Two world records and one Canadian record were some of the accomplishments this year by four participants at the first Masters Throws Pentathlon hosted by the Prince George Track & Field Club and sponsored by the 55+ BC Games Zone 9.
The four B.C. athletes who kicked off their competitive season at the Spruce Capital Meet on June 17 went on to win multiple medals at the Canadian Championships.
Myrtle Acton, 90 years old, from Sooke, Jim Dyer, 80, from Quesnel, Brad Frenkel, 59, and Joan Harris, 61,from the Prince George Track & Field Club members, all started their season early in Prince George and continued to make their marks throughout the summer.
Acton broke world records in her age category for women 90-94 years old multiple times, continually improving her distances as she competed during the summer. During the Canadian Championship held in Langley in August she broke the world discus record twice in a row.
The final tally sees Acton earn world records held by Olga Koltelko for almost a decade in hammer throw, shot put, discus and throws pentathlon.
Acton's world record throws include hammer 20.47 metres, shot put 6.58 metres, discus 15.28 metres and earned a score of 3975 in throws pentathlon where she threw hammer, shot put, discus, javelin and weight throw.
Frenkel threw a personal best in the Canadian Championships topping out at 37.07 metres in discus beating his next best distance by more than three metres and earning himself a silver medal, and a silver in hammer with a throw of 33.62 along with a bronze in weight throw for a throw of 11.11 metres.
During the Canadian Championships, Dyer took silver in hammer when he threw 33.78 metres, silver in javelin when he threw 18.60 metres, silver in weight throw with a throw of 15.03 and bronze in shot put with an 8.87 metre throw. In the Ultra Throws Fest in September Jim captured the BC record for super weight throw with a toss of 8.85 metres.
During the Canadian Championships, Harris took gold in discus with a 21.64 metre throw, gold in weight throw with a BC-record tying 12.28 metre throw and took silver in hammer with a 27.26 metre throw, javelin with a 22.91 metre throw and shot put with a 8.05 metre throw. Joan also took gold in the throws pentathlon.
Tom Ukonmaanaho, a longtime member of the Prince George Track & Field club, took silver in the 100 metre race with a time of 15.69 metres during the Canadian Championships.
To check out these athletes in action visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBqekfT4NSU
