Years of hard work and sacrifice are starting to pay off for Jenna Nestman.
The former Elphinstone Secondary School track and field star is now making her mark on the national stage.
Jenna just returned from Edmonton and the 2005 Legion National track and field championships.
She competed with Team B.C., finishing fourth in the heptathlon.
The heptathlon consists of two days of competition. Day one saw athletes compete in the 100 m hurdles, shot put, high jump and 200 m.
On day two, athletes tackled the long jump, javelin and 800 m. Athletes accumulated points after every event, which determined the standings after the competition.
Jenna was competing at the nationals for the first time. Despite just missing the podium, Jenna looks back on the experience fondly.
"We all have our good days and our bad days. My bad day just came at the wrong time," she said. "I was sitting second before the javelin, but all of my throws ended in faults. I didn't get any points and that dropped me down to sixth. I climbed back in after the 800 m, but that only got me back to fourth. Being at an event of that calibre, competing against top level athletes and meeting people from all over Canada, is an experience I won't forget."
Last August, Jenna moved off the Coast to Kitsilano where she attended Kitsilano Secondary School.
She competed with the Kits track and field team, while training five-days a week with the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds.
It was a tough decision to move off-Coast, but one Jenna felt she had to make in order to further her track and field career.
"Unfortunately, we don't have the facilities here," she said. "It was hard to move away from my family and friends, but I wouldn't change anything. Kits is a huge athletic school, so it was pretty easy to meet new friends and compete."
Jenna had a great year training with UBC and going to top-level meets across the province and the U.S.
She also put in some strong results for Kits at this year's B.C. High School championships, finishing fourth in the heptathlon, seventh in the 100 m hurdles and third in the pole vault.
Jenna qualified for Team B.C. at an event in Abbotsford in July.
Making the team was an accomplishment in itself. This year provincial officials selected only 25 athletes in the aged 16 to 17 category. At 17, this is Jenna's last year where she is considered a juvenile athlete. Next year she will move up an age category to the junior level, where she will be competing against athletes in her age category and also university athletes.
"I figured this year my best shot at qualifying for nationals would be the heptathlon," Jenna said. "Next year when I move up to junior, it's going to be a lot tougher."
Jenna was back this week on the Coast visiting with her family.
She's busy preparing for her Grade 12 year at Kits and is looking forward to starting training again in October with UBC.
"I'm taking a little break, but I'm looking forward to the upcoming season," she said.
