Brooks Secondary School Grade 12 student Cale Hernandez will be heading to Trinity Western University (TWU) next fall for track and field. It is the next step for the Powell River athlete toward realizing his dream of competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He accepted an offer to attend the private university located in Langley. Several universities had shown interest in him, but, “[TWU] made the best offer,” said Cale. They offered him a partial athletic and entrance scholarship to be a Spartan. “I believe that TWU is the best place for me because it combines excellent academics with outstanding athletic coaching,” he said.
Cale, 18, who trains with Powell River Track and Field Club, has had a very successful year. He earned a gold medal in the octathlon as a youth at the BC Athletics Track and Field Jamboree and a top spot on Team BC for last year’s Canadian Youth Legion track and field championships, where he won a bronze medal.
He’s a multi-event athlete who competes in sprinting, middle distance running, long jump, hurdles, pole vault, shot put and javelin.
“He’s had great success all the way through,” said Alan Hernandez, Cale’s father. “He’s got an excellent attitude around training and he enjoys it. Even if he’s not winning at a meet he doesn’t carry a lot of stress.”
Cale’s strongest discipline is long jump. “My personal best last year was 6.51 metres,” said Cale. “This year I’m hoping to jump over seven metres.” The BC High School long jump record is 7.22 metres.
“He’s not just good athletically, but also in his marks as well,” said Alan. “Principal’s honour roll the whole way through high school.” Since September Cale has maintained a grade average of over 90 per cent. He plans on studying science and kinesiology at TWU.
Cale is currently training for the 2013 BC High School Championships and will try out for a spot on Team BC for the junior nationals. He trains outside five days a week alternating between two hard weeks of training and one week of recovering. Cale’s ultimate goal is to compete at the Olympics.
“Multi-eventers tend to peak a little older,” said Alan, “so he could be good for another four years after that.”
Alan, who serves as club president, has stood beside his son along the way. They joined the club together in 2005.
“He’s surpassed what I can teach him,” he said. “[Cale] knows more than me and he’s got some excellent higher level training.”
