One of Powell River’s most promising youth athletes will be going up against Canada’s track and field elite after being selected to represent the province.
Calli-ann Abbott is one of 25 athletes selected for Team BC Yukon Youth to compete at the 2014 Canadian Legion Track and Field Championships, which are being hosted by Langley, BC at McLeod Park from August 15 to 17.
Calli-ann, 15, will be competing in heptathlon, an combined event of seven track and field disciplines over two days of competition. She will be up against other teens who are 16 and 17 years old.
“It’s the first time she’s competed in it in a major event,” said Calli-ann’s mother, Traci. “She’s done it twice before at smaller events in Langley, but she has basically just started training for it this year.”
Calli-ann, a member of the Powell River Track and Field Club, has been receiving training from coach Connie Polman-Tuin, who ranked 16th overall in women’s heptathlon in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles and won silver at the 1987 Pan American Games.
Heptathletes score points in each of the disciplines they compete in and placement in those events is secondary to an athlete’s point total, said Traci. “You don’t have to win every event to win overall.”
Earlier in the year, Calli-ann competed in a meet finishing third in heptathlon with a point total of 4,175.
Her goal going into the BC Jamboree, held in Kamloops at the beginning of July, was to beat her previous score and reach at least 4,330, a minimum requirement to be considered for Team BC Yukon.
She won three out of four events on the first day of the provincials, competing in the 100-metre hurdle, high jump, shot put with a season’s best and the 200 metres, scoring a personal best. She was only 1/100ths off her personal best in 100-metre hurdle, said Traci. She finished the first day with a score of 2,920 points.
Heading into the second day of competition, Calli-ann competed in high jump where she beat her personal best, and came in first in her youth category. She threw a personal best in javelin and came first in that discipline as well, said her mother.
The weather was oppressively hot that day and athletes faced temperatures close to 40° Celsius. Traci said that the heat took a toll on her daughter’s performance in the 800-metre sprint, but she managed to come in fourth. She completed the second day with a score of 4,526.
Calli-ann’s younger brother Keagan and his teammate Sydney, daughter of Powell River Track and Field Club coach Derek Elliott, competed in the BC Junior Development Championships from July 25 to 27 in Surrey. The meet is designed for athletes aged nine through 13.
Keagan, 12, won gold in shot put and discus, silver in javelin and hammer throw and had three top-12 finishes in 80-metre hurdles, long jump and high jump. He scored personal bests in discus, javelin and hurdles.
Sydney, 12, placed fourth in hammer throw, and scored a number of personal bests in discus, 200 metres and long jump.
“That’s the cool thing about this age group,” said Derek. As the young athletes continue to grow and develop their progress is visible by watching them beat their previous records, he said.
He added the meet was tough for his daughter, but it inspired her to focus more on her training. He said it was a good experience for him as a coach as well, giving him the chance to talk to other teams’ coaches and parents.
