Langley athletes and fans have good showing at Bell Canadian Track and Field Championships

Django Lovett did not disappoint.

The Brookswood Secondary graduate made a triumphant return to Langley’s McLeod Athletic Park on day four of the Bell Canadian Track and Field Championships on Saturday, June 25, taking the men’s open high jump with a leap of 2.2 metres.

“The week in Langley has been a little overwhelming,” Lovett commented.

“[There are] so many family and friends here. It’s easy to get a little distracted, but in the best ways possible. You feel love and encouraged. It’s special.”

He had been expected to do well, coming off two medal wins, a bronze and a gold, in the elite international Diamond League track and field circuit, last month.

While attending Brookswood —the Surrey native graduated from the school in 2010 — Lovett won three consecutive senior boys titles in the event at the BC high school provincial championships.

His collection of medals also includes a bronze from his international debut at the 2009 Youth World Championships, gold at the 2013 at the Canada Summer Games.

Lovett rated his Langley performance as “just okay” saying he plans to work on a few technical kinks before the World Championship in July.

Several athletes from the Langley Mustangs, co-host of the championships, had top-10 finishes at the national championships that drew 1,600 competitors to the five-day competition which ended on Sunday, June 26.

Among them was Aiden Grout, an up-and-coming athlete from Pitt Meadows, who finished seventh in the high jump that Lovett won.

Grout had been battling plantar fasciitis for close to a month before the competition, deploying alternative methods of training – cycling, swimming, and weights – without running.

As well, Mustangs runner Jade Lenton was a member of the four-person Team B.C. who won the 4X400 metre U20 women’s relay. Lenton also finished eighth in the 800m finals.

Other Mustangs finalists included Regan Yee, who was second in the senior women’s 3000m steeplechase, and Madison Gordon, who finished fifth in long jump.

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Other Langley athletes included Walnut Grove’s Prabhasha Wickranaarachchi, who finished seventh in the 400-metres hurdle (after qualifying on Saturday by running a personal best time) with her mom, Tushara Balasuriya, cheering her on.

“At the tracks I kept going, believed in me, and focused on the hurdles in front of me,” Wickranaarachchi told the Langley Advance Times.

Fans packed the stand to cheer on Langley athletes as well.

Brooke and Landon Wells jogged about a kilometre from their home over to McLeod Athletic Park with their mom, Christine.

The two Langley Christian School students were able to watch the nation’s top athletes pretty much on their doorstep, not to mention seeing their dad who was volunteering at the event.

The kids, nine and seven, are active in soccer, ball and running.

Landon said he’d like to be an athlete when he grows up, competing in the 1000-metre while Brooke would go in for high jump.

Christine said it’s important for the kids to see that sports is about so much more than winning or knowing the rules. As a child, she was involved in sports and wants those same life lessons learned by her children.

“Growing up it was learning to work as a team, and building lifelong friendships,” she said.

Christine is also walking the talk, getting involved behind the scenes in her children’s sports organizations.

“I’m coaching them,” she said.

Armed with binoculars, Peter and Ann Withers were among the spectators as the men’s and women’s 100 metre competition got underway.

The Abbotsford couple’s reason for attending was sitting next to them – their grandson Ethan Wilkie, who competed in the men’s 400 meter earlier that morning.

“With COVID, we haven’t been able to visit very much,” Peter noted.

Wilkie, who finished seventh in the qualifier and 16th in the final, grew up in Langley and Abbotsford, attending St. Catherine’s Elementary in Brookswood and St. John Brebeuf Regional Secondary in Abbotsford.

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Coming home was a great opportunity for his grandparents to watch him compete, but also let him check out all the changes to McLeod in recent years.

“It’s definitely surreal,” said Wilkie, who recalled seeing the track and field complex being built when he was a child. “It’s great to see how much money they have put into the stadium.”

- with files from Heather Colpitts, Matthew Claxton and Tanmay Ahluwalia