By Chad Klassen

From running shoes to gold, Bazil Spencer’s high-jumping journey is special

Aug 10, 2018 | 5:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — Dylan Armstrong noticed Bazil Spencer at this year’s B.C. High School Track and Field Championships in June. The Quesnel product, who just started competing in high jump, decided to take part in the meet on a whim and did so in his running shoes.

“I got 1.90 [metres], but I was jumping in my running shoes and I was sort of doing it for fun,” said Spencer, who’s 16 years old. “Then Dylan got a hold of me and he was like ‘hey, you should train with me for a couple days and we’ll see if we can fix some things.’”

Those couple days have turned into full-time training with the Armstrong through the Kamloops Track and Field Club. Spencer’s pure athleticism is what caught Armstrong’s attention right away at the high school championships.

“I just saw a good athlete, and I thought if that kid has some training, he could do some damage,” noted Armstrong. “When you see a kid jump over 1.90 in running shoes, and only have two or three practices under his belt, that’s pretty impressive.”

Spencer has since upgraded his footwear from running shoes to proper track spikes, and in the span of about six weeks when he first started, he’s already won a gold medal. The 16-year-old won the U-18 national high jump competition on Friday with a personal best jump of 2.01 metres at the 2018 Canadian Legion Youth National Track and Field Championships.

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He’s proud of his accomplishment, especially coming from such a small town of 10,000 people.

“It’s crazy, especially coming from Quesnel, so there’s nothing really ever good happening in sports for Quesnel,” he joked. “Maybe the odd hockey player, but this is just crazy to represent my hometown.”

Spencer feels after this gold medal, coming so early into his high jumping career, the sky is the limit and things will only go up from here.

“I haven’t trained at all all year. I usually do running because that’s what I train for, then I sort of picked up high jump. Now I know Dylan’s willing to train me during the winter. I just can’t wait until next season because I feel I’ll definitely be way higher.”

For his part, Armstrong is excited about what Spencer will be able to achieve moving forward with more training and more coaching.

“He hasn’t really had the access to be able to jump being in Quesnel, but that shows how good of an athlete he is,” noted Armstrong. “He’s excelled at a fast pace. He’s super excited. I’m super excited.”

by Chad Klassen

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From running shoes to gold, Bazil Spencer’s high-jumping journey is special

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