Around 320 athletes from across the island are in Nanaimo for the the Elwood Wylie track and field meet. Photo Credit (Kyle Ireland/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

RUN, JUMP, THROW

Island athletes competing at feature Nanaimo track and field meet

May 27, 2023 | 10:56 AM

NANAIMO — Rotary Bowl is playing host this weekend to a marquee event for the Nanaimo Track and Field Club.

Athletes from across Vancouver Island will compete in an array of events over two days beginning Saturday, May 26, with runners, jumpers and throwers aged nine to 90 taking part in the Elwood Wylie Memorial Track and Field Meet.

Wanda Urbanowicz, head coach of the Nanaimo Track and Field Club, told NanaimoNewsNOW the event is part of the Vancouver Island Athletic Association schedule and will see around 320 athletes competing.

“The younger kids run 60 metre sprints all the way up to the 3000 metre. We have steeplechase, there’s all the throwing events, pole vault, hammer throw, all the jumping events. We also have a track rascals race which is for the young kids aged six to eight.”

Rotary Bowl in Nanaimo is a hub of activity this weekend for the Elwood Wylie track and field meet. Photo credit (Kyle Ireland/NanaimoNewsNOW).

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This year’s event will see participants skew more to the younger side of the scale.

Many of the region’s high school aged athletes competed in Victoria this week at the Vancouver Island High School Championships, with Urbanowicz mentioning most of them will “be pretty pooped after two days of competition”.

“[This meet] a good opportunity for our younger kids to compete against each other and all their peers in the other clubs,” Urbanowicz added.

The event is in honour of Elwood Wylie, who served as president of the club for 16 years.

He was dubbed “Mr. Track and Field” and was instrumental in development of the track behind Nanaimo District Secondary School into what’s now called the Rotary Bowl.

A full schedule of events over the weekend is available here.

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