Lavanna Laass and Brendan Bellavance fought for, and won silver medals last weekend at the Canadian Judo Championships in Saguenay, Que.
Laass, an 18-year-old judoka from the Hart Judo Academy, won silver in the senior women's -63-kilogram division.
She defeated Karlie Pereira of Ontario in the first round by Ippon (one point), then beat Emily Burt of Ontario in the semifinal by Wazari (half a point). Laass lost to Qubec's Beatrice Valois-Fortier in the final, but still earned silver.
It was Laass's first time competing at the senior national level.
Laass' Hart Academy teammate Bellavance, 17, earned his silver medal in the Under-21 -100kg division.
He defeated Teodor Bularda by Ippon, before losing to Ryan Proulx from Qubec for the gold.
Laass posted a 2-2 record to finish fifth in the U21 -63kg division on Sunday. She defeated Anie Meunier from Qubec and Katie Dennis from Ontario by Ippon. In the semifinal, she made a mistake and lost to Maria-Carla Chirila from Qubec. Fighting for the bronze medal, she lost to Jaquina Simao from Alberta.
Laass and Bellavance were among 12 judokas from the Hart Judo Academy and the Prince George Judo Club who competed in Saguenay.
Grace Northrop (U18 female -52kg) and Lorna-Jane Simmons (U16 female -52kg) of the Hart Judo Academy lost both of their matches in the double-elimination format tournament.
Kyle Wilkinson of the Prince George Judo Club finished seventh in the U16 male -60kg division, posting a record of 2-2.
Taylor Schaus (U16 male -42kg) and Branden Edwards (U16 male -55kg) both posted 1-2 records and finished out of the medals.
Levi Price (U16 male -60kg) and Ryan Russell (U16 male -48kg) both posted 0-2 records.
On your mark
The high school track and field north central zone championships take place on Thursday, May 22 and Friday, May 23 at Masich Place Stadium.
Thursday, the competition is from 3:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. and on Friday from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
The top athletes in each of their events will qualify for the B.C. provincial high school track and field championships May 29-31 in Langley.
Expert advice
Two of Canada's premier track athletes will spend Saturday, May 24 with the Prince George Track and Field Club's competitive athletes aged 11 and older as part of a special day-long practice.
Tessa Gray-Burnett and Robyn Webster, both of whom are based in Calgary, will join the PGTFC's senior coaches in managing the training session.
Gray-Burnett is a sprint and hurdles specialist and a NCCP Level 3 trained track and field coach. She started her running career as a 100-metre, 200m runner and sprint hurdler, but as she got older she progressed to the 400m and finally her specialty of 400m hurdles. She has competed seven times at the Canadian championships, making the final in the 400m hurdles each time except once which was a result of a back injury.
Webster is a pole vault specialist. A former University of Calgary athlete who competed at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport level as well as at the club level, she has competed in pole vault, long jump, triple jump, 60m, 100 and 200m and the 4 x 200m relay. She also attended the 2009 Canada Summer Games. She currently oversees the Dino Youth Track and Field Club at the U of C and is an assistant coach with the Calgary Warriors Club.
Athletes from not only the PGTFC, but from others are welcome to attend Saturday's practice, especially those who may be in Prince George for the north central zone high school meet on Thursday and Friday.
The day begins at 9:15 a.m. with warm-ups and concludes at 4:45 p.m. after a mini-meet and friendly competition.
Athletes must register in advance by email at [email protected].
