45th Annual
Canadian Masters Athletics Championships
Surrey BC
August 3-5, 2018
The 2018 Canadian Masters track and field championships were held August 3-5 at the South Surrey Athletic Park. The last time that the Canadian Masters Championships were held in BC was in 2009, in Kamloops. The meet had 327 athletes registered from every province in Canada except from Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland/Labrador. Athletes also registered from USA, New Zealand and India. The weather was excellent with the temperature in the low 30’s all three days.
There were many outstanding performances with the athletes breaking 5 World records, 26 Canadian records and 45 BC records. In addition, another World, Canadian and BC record was tied. Karla Del Grande (ON) broke two World records in the W65 100m (13.96) and 200m (28.53). The timing device failed to record Karla’s time in her 200m final, so thirty minutes later Karla reran her 200m with the younger women. Karla has pending world records in both of these events. Carol LaFayette-Boyd (SK)) broke her own World record in the W75 100m (15.03) and tied her own World record in the 200m (31.89). Christa Bortignon (BC) broke the World record in the W80 pentathlon (4838 points), breaking the listed record by over 500 points. Christa set a new Canadian record in the 80m hurdles (20.12). The fifth World record was broken by Ted Rowan (SK)) in the M85 pentathlon (3635 points). Ted broke 3 more Canadian records in the M85 100m (17.48), pole vault (1.62m) and javelin (22.94m). Atter Singh Sekhon (ON) broke three Canadian records in the M95 400m (2:35.90), javelin (10.40m) and throws pentathlon (2001 points). Breaking two Canadian records were: Dmitry Babenko (BC) in the M45 1500m (6:18.02) and 5000m (22:39.18) race walks, Patty Blanchard (NB) in the W60 800m (2:36.51) and 1500m (5:18.59), and Muriel Gieni (SK) in the W60 80m hurdles (14.06) and 300m hurdles (57.09). BC athletes broke four more Canadian records. Jennifer Hunter broke the W40 pole vault record (3.20m), but she has a pending record of 3.36m which she vaulted a week earlier at the USA National Championships. Victor Njume (M75) almost missed his javelin competition but he arrived just in time to throw the javelin 39.37m.
Two 4x100m relay teams broke Canadian records. The M75 team of Dave Munro, Harold Morioka, Surinder Shah and David McGraw ran 1:03.17 and the W65 team of Deborah Lee, Urith Hayley, Marie Johnson and Karen Shook had a time of 1:06.51. Also breaking Canadian records were: Jackson Hinton (AB) in the M35 110m hurdles (14.06), Tracy Viggers (ON) in the W45 triple jump (9.22m), Yuko Nakano (AB) in the W75 discus (24.23m) and Dan Parsons (AB) in the M50 discus (50.01m)
In addition to the eight BC records already mentioned above, BC athletes broke 37 additional BC records. Bakhshish Dhillon broke three M80 records in the throws pentathlon, discus and weight throw. Six BC athletes broke 2 BC records each: Karl Mey M80 400m and 200m hurdles, Renate Cheetham W80 1500m and 5000m race walks, Cheryl Closkey W70 throws pentathlon and discus, Jeannie Cockcroft W50 pentathlon and 80m hurdles, Graham Morfitt M50 throws pentathlon and weight throw, and Olesea Chitul W40 pentathlon and 80m hurdles. Breaking one BC record were: Tom Dickson M65 100m, Patty Szybunka W60 100m, Daphne O’Sullivan W65 200m, Tom Ukonmaanaho M70 200m, Karin Vickars W80 800m, David Guss M55 1500m, Janette Wood W55 1500m, Margaret Rhebergen W60 80m hurdles, Stan Jang M50 steeplechase, Sunette Lessing W50 long jump, Joe Giegerich M85 triple jump, Ljiljan Ljubisic W55 discus, Rainer Sillantaus M85 javelin, Terri Jones W60 javelin, Shane Wiebe M45 throws pent, Johannes Peters M60 throws pent and Nicole Carlos W40 throws pent.
The following relay teams also broke BC records: M40 4x100m (Brian Carnate, Marvin Johnson, Charles Oamen, Jay Guzman), M45 4x100m (Haijun Yu, Sam Walker, Will Harrower, Faraaz Taiyab), W55 4x100m (Cindy O’Brien Hugh, Elaine Whidden, Monica Pomietlarz, Patti Rogers), M45 4x400m (Sam Walker, Will Harrower, Garret Gentle, Shahryar Nouraei), M60 4x400m (David Wall, Brent Davy, Tom Ukonmaanaho, Reidar Zapf-Gilje) and W40 4x400m (Tamara Robertson, Melina Thibodeau, Janette Wood, Jeannette Van Den Bulk).
For the first time, the CMA awarded a trophy (THE HAROLD MORIOKA TROPHY) to the club who scored the most points in the Canadian Masters Outdoor Championships. Although the final club scores are still not available, the Greyhounds Masters Club from BC, easily outscored the other Canadian clubs. During the meet, awards were presented to: MAUREEN DE ST. CROIX and CHRISTA BORTIGNON for being inducted into the Canadian Masters Athletics Hall of Fame, CAROL LAFAYETTE-BOYD for being selected as the 2017 CMA Athlete of the Year for both Track Events and Field Events, and REIDAR ZAPF-GILJE for being selected as the 2017 CMA Multi-events Athlete of the Year.
The Masters athletes would like to thank meet director Maureen de St. Croix, the Ocean Athletics Club, and all of the officials and volunteers for their time, dedication and hard work. It is only because of volunteers like you, that the Masters athletes can enjoy competing in such a successful meet.
- Harold Morioka
Results
(photo – Women’s 800m Finals)
