THE VALLEY ROYALS ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET will take place on Feb 15 - please go here for further details: Banquet Details. Be sure to let your coach or Jason Swan (Club Manager) know of your planned attendance. We would like to see all of our athletes and their parents at this event, which is always a pleasure to attend.

Valley Royal runner Jessica Smith is traveling to New York to compete in the 800- meters at this Saturday’s first ever US Open Track and Field meet to be held at Madison Square Gardens. In 2011 Smith had a big breakthrough over 800-meters as she ran the distance in a time of 2:01.54 at the Harry Jerome meet. A graduate of Simon Fraser University, Smith is focused on qualifying for this summer’s London Olympic Games.

In New York, Smith will be matched against Ajee Wilson (USA) a high school sensation who last year won the 800-meters at the World Youth Championships in a time of 2:02.64. Also entered in the event is Ethiopia’s Fantu Magiso a 20-year old that in 2011 had a world leading junior division time of 1:59.17.

While Smith is in New York three Valley Royal athletes will be in Seattle on Saturday to compete in the University of Washington’s Invitational. Mike Mason, who won two weeks ago at this same venue (2.17 meters), will be out to improve on that performance. Ruky Abdulai, prepping for the heptathlon event at this coming summer’s London Olympic Games, will compete in the high jump, shot put and 60-meter hurdles in Seattle while Brianna Kane will run the women’s 800- meters.

West Point Academy, NY—Jan. 7: Jared Heldman competed in his first meet for Albany University by placing second in the pentathlon event held at the West Point Academy indoor complex in New York. Heldman scored 4,783 points to finish behind teammate Alfonso Scannapieco’s winning score of 4956 pts. Heldman’s performances were as follows: 60m—7.06; lj—6.48m; sp—12.25m; hj—1.82m; 60mhur—8.88; pv—4.15m; 1,000m—3:14.20

One week later, at the Pen State Invitational, Heldman competed in two individual events placing 5th in both the 60m (6.96) and long jump (6.97m).

Seattle, WA January 15: Jessica Smith came first in the women’s 800 meters and Mike Mason got his season off to a good start by winning the high jump at the University of Washington Preview meet held at University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor facility.

Smith had little problem winning the 800-meters by completing the distance in 2:07.48 to finish some 5-seconds in front of former SFU runner Brianne Kane (2:12.54). Thirty three-runners divided into four sections took part in the event.

Mike Mason cleared 2.17 meters in the men’s high jump to easily win that event. Second place went to Stanford’s Dartis Willis (2:12m) and in third was Washington’s A.J. Maricich (2.07)

Helen Crofts, the Canadian women’s 800-meter champion, stepped up from her specialty and took part in the women’s mile at this meet. Crofts turned in a time of 4:52.81 to place sixth in the event that was won by Nike runner Jackie Areson with a time of 4:43.13.

Royal Helen Crofts has been announced by Sport BC as a finalist for their University Athlete of the Year.

The awards ceremony and gala dinner, set for March 8, 2012 at the River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond BC, recognizes BC's best amateur athletes, coaches, and officials for outstanding performances in their sport over the 2011 season. Each finalist was nominated by their Provincial Sport Organization, high school or university, and voted for by a selection committee of BC sportswriters, broadcasters, athletes and amateur sport experts.

"We received a number of very strong nominations this year from our Provincial Sport Organizations," said Sport BC's Event Manager, Carey Summerfelt. "Sport BC's Athlete of the Year Awards provides a great opportunity to give these talented athletes, coaches and officials the recognition they deserve."

We all wish Helen the best of luck and will be waiting for the day of the Awards to find out the decision.

Athletics Canada announced its annual award’s list of outstanding track and field athletes for 2011 and Helen Crofts earned the honor as Canadian University Athlete of the Year.

Upon learning of the award Helen’s coach, Brit Townsend, stated, ”I am extremely proud of what Helen has accomplished over this past season and I know she has gained a tremendous amount of experience and confidence. Winning this well deserved award will add to her confidence to pursue even greater challenges in the sport. She is determined to reach the highest level and has an incredible drive each time she steps on the line to compete. She is not afraid to challenge the best in the country and beyond and this is the true marking of a top athlete. Helen runs with a passion and authority that is unique. Having a training partner like Jessica Smith (Jessica is also a member of the Royals) who is the 2nd ranked Canadian in the 800 has brought them both to new levels and together they have positioned themselves as two of the best middle distance runners in the country. In addition to her athletic success, Helen is an incredible student maintaining over a 4.0 in the Biological Sciences and will be entering the honors program next semester.”

Helen will accept her award next June at a banquet held following the Olympic trials in Calgary.

The Valley Royals Annual Awards Banquet will be held on Wednesday evening, February 15 at the Legacy Centre (adjacent to the Swan track at Rotary Stadium). This is always a fun evening that features awards to every Valley Royal athlete in attendance, a special quiz with prizes for the highest scores, the presentation of the club’s major awards and an outstanding buffet dinner. So all club athletes and family are asked to set February 15 aside as we would like to see all of you in attendance at this year’s banquet. More information on the occasion will be forthcoming in future releases.

Over the past three weeks Ruky Abdulai, accompanied by her husband Kojo and coach Tom Dickson, made the long trip to Ghana; Ruky and Kojo’s country of birth. Located in West Africa, Ghana has an average daytime temperature of 26 degrees with a dry season that extends into December and according to Tom, “those conditions were just perfect for training.” While in Ghana, Tom was housed at Kojo’s family residence where, he states, ”I was treated like royalty.”

It was great for Ruky and Kojo to be able to visit and spend some time with family and even more importantly, from Tom’s viewpoint as a coach, was the outstanding opportunity afforded by Ghana’s temperatures for the opportunity to conduct winter training sessions in balmy temperatures. Ruky is hard at work preparing for next summer’s London Olympic Games and the trip to Ghana afforded her an excellent winter training venue.

Speaking of travel, we understand that Aisha Klippenstein is spending her Christmas vacation in Sweden.

Jared Heldman, a first year student athlete at Albany University (New York) had some excellent marks during his schools inter-squad meet. Jared had a pole vault performance of 4.45 meters, ran 6.41 to tie the meet record in the 55-meters and then long jumped a personal best 7.53 meters. Jared returns home for Christmas vacation on December 17 and intends to train through the holidays to be ready for the indoor season invitational and conference meets.

Alex Siemens had an impressive performance over the 10-k distance and Oliver Jorgensen was a winner of the 5-k race at the Gunner Shaw Memorial CC meet held last Saturday at the Jericho Beach Park complex.

Sixteen-year-old Siemens, who was running her first ever 10-k race, covered the muddy course, some of the distance held on the beach, in the good time for the conditions of 40:15. Siemens` performance placed her first amongst junior women runners and second overall in the female division with only Vancouver Falcons Catherine Watkins (39:27) placing ahead of her.

Other Royals that took part in the 10-k run included Sarya Ross, (44:59) and Francesca Jackman (46:37). Coaches James Meehan and Susan Northey had a go at the 10-k course as did parents Twyla Ross and Ross Siemens.

Oliver Jorgensen crossed the finish line first in the 5-k race recording a time of 18:22 to take home a nice trophy. Other Royals to complete the 5-k race included Arshdeep Ganda, Anne Goertzen and Nicole Motion.

Coaches Ziggy Szelagowicz and Harold Willers have the power speed group working hard at several indoor venues that include both the Ag/Rec Building and Abbotsford Recreation Centre. Mike Mason and Hailey Gibson are both looking particularly impressive during early season workouts. Mason, fresh back from a week`s training camp at Whistler, has lost a little weight, is stronger then in the past and has recovered from the injuries that plagued him during last season. "Mike is faster this year and he is pain free and those are two important factors in his progress," stated Szelagowicz. The coach also likes the improved speed of 15-year old Hailey Gibson. "She has always been quite fast out of the blocks but now Hailey is even better at the start and, more importantly, she is able to hold her speed for a longer distance," stated the coach.

Indoor pole vaulting practices are also underway at the Ag/Rec Centre under the watchful eyes of both Szelagowicz and vault specialist coach Graham Danziger. In addition throwing coach Harold Willers is also holding practices for his group at the same venue.

The Canadian Cross Country Championships were held Saturday at Jericho Beach Park on a rain soaked course that turned into muddy goo as the day progressed.

Jessica Smith, a newcomer to the Royals and a federally carded athlete, had the best placing by club members finishing tenth in the senior women’s race. Smith, who was running the second to last race of the day, trudged through the mud laden 7.0k course in a time of 26:49. Kendra Schaaf of Saskatchewan, a former NCAA cross country medalist, won the race in 25:00. Other Royals that took part in the senior women’s race included Helen Crofts (29th) and Allison Farkash (31st)

Alexandra Siemens placed 38th in the junior women’s 5.0-k race and helped British Columbia to the team title. Siemens ran well through the first two-thirds of the race but had some trouble over the last part finishing with a time of 20:11. Alberta’s Ellen Pennock, the bronze medalist at the Canadian University CC Championships, won the race by posting a time of 18:34. Fifteen-year old Sarya Ross put in a very good performance and placed 71st (20:58). Two other Royals, Janelle Hay (101st) and Francesca Jackman (108th), both of whom are better known for competing in shorter races, also braved the junior women’s competition.

A few of the club’s high school aged athletes took part in the Citizen’s race that was held in conjunction with the Championships but results are not available at this time.

Next Saturday a group of Royals will return to Jericho Beach to run in the Gunner Shaw competition which is a much more fun type race than the Canadian Championships. That race will complete the competition schedule for 2011.

The BC High School Cross Country Championships were held at the Telemark Cross Country Ski course located a few miles from Kelowna. It is debatable that a high school cross-country championship should be held on a course such as Telemark - an out-and-back type run that was uphill for the first half and then down hill to the finish line. The surface might be fine for a winter sport such as cross country skiing as snow would cover all the boulders that are exposed when no snow is present. Mind you, if the championships had been held a week later the contestants would have been greeted with an ample cover of snow.

Alex Siemens had the best finish for Valley Royal athletes as she was awarded a disputed 11th place in the girl’s race. It was thought that Alex finished three or four places better then that but she stumbled in the chute and that caused her a number of places.

Other finishes by Royals include Sarya Ross with a very respectable 30th place, Alicia Unruh (35th), Janelle Hay (77th) and Kayla Lennea (106th). Two hundred eighty runners took part in the girls’ race that covered a distance of 4.8-k.

In the boys’ competition Oliver Jorgensen came 102nd and Lorenzo Smith, who has just resumed running after incurring an injury that kept him out of action for a year, placed 112th. Two hundred eighty six boys completed the 6.0-k course.

Athletics Canada has released its preliminary list of athletes to be carded for 2012 and two Valley Royals are amongst those named. Ruky Abdulai was carded at the senior card level and will receive $1,500 per month plus some expenses for training. Ruky has already obtained the Olympic standard in the heptathlon and is a prime candidate for the Canadian team that will take part in 2012 Summer Games scheduled for London. Natasha Miller has earned a development card and will receive $900 per month for her first year as a carded athlete. If either athlete had been attending university they would have had their tuition paid for.

High jumper Mike Mason and his coach, Ziggy Szelagowicz are spending this week in a training camp environment at Whistler. After a year recuperating from an injury the former World Junior Champion is training full time in hopes of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics. The two are attending the training camp and utilizing the Olympic training facility at Whistler with the benefit of a grant arranged by BC Athletics through the BC Olympic Development fund. Coach Szelagowicz feels that Mason is making excellent progress and believes that things should go well for the high jumper during the coming track and field season.

Hannah Konrad saved her best effort for the last cross country race of the season to win the gold medal in the 13 year old girls division. Konrad pulled away from the rest of the field as she covered the 3km very hilly course in a time of 12:49. Konrad started strongly and increased her lead as the race progressed and finished with a time of 12:49. Amy Morris of Naniamo was second (13:11) with Pentictons Maya Venkataraman third (13:35).

Adrian Bingert competing in his first ever BC championship cross country meet won the silver medal in the 13 year old boys division. Bingert, who only took up running as a sport this September covered the 3km distance in 11:30 in the race that was won by Isaac Waldhwani of Maple Ridge (11:19).

Medals were also won by Parker Wakelyn with a third place in the 10 year old boys division and Janelle Hay who battled tiredness from Wednesdays Fraser Valley meet to place 3rd in the juvenile girls race.

Other performances by Valley Royal runners are as follows:
10 year old girls
Emily Motion - 4th
Grace Chalk - 6th
Cassidy Hutchinson - 7th
Regan Bishop - 11th
Emily Haw - 15th

10 year old boys
Baldeep Dhillon - 18th
Theo Chapman - 19th

11 year old girls
Josephine Calverley - 8th
Marley Hutchinson - 10th
Eva Jansen - 17th

11 year old boys
Jaskarn Rai - 20th

12 year old girls
Jensen Bako - 18th

13 year old boys
Matthew Conner - 8th
Joshua Froese - 15th

14 year old girls
Erica Johnson - 12th

15 year old girls
Arshdeep Ganda - 5th
Sarya Ross - 4th

Youth Women
Francesca Jackman - 4th
Kayla Lennea - 19th
Anne Goertzen Loeppky - 21st

Senior Women
Alexandra Siemens - 5th

Two weeks ago Alexandra Siemens suffered a rare loss to another Valley runner when Walnut Grove's Ashley Windsor beat the W.J. Mouat runner at the Big Rock meet. But at Wednesday's Fraser Valley Championship, Siemens turned the tables to record a convincing win over Windsor and 154 other runners that took part in the senior girls race of the championships held at Aldergrove Park.

Siemens' win led her W. J. Mouat team to a Fraser Valley team championship and an automatic berth in the provincial meet that takes place on November 5 in Kelowna. The Mouat team scored 88 points for first place with Walnut Grove, last year' winner, second (100 pts.) and Dr. Charles Best third (111 pts.) in the reverse scoring system.

Siemens devised a race plan that worked well for her. "It was important that I put some pressure on Ashley just after the half way point and not let her get away from me going up the steep hill", stated the winner. That's exactly what took place and after climbing the hill for the second time Siemens had opened up a lead of more than 60 meters, an advantage she held to the finish. The other scoring members of the Mouat team included Callum Pilgrim (7th), Sarya Ross (8th), Francesca Jackman (20th) and Amanda Thompson (68th).

Valley Royal member results from some of the other races saw Alicia Unruh of MEI come second in the junior girls race, Aiden Bingert of Mouat place ninth in the junior boys' division and Oliver Jorgensen of Bateman came 23rd in the senior boys run.

The trails and hills, with an emphasis on hills of Aldergrove Park are going to have a mass of thundering feet pounding its ground as both the Fraser Valley High School Championships and the BC Athletics Cross Country meet are taking place at that venue in this coming week.

On Wednesday the Fraser Valley Championships are being held with more then a dozen Royals entered and on Saturday the BC Athletics meet will see in excess of 30 club runners take part. A Mouat Secondary school women’s squad that features three Valley Royals on its team should be a contender for honors in the senior girls division. Leading the way for the Hawks will be Alexandria Siemens and Sarya Ross who were second and third respectively at the Big Rock meet held a week ago.

Royal Frankie Jackman will also give good depth to the Hawks. Oliver Jorgensen has made nice improvement this season and could well be among the top group of finishers in the senior boys’ race. And it’s expected that newcomer Aiden Bingert should give a good account of himself in the junior boys’ competition.

Three days later the BC Athletics meet will be held on the very same course. The Royals will have a good compliment of both JD and older athletes entered. It will be a good test for the JD athletes who just over a week ago completed competition in the Lafarge Grand Prix series of four cross country meets. For the Royals secondary school competitors this will be the last tuneup before the BC High School Championships take place in Kelowna on November 5.

Gabrielle MacGregor and Parker Wakelyn are amongst the 65 athletes to be honored at the BC Junior Development Awards Luncheon that takes place next Sunday at the Croatian Hall in Vancouver. Wakelyn has been named as the male multi-events winner in the 1999 age division while McGregor is the female multi-events winner in the 2001 age division. Congratulations to both Gabrielle and Parker.

Graham Danziger the long time Valley Royal athlete and now club coach exchanged wedding vows with Christeen Ann Cote in a ceremony that took place at the Legacy Sports Centre on October 15. It was a wonderful ceremony that included amongst the guests a number of Valley Royal members past and present. Coach Sue Northey, who was in attendance, was a former teacher of Christeen.