The BC Summer Games held in Abbotsford from July 21st to 24th had the top athletes across the province competing int heir chosen sport. For 15-year-old Jonathan Postlethwaite from Invermere, competing in track and field meant choosing three out of five events he qualified to compete in.
At two different meets, Postlethwaite qualified for the Games in the 100 metre, 200 metre, high jump, shot put and discus throw.
“We had a meet in Trail where it was a strictly qualifying track meet. I won my 100 metre and 200 metre there as well as my discus (and he qualified in high jump and shot put). A couple weeks afterward, we had our regional competition, which again is also a qualification, where I won my 100 and got second in my 200 and discus. So I qualified a second time for allthree,” he said.
BC Summer Games only allows track and field athletes to compete in three events. Postlethwaite, who competed and qualified in five at the Trail meet, had to choose what he thought were his best events.
“One hundred and 200, they’re my main events. Because that’s what I do, I sprint. Our coach advised us to have more of a rest event, something that won’t kill you for your other two,” said Postlethwaite.
He decided his final event to compete in would be the discus throw, saying he likes the event and he isn’t nervous when competing in it.
Training for the BC Summer Games had Postlethwaite and fellow track and field competitor Alexandra Schaal putting in extra hours with their coach.
“We had Corey Stanbury come into town three or four times. After he was done at work, he took Alex and myself to a gym or up at the track. We’d work anywhere to an hour to three hours. We’d do weights, sprints, conditioning, lots of starts. Wedid most strength training beforehand and then we’d try and go get our technique down before we left,” said Postlethwaite.
On his first day of competition, he found himself a little thrown off by the BC Summer Games equipment.
“It was a lot different than anything I’ve ever done before. They had electric timing, which is obviously a lot more reliable than a person with a stopwatch. So the times were cool to see. They had a different sound for starting each race, which threw me off for a little bit for the first day,”said Postlethwaite.
In the track and field competitions, there were 288 athletes competing in the various events. Postlethwaite and fellow Kootenay Zone athletes competed in the 4×100 metre race, practising for 20 minutes the morning of the race. That race became one of the most memorable races of the Games for the young athlete.
“Four-by-100 metre was pretty fun. I had the fastest 100 metre leg in the entire race. We didn’t win, but that was really exciting, it was fun,” said Postlethwaite.
Postlethwaite placed in the top 15 for 100 metre, 200 metre and discus with the 4×100 metre team placing sixth out of eight teams. The Grade 10 student is now focusing his training to get to provincial competitions next season.