Friday night at the 2023 Canadian Track and Field Championships in Langley, BC was headlined by the 100 metre finals and Bianca Borgella was one of the stars of the evening.
Fresh off a pair of medals at the World Para Athletics Championship, Borgella was lined up against fellow Team Canada athletes Marissa Papaconstantinou and Shariauna Haase in the para ambulatory section. The University of Ottawa student was in command of the race from the gun, crossing the line in a time of 12.14 seconds.
To fairly determine the standings in the para ambulatory event, each athlete is graded against the Raza Points Table to standardise performances across disabilities.
While Borgella was first across the line, she took home the silver as her score was 14 points behind Papaconstantinou’s, who competes with a prosthetic limb.
Beyond the sprint final, Friday’s competition was all a game of “survive and advance” for the Lions. In total, eight athletes advanced to national finals on Saturday.
Starting with the sprint hurdles in the morning, Keira Christie-Galloway comfortably won her heat in a time of 13.36 seconds to qualify third fastest to the final. It was an identical result for David Adeleye as he won his heat in 14.09.
Next to qualify were a pair of U18 athletes running up at their first U20 national championship.
Zachary Jeggo was quick to prove he belonged among his older counterparts, unleashing a massive personal best time of 48.78 seconds for 400 metres to earn the second automatic qualifying spot out of his heat. Jeggo’s performance moved him to number three all-time in the Club for U18 athletes.
Running out of lane eight, Quinn Coughlin executed her game plan and also earned her spot in the U20 400 metre final via a second place finish. The Opeongo student crossed the line in a time of 57.29 – the fourth fastest among all qualifiers.
Also at 400 metres, Lauren Gale was the top finisher in her heat with a time of 52.41 to advance.
After missing out on the national championship final a year ago, 800 metre runners Stephen Evans and Sydney Smith were poised to right the wrong Friday night.
Evans, who recently broke the Club record at the distance, looked in full control throughout the two lap race, nabbing the second auto qualifier in his heat with a 1:48.54 clocking.
Meanwhile, Smith had a different path to Saturday’s final. Finding herself in a tightly contested battle, the Ontario champion escaped a pair of near falls as she placed fourth in the first of two semi-finals with a time of 2 minutes and 6.32 seconds. After a short wait on pins and needles, Smith’s spot was confirmed as the fastest non-automatic qualifier.
Last into the finals was Lizzy Vroom. The U20 steeplechase silver medalist got through to the 1500 metre final as one of the four non-automatic qualifiers. Vroom finished in a time of 4 minutes and 38.14 seconds.
Friday also featured the culmination of the two day heptathlon with two Lions in action. Kathryn Moreland recorded a score of 3710 points to place ninth – a personal best by 101 points for the 18-year-old. Teammate Ella Durno placed 12th with 3139 points.
You can watch the championships live on AthleticsCanada.tv or follow the live results at https://live.athletics.ca/meets/26525