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British Columbia Modern Pentathlon Association The Ultimate Sport - The Ultimate Athlete |
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BC Championships March 2004See report below!
BC
MODERN PENTATHLON CHAMPIONSHIPS 2004 The
weekend started with the ride, organized by Jennifer and Rick Maynard at
Southlands Riding Stables. The number of riders at 9 had increased substantially
from previous years. Despite the often-maligned low level of the jumps, the
riders experienced a challenging course thanks to Rick’s expertise in course
design. Thanks to Rick’s flexibility an athlete, who could not ride on
Saturday because of the work schedule, was given the opportunity to ride at 7 am
on Sunday morning. Maple
Ridge’s Albion Hall was the start of the four events on Sunday. Rimon Gendi
once again served as the Range master and set up/take down crew. Clive Mclay
scored the targets and Katrina Kelleway totaled the Pentathlon points. A
crew in the back consisting of Jacquie Lineham, Lorraine Thwaites and Charlotte
Cronin began the tabulation, ribbon allocation that kept them busy until it was
time to run for the ferry back to the Island. Running
put us behind but we caught up during the fence with a lot of help from parent
spectators who assisted the inexperienced fencers getting hooked and unhooked
from the reel. No one was sitting down! The
organizers took time over the lunch break to present volunteer awards to long
time Zone 3 Shooting Coach Arno Baron. True to form, Arno invited athletes to
prepare for the next Canada Winter Games. Having had multiple medallists over
the years he is not about to retire and turn that thrill over to some one else
just yet. Just as Clive settled back to continue his scoring duties we surprised
him with our second volunteer award. It was dedicated to the McLay team of
husband Clive and wife Peggy as the stalwarts behind Fraser valley Modern
Pentathlon. The
swim was the final event. Bill and Lorraine Thwaites run the swim like the
veterans of Swim Club that they are. Lots of loud cheering encouraged beginners
and champions alike. At the end of the day there would not be one athlete who
couldn’t boast a Personal Best in one of his or her events. AWARDS FOR THE JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS PROGRAM SEASON:
These
awards were calculated from the Run, Swim; Shoot scores during the JAAP season.
Athletes must have competed in a minimum of two competitions in all three
events. Each athlete was presented with a certificate and twenty-five dollars. BC
CHAMPS AWARDS Ribbons
were presented throughout the day for each gender and each division to 6th
place in each event. That means we needed several presenters to keep from
loosing our voices. Medals
went to athletes who participate in all five events. These are the AGGREGATE
AWARDS. Open Male Toshi Ihara Gold 5520
Tik Maynard
Silver
5280 Open
Female
Allison Fox
Gold
3592 Senior
Girls
Kelly Fitzsimmons
Gold
4960 In
addition, BCMPA presents EXCELLENCE AWARDS of cash to athletes obtaining a
predetermined minimum score for the five events. Cheques for $300 were awarded
to Toshi, Tik and Kelly (who is our
newest BC athlete, having relocated from Alberta to attend UBC) Thanks
to parents, coaches and organizers
for making it a memorable event. Special thanks to the athletes who make it all
possible. Charlotte Cronin Nationals 2003 started as scheduled Aug 22. The women competed on the 23rd with the men anxiously watching the events in preparation for their day on the 24th. Everyone who turned out was willing to help which made for a well run, fun filled event. The Cheam Centre was conveniently associated with the riding venue so schedules were manageable with little time lost driving to events..and literally no one got lost... Even Gil who was in charge of the Van to transport athletes and equipment to and fro. Victoria Modern Pentathlon was delighted to introduce three new members to their first Nationals. David Gray as a Youth A and Aaron Hawkes and Catherine Thwaites as Youth B. When we compared their scores with the previous season, there were personal bests achieved. David in his run and swim, Aaron in his run and swim, Catherine in her shoot and swim. Doesn't get much better than that for their first time out at such a high level event. The other Zone 6 athletes consisted of Toshi Ihara just returned from representing Canada at the Pan AMs, Natasha Lineham, coach extrordinaire who demonstrated calm and grit with a challenging horse in the ride, Ashley Hicks who had a PB in her shoot and swim and had a very strong fence. Final mention goes to Annie Deleenheer whose claim to fame at this Nationals will undoubtedly be her wonderful horse, Afica who gave willingly to each rider lucky enough to make that choice in the draw. Thanks Annie for letting Africa be ridden at our Nationals. And by the way she had a PB in her shoot! Other BC athletes present were Monica Pinette,Hillary Godin and Steve McLay from Fraser Valley, Anthony Steward from Maple Ridge, and Tik and Jordan Maynard from Vancouver. Monica rose to the occasion, fresh from the Pan Ams and wowed the hometown crowd as the newly crowned National Champion. She won the Denise Fekete award. We had lots of medals to take home!! Although I missed the final event of the day for the Men's competition, I understand there has not been as exciting a finish for many years. Likely never in Canada where the chase run at the end decides the winner. Victoria will lay claim to the eventual winner Will Pratt who started 39 seconds behind the leader to overtake and become the National Men's Champion, taking home the Fekete award for his efforts. Will has moved back to Victoria to pursue his studies and train with the Pacificsport centre's backing. Thanks to all the volunteers who made it happen and to Ian Soellner and Peggy McLay who were instrumental in pulling it all together. Charlotte Cronin Victoria Modern Pentathlon. |
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