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Valley Royals athletes from Abbotsford head to Peru for Team Canada

Gondara, Hamilton continue throwing success
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Royals athletes Vikramjit Gondara and Rowan Hamilton show off their hardware following the Canadian Track and Field Championships earlier this month.

Valley Royals throwing athletes just keep winning.

Abbotsford’s Vikramjit Gondara won gold and Chilliwack’s Rowan Hamilton won silver in the U20 hammer throw at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Ottawa, which ran from July 3 to 9.

Both Gondara and Hamilton achieved identical top throws of 62.37 metres with their second-best throws determining who won. Gondara ended up edging Hamilton for top spot at the event.

The throwers are trained by Coach Harold Willers of the Valley Royals in Abbotsford and have had an impressive season this year, placing together in the top positions for hammer throw and discus in meet after meet.

At the Langley Mustangs High Performance Throws Meet on April 30, Gondara won gold in junior men’s hammer with a throw of 61.49 m and Hamilton won silver, throwing 55.94 m.

At the BC High School Track and Field Championships in Langley in early June, Gondara won gold in senior boys hammer throw and set the B.C. high school record for hammer with a throw of 62.43 m (beating his 2016 record of 60.90 m). Hamilton took silver in hammer with a throw of 59.85 m.

Gondara also won gold in senior boys discus at the event with a throw of 47.64 m with Hamilton winning silver at 46.49 m.

At the Langley Pacific Invitational in mid-June, Gondara won gold in men’s U20 hammer with a throw of 63.00 m and Hamilton took silver with a throw of 56.68 m but Hamilton won gold in men’s U20 discus with a throw of 43.88 m while Gondara took silver at 43.71 m.

At the Universal Athletics Meet in Surrey (July 1 and 2), Hamilton set the new Canadian youth record for U18 hammer throw on Canada’s 150th birthday with a throw of 67.72 m. Gondara won gold in U20 hammer with a throw of 62.6 m.

Both Gondara and Hamilton have been selected to represent Canada in hammer throw at the 2017 Pan-American U20 Championships in Peru from July 21 to 23.