Before athletics competitor Hannah Jay left for the BC Summer Games, held in Surrey July 19-22, she joked about her odds of winning. “It’s about the experience,” she said at the time.
And now, returning from the games as the only Terrace athlete to stand on the podium after placing second in long jump, she still retains that humble, positive outlook.
“I really wasn’t expecting anything at all,” she said, on the field at Skeena Secondary where she did most of her training for long jump and the 100m. “I’d been jumping 458cm and then out of nowhere I jumped 517cm. It was my personal best by a long shot.”
She chalks this gain up to a mix of adrenaline and excitement, noting that her coach Dighton Haynes and the coach from Smithers helped her with training and form.
Her experience as a figure skater has been beneficial in long jump, helping with lifting and timing and knowing what to do in the air. She also plays soccer, basketball, and volleyball with school.
The weekend was a lot of fun, she said. “With what we had, we did pretty good,” she said. “[Other places] seem a lot more prepared, they have personal trainers.”
Jay faulted her first jump, and she had to leave the long jump pit to compete in the 100m relay in between her second and third jump, so she wasn’t sure how she’d measured up.
When she found out she’d won, “I was like, oh my goodness,” she said. “I don’t really care too much about winning second, but it was a personal best.”
Indeed, when coach Hayes was asked a few weeks ago what he hoped for the athletics kids at the games, he echoed Jay’s sentiments, saying he wanted them to beat their personal bests.
Most of the athletes did just that. “Carly Davies placed 5th in high jump, a personal best of 145cm,” he said. Davies also had a personal best in the 300m, where she placed 11th, despite a slight quad strain.
Mikayla Holmes placed 5th in discus, a personal best of 30.49m and over 5 meters better than her personal best.
Lara Hayward had a personal best in her 200m, placing 21st. Patrick Holmberg, the only male on the Terrace team, had three personal bests in his events, 300m, 800m and 200m hurdles where he placed 9th.
Summer Schulte’s best result was 11th in javelin and was close to her personal best in all three throwing events – within a meter for each.
Hayes couldn’t make it to the games, so parent chaperone Kathleen Schulte travelled with the team. “I hear she did a marvelous job helping out our athletes at the games,” he said.
As for Jay, she says the experience has made her want to compete in more track events in the future. And where’s she going to keep her medal? “In a box, so it stays shiny,” she said with a smile.