Jeremy Matte blew past the competition at the North Central Zone High School Track and Field Meet held Thursday at Masich Place Stadium.
The 16-year-old was the first across the finish line during the 400 metre senior boys hurdles in a time of 1:02.04.
"I was quite surprised because I've only been practicing hurdles for two or three practices trying to get the hang of it," said Matte. "It's very fun actually."
Matte said sprinting is good cross-training for hockey, his first love. Last season, Matte played goal for the Cariboo Cougars of the B.C. Major Midget League and he's counting on his renewed interest in running to help him sprint past the competition at Cougars' camp in the fall to earn the starting job next season.
"It's a great workout for my legs and helps me with explosive speed," said Matte, competing for PGSSl at the track meet. "I'm definitely going to have more of a competitive edge to my game and be faster and more in shape then I was last year."
Matte also finished first in the senior boys 100m sprint with an unofficial time of 11.2 seconds and had plans to race in the 400m event before heading off to his roller hockey game last night.
In the junior girls 100m sprint, Lauren Matheson of the College Heights Cougars overcame her jitters to finish first.
"I'm just a really competitive runner and I always get nervous because I want to do well," said the Grade 8 student.
Matheson said she'll have to overcome her nerves again today for the 200m race, which she considers her signature event.
"I'm just a really good runner off corners so it's a really good advantage for me," said Matheson.
There was about 125 high school athletes competing on Day 1 of the two-day zone championship that served as a qualifier for the provincial championship, May 31 and June 1, at McLeod Athletic Park in Langley. Students that place first or second in their event and hit the provincial standard are eligible to compete at the provincial meet.
Other notable athletes competing included first-place finishes for senior athletes Emma Balazs of the Kelly Road Roadrunners (4:55.44) and Zachary Matyas of the Duchess Park Condors (4:21.60) in their respective 1,500m events. In the junior boys 1,500m event, Alexander Nemethy of Nechako Valley Vikings in Vanderhoof placed first in 4:34.79.
