Glenlyon Norfolk School Athletes Shine at BC Track & Field Championships

The track and field program at GNS continues to reach new heights, and with that comes some incredible results from the 2025 season. Two standout athletes recently wrapped up an unforgettable season in track and field, bringing home many awards, including a provincial championship!

Alexander Cheung ’26 and Finn Adamson ’27 were among the 22 GNS students who represented the school at the BC High School Championships, held June 5 to 7, 2025, in Langley. The depth of this team is so impressive, especially considering that GNS is a smaller school competing against much larger schools.

Finn ran to a win in the Junior Boys 800m, with an amazing 1:55.27 time, as well as anchoring the Senior Boys 4 x 400m to a sixth-place finish, despite still being a Junior (meaning he was competing against students up to two years older). 

Alexander placed second in Senior Boys Discus, narrowly missing the gold medal by just 13 centimetres. This is an incredible accomplishment on its own, but he already has his sights set on next year “It was a great experience, but it wasn’t my day. I’ll come back stronger next year.”

This followed the Vancouver Island Championship, where Alexander threw both a personal best and an island record of 44.92 metres, placing first. He was also named Most Inspirational Senior Athlete of the meet. “That was surprising, I didn’t expect it at all,” he says, “but it felt great to be recognized that way.” 

Throughout the season, Finn set records across multiple meets, including at the Lower Island and City of Victoria League Championships, where he ran a 1:54 in the 800m. On top of this time being a personal best for the Grade 10 student, he was also only seconds away from setting a BC record. 

Both athletes also earned track and field aggregate awards for their performances across the season: Finn won the Junior Boys Track Aggregate, and Alexander earned the Senior Boys Field Aggregate. GNS student Reagan Morley ’28 also had the Junior Girls Field Aggregate. 

Alexander began discus in Grade 7 thanks to the encouragement of a gym teacher and has grown significantly since. In Grade 9, “when I came to GNS, I was looking to get more into track and Mr. Colin Adamson (GNS Teacher and Track and Field Coach) introduced me to club track and the community. It was a great opportunity.” 

Finn finds it hard to even pinpoint when he became interested in running. “It’s always been something on my radar,” especially as his father, Mr. Adamson has been involved with the sport for Finn’s whole life. Before moving to Victoria for his Grade 8 year, Finn was surrounded by a very strong running community in the Kootenays, and was regularly inspired by hearing stories of students getting NCAA scholarships and titles.

Both Finn and Alexander are already thinking ahead to next year, with Finn excited to compete in Senior (Grade 11 and 12) level races. He describes Senior racing as more tactical in nature for middle-distance events compared to the Junior division. As Alexander heads into his Grade 12 year, he is “looking forward to breaking my own record and whatever other ones that I haven’t broken yet in Victoria.” 

In addition to competing in discus and shot put, Alexander is now adding hammer throw to his repertoire with coaching from Adam Keenan, a Canadian Olympian, and Sheldon Gmitroski, a top hammer throw coach. He’s looking forward to improving his skills to hopefully be a strong force next year. Alexander also has the goal of being able to throw discus in post-secondary and is looking at universities across Canada and the United States.

Both Finn and Alexander encourage any interested students to come out for track and field, as the team continues to expand and grow at GNS. Finn shares that the track and field community is “very supportive. It’s an awesome group of people and that’s something that I am reminded of every time I’m at these championships.” Alexander also believes that the addition of Mr. Steve Basaraba this year as the throws coach is an excellent one. “He’s an awesome addition to our team,” and is known for his encouragement of students.

Alexander and Finn are both now preparing to compete for their clubs this summer on the BC Athletics Provincial Championship circuit, with the ultimate goal of qualifying for Legion Nationals in Calgary in August. Congratulations to both GNS students for their amazing achievements, and to the entire team for their incredible season. Go Gryphons Go!