
Carr teamed up with Santino Corbo, Kory Cheese-Klacken and Lynden Infanti to win 4x100 in 46.51 while Carr, Corbo and Cheese-Klacken joined Nathan Achtem for a victory in the 4x400 in a time of 3:49.86. Both were PBs for the Cougar quartets.
Infanti also displayed his versatility by winning gold in the Grade 8 high jump event with a leap of 5.71 metres.
Three members of the KSS junior varsity football team that won a historic provincial championship last fall, added a B.C. track and field gold medal at the Apple Bowl.
Caeleb Schlachter, Noah Gross and Aidan Vint, key members of the Owls who claimed a first-ever provincial high school football title for Kelowna in 2018, teamed up with Xavier Webb and cruised to a first-place finish in the 4x100 junior relay in a time of 43.94 seconds. Fraser Heights was a distant second in 45.30.
For Schlachter, it was his third medal at the provincial meet that attracted about 2,400 athletes from 330 schools throughout B.C. The long-legged speedster ran to a silver medal in the junior 100-metre event in a time of 11.18 seconds and finished second in the 200 metres in 22.66 seconds.
Gross placed third in the 100-metre final (11.22) and crossed in fifth place in the 200 final with a clocking of 23.65 seconds.
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Brianna Breau - Kelowna Christian
1st - javelin - Grade 8 - 35.25
Mekhila Brown - KLO Middle
7th - 80-metre hurdles - 12.62
Emma Canaan - Kelowna Secondary
1st - 100 metres - junior - 12.28
1st - 200 metres - junior - 25.10
1st - 400 metres - junior - 57.43
Tyson Carr - KLO Middle
1st - 400 metres - Grade 8 - 52.59
1st - 200-metre hurdles - Grade 8 - 26.72
5th - 800 metres - Grade 8 - 2:13.11
Kory Cheese-Klacken - KLO Middle
8th - 400 metres - Grade 8 - 57.19
Santino Corbo - KLO Middle
4th - 200 metres - Grade 8 - 24.82
Isabella Dreger - Aberdeen Hall
2nd - 100 metres - Grade 8 - 13.11
Hailey Duff - George Elliot
8th - javelin - Grade 9 - 25.55
Camden Elkin - Okanagan Mission
5th - triple jump - junior - 12.55
Kailey Fejer - Kelowna Secondary
7th - triple jump - senior - 10.03
Isabelle Gagne - KLO Middle
1st - 100 metres - Special Olympics - 21.04
1st - 400 metres - Special Olympics - 1:53.39
Isaac Gokiert - Dr. Knox Middle
4th - 200-metre hurdles - Grade 8 - 28.66
Noah Gross - Kelowna Secondary
3rd - 100 metres - junior - 11.22
5th - 200 metres - junior - 23.65
Kali Halvorson - Okanagan Mission
3rd - hammer - junior - 43.52
4th - shot put - junior - 11.08
4th - discus - junior - 28.09
Madelyn Hettinga - Kelowna Secondary
3rd - 400-metre hurdles - senior - 1:04.21
7th - 100-metre hurdles - senior 15.29
Ashley Higgins - George Elliot
5th - javelin - junior - 32.93
Tristan Hearn - George Elliot
5th - high jump - junior - 1.80
Nolan Humphries - Okanagan Mission
8th - 200 metres - junior - 23.81
7th - 400 metres - junior - 53.49
Lynden Infanti - KLO Middle
1st - long jump - Grade 8 - 5.71
5th - 100 metres - Grade 8 - 11.88
7th - high jump - Grade 8 - 1.60
Ely Kokayko - Kelowna Christian
2nd - high jump - junior - 1.65
Nathan Loo - Okanagan Mission
7th - 300-metre hurdles - junior - 43.62
Kenaysha Lyder - Kelowna Secondary
6th - 100 metres - senior - 12.73
Lindsay Maier - Kelowna Secondary
6th - 3000 metres - senior - 1:00.65
Georgia McLean - George Elliot
7th - triple jump - junior - 10.61
Spencer Osborne - Const. Neil Bruce
8th - javelin - Grade 8 - 32.49
Adrian Price-Roberts - Aberdeen Hall
4th - pole vault - senior - 3.50
Noah Russell - Mt. Boucherie
1st - 400-metre hurdles - senior - 56.57
4th - 100-metre hurdles - senior - 15.04
Victoria Salyn - Heritage Christian
2nd - high jump - Grade 8 - 1.50
3rd - shot put - Grade 8 - 9.99
Caeleb Schlachter - Kelowna Secondary
2nd - 100 metres - junior - 11.18
2nd - 200 metres - junior - 22.66
Michael Schriemer - Okanagan Mission
2nd - 3000 metres - junior - 9:02.81
4th - 1500 metres - junior - 4:06.58
Muriel Stroda - Okanagan Mission
4th - 100-metre hurdles - senior - 14.98
3rd - long jump - senior - 5.20
Tatum Wade - Okanagan Mission
5th - 1500 metre steeplechase - junior - 5:::12.06
Joel Worman - Kelowna Secondary
7th - 3000 metres - junior - 9:42.66
Combined team scores
Grade 8 - KLO - 2nd
Junior - KSS - 3rd
Junior - OKM - 6th
Senior - KSS - 9th (tied)
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