Americas Masters Games Recap
As summer in Vancouver drew to a close, Track and Field at UBC was just heating up. In late August, the cross country team ventured to Lynden, WA for training camp, and many star power/speed recruits stepped foot on campus for the first time. However, the biggest event to take place in the UBC athletics community was the inaugural 2016 Americas Masters Games.
The athletics festivities kicked off on August 27th with the 10km road race, and concluded with the half-marathon on August 31st. The games were the first ever to include only Pan-American countries, and featured many of the best competitors and rivalries from the World Masters Games. Like the World Games, the Americas Masters Games gave host to elite athletes aged 30 years and over, in 22 different sports. Many participants in the games were Vancouver natives, while some competitors represented countries as remote as Ecuador and Peru.
While UBC provided the venues for the Track and Field events, it also boasted some of the Games’ premier athletes. Namely, Thunderbird alumni and current athletics coaches Byron Jack and John Hawkins. Jack, who is entering his first season as Horizontal Jumps Coach at UBC, took home a bronze medal in the M45 Discus with a throw of 26.48m and a bronze medal in the M45 Throws Pentathlon. Jack also won a silver medal in the M45 Triple Jump, after a jump of 8.51m. With a little luck, Jack’s new jumpers will take home similar hardware at NAIAs under his guidance this season.
The second Thunderbird alumni who saw success at the games was UBC Assistant Coach of Operations, John Hawkins. Hawkins competed in a whopping five events (nine if you count the five events in the Pentathlon) and took home a few medals in the process. After five taxing games of competition, playing down an age group, Hawkins’ team won bronze in Basketball. Hawkins then proceeded to win bronze in the M65 shot put with a toss of 10.41m and silver in the M65 high jump with a 1.40m jump, despite an Achilles tendon injury. Hawkins held the athletics portion of the Games in high regard, describing it as, “a great track meet”, that “was very well run”.
Kim Hall, who was sidelined by an injury, decided to take to the pool where she collected a trio of medals: Gold in the 800m and 400m freestyle events and Silver in the 200m breastroke.
While the success of the games is reflected in the results of UBC alumni, it is also reflected in the legacy it will leave at the University. The Games granted the Vancouver Thunderbirds T&F Club $60,000 towards equipment purchases. The club then contributed an additional $10,000 in cash which was matched by an anonymous donor. Adding to the total endowment, UBC Facilities provided $9,000 and UBC Track & Field gave $6,000. With this incredible fund of $95,000, the Americas Masters Games and UBC Track & Field was able to purchase new pole vault pits and an accompanying rolling shed; 85 top quality hurdles and rolling carts; new long/triple jump boards; field event performance markers; and every possible weight for the throwing events. This infrastructure upgrade will benefit the UBC Thunderbirds this season and for many to come.
