When the BC Summer Games were held in the Cowichan Valley in 2018, Alexa Dow was front and centre as a spectator.
Four years later, she is competing in the games herself.
Dow, who will be participating in the 1200m and 800m races, is one of seven athletes from the Cowichan Valley who will compete in track and field at the games, which start this Thursday in Prince George.
“I’m very excited to go,” Dow said. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
Dow won two gold medals and set a pair of records at the high school provincial championships last month, and she is hoping to achieve the same feat at the BC Summer Games.
“I know it will be tough competition,” she acknowledged. “It will be good to race against all those amazing girls and try to get a good time out of it.”
Joining Dow on the Island team are fellow Cowichan Valley athletes Annette Blumel, Ethan Chen, Makenna Forcier, Tori Johnston, Danika Lazenby and Nova Wedmann-Kent.
Blumel is aiming for a top-three finish in the race walk and is also competing triple jump and shot put, where she is hoping to set personal bests. Blumel is looking forward to uniting with her usual rivals from across the Island under a common banner.
“It’s a team made up of kids from the Island, so we are used to competing against each other,” she noted. “But now we are one big team.”
Forcier, who is competing in the high jump, long jump and 80m hurdles, is looking at it in a similar fashion.
“I’m really excited for competing and meeting new people,” she said.
Wedmann-Kent has already qualified for nationals in high jump, and is hoping to beat the national standard again at the BC Games. She will also be competing in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay events, where she hopes to improve on her personal bests.
“I think I have a good chance [to medal] in high jump,” she said. “And I hope it goes well in the other sports.”
Like the other athletes, Wedmann-Kent is looking forward to the experience of attending the BC Summer Games.
“I think it’s cool to be going with friends I’ve known for a long time,” she said. “It will be fun to travel with them.”