Highland Secondary track star Elizabeth Gummer is headed to hurdle at Harvard and St. Michaels University School standout Quinn Ngawati is Toronto-bound to play pro Rugby League with the Wolfpack.
Both should be heard from on future national teams. The powerful yet swift Ngawati is on the U-19 Canadian rugby squad. Gummer鈥檚 goals are equally clear: 鈥淭he 2020 Tokyo Olympics . . . sure, 2024 is more realistic, but there鈥檚 no harm in having big goals.鈥�
A last bit of prep business, however, remains for both Island stars. The respective sa国际传媒 high school rugby and track and field championships take place Thursday to Saturday in Abbotsford and Langley. They will close out the 2016-17 high school sports season, along with the concurrent girls鈥� sa国际传媒 soccer championships.
Ngawati watched his cousin, 2016 Rio Olympics silver-medallist and New Zealand women鈥檚 rugby sevens captain Tyla Nathan-Wong, win the sa国际传媒 Sevens over the weekend at Westhills Stadium.
鈥淭hat really motivated and inspired me for this coming week and I want to do the same 鈥� win 鈥� at the sa国际传媒 championships,鈥� said Ngawati, who is Maori on his father鈥檚 side.
Ngawati-led SMUS goes in as the defending sa国际传媒 double-A champion and the Blue Jags will be looking to defend their provincial crown at Rotary Stadium in Abbotsford.
Gummer, unfortunately, won鈥檛 be able to defend hers. In an inopportune bit of scheduling, the Highland graduation ceremonies are on Saturday, the same day as the 400-metre hurdles final at the sa国际传媒 track and field championships in Langley. Gummer, the defending sa国际传媒 champion in the event, will attend her grad ceremonies.
She still has the 100 metre hurdles, however, not to mention a bright future as sa国际传媒鈥檚 top-ranked U-20 hurdler. This is a discipline that has produced for sa国际传媒 the likes of Olympians Perdita Felicien, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Angela Whyte.
Gummer, double gold medallist in the 100- and 400-metre hurdles at the recent Island high school track and field championships at Centennial Stadium, did not even turn to track full time until Grade 10. She attributes her success in the hurdles to the flexibility she acquired in her years as a gymnast. After having competed in the 2014 sa国际传媒 Summer Games in Nanaimo and 2015 Western sa国际传媒 Games in Wood Buffalo, Alta., the next logical step for her is the 2017 sa国际传媒 Summer Games in July at Winnipeg.
Gummer, a member of the Comox Valley Cougars Track and Field Club, is coached by John May, who also coached Olympian Cam Levins of Black Creek. Gummer comes from a sporting family. Her sister, Chloe Gummer, is a soccer player and was rookie of the year this season for the Vancouver Island University Mariners.
Elizabeth Gummer is as starry in the classroom, as her acceptance in Harvard attests. She is looking forward to competing for the Crimson in the NCAA.
鈥淚 just love going out and training,鈥� said Gummer.
鈥淚 always look forward to it.鈥�
Meanwhile, a couple of Island dynasties will be on display this week in both Langley and Abbotsford.
The Oak Bay Bays are after their 12th sa国际传媒 title in 16 years at the provincial high school track and field championships. The biggest challenger will be Vancouver College.
The Shawnigan Lake Stags juggernaut is looking for its eighth sa国际传媒 high school rugby triple-A/quad-A championship in nine years. The biggest challenge will come from St. George鈥檚.
