Scott Secco of Oak Bay, in green, was leading the pack by a large margin in the boys' 2,000-metre steeplechase final when the unthinkable happened. With just 50m to go, Secco fell head-over-heels on the last hurdle. He struggled to regain his feet, get his bearings, and with his momentum completely gone, desperately tried to retain his first-place lead on a hard-charging Jake Bruchet of Elgin Park, in purple singlet, who went on to win the race. Justin Kent from Kwantlen Park, in maroon singlet, closed quickly to pick up the silver medal. Secco was an understandably distraught third.
Photograph by: contributed, Burnaby Now
The Burnaby Mountain Lions girls' team finished just shy of a top-10 aggregate finish at the B.C. high school track and field championships but that didn't dampen their enthusiasm.
The four-member Mountain relay team, of anchor Whitney Rowe, Natasha Kianipour, Courtney Bridge and lead-off runner Anika Vassell, was all smiles following a sixth-place finish in the women's 4x100-metre relay to start off the final day of racing at Swangard Stadium Saturday.
The finish earned the Burnaby school three points towards the final team aggregate, and although the Lions finished two points shy of Stelly's and Lord Tweedsmuir, who tied for ninth place with 24 points apiece, the girls couldn't have been happier.
The Lions sprinted to a personal best in the Friday heats and then lowered that mark with a 51.33 time in Saturday's final.
But the girls were not through. Rowe and Kianipour surprised themselves in the 100m final, finishing second and third, respectively, behind the meet's most outstanding female performer, Shai-anne Davis of McRoberts, who won gold in both the 100 and 200m.
Not since sprinter Billie White-Gibson won a first-ever provincial gold medal for Mountain in the sprint in 2005 had another Lion athlete earned a top-three medal.
Rowe blazed into the runner-up position in a time of 12.38 seconds, while Kianipour edged out Esinam Ayesu-Attah of Heritage Woods in a photo finish for third with a personal best time of 12.61.
"I wasn't into track until I went to the Burnaby Striders. Ever since that, it has been a passion for me," said the Grade 12 Kianipour after the medal ceremony.
In her wildest dreams, Kianipour had thought of finishing just behind Davis and her Mountain teammate in the sprint.
"But then I thought it wouldn't happen," she said. "I couldn't believe it. I thought I'd come fourth or fifth. It is my first medal and with Whitney coming second, too, this is perfect."
Rowe also added a seventh-place finish in the girls' 200m, garnering 10 individual points for Mountain and a whole bunch of personal satisfaction.
"It's the last race of my life at provincials," said Rowe after the 200m. "I'm proud, really, really proud of myself, really, really proud. I've come a long way from last year."
At that 2009 provincial meet, Rowe was the last runner to miss the final eight in the sprint, placing ninth overall, less than one-tenth of a second behind the final qualifier in the heats.
But this was a new year of opportunity, said Rowe.
"It's a small thing for some people, but it definitely showed all my hard work," Rowe said. "Our school isn't really known for track and field, so we are very proud of our accomplishments."
Kevin Lin of Burnaby Central just missed a medal in the boys' high jump, moving up from ninth in 2009 to fourth spot with a leap of 1.85m, just below his PB height of 1.90m.
With one year of eligibility remaining the Grade 11 Lin is hoping to push two metres before he graduates in 2011.
"It's been hard on the school with the track ripped up," Lin said. "There is a part of the curve, and I still pull out the mats and practise twice a week."
Damanpreet Rai of New Westminster finished in fifth place in the girls' 100-m hurdles in a time of 15.89 behind the meet's most inspirational athlete, Zarria Storm of Oak Bay, and Grade 9 Langley sensation Georgia Ellenwood, who picked up a second gold medal in the long jump to go along with last week's heptathlon title. Rai also finished ninth in the long jump.
Another New Westmin-ster Hyack, junior high jumper Manisha Kandola, finished tied for sixth in her specialty at 1.55m.
"I was pretty close. I'm not really a morning jumper. It was too early," said Kandola.
St. Thomas More's Pamela Ho placed eighth in the high jump despite injuries at the same 1.55m height.
Ali Nizamani of Central finished seventh in the boys' 400-m hurdles.
Gurdas Panesar of New Westminster posted a personal-best seventh place in the boys' discus, throwing 40.58m.
Panesar also placed in the shot put and javelin for the Hyacks and then showed his appreciation to his high school coach by helping out the student body ground crew clean up after the last of his three events.
"Ms. McNulty has done a lot for us, so I feel I owe her something," Panesar said.
Oak Bay and Brooks-wood won the girls' and boys' aggregate team banners, respectively.
Oak Bay took the overall team championship title for a fifth straight year, and for an eighth time over the last nine seasons.
Queen Elizabeth Secondary holds the record for consecutive track team titles, having won six in a row from 1988 to 1993.
