Allen in Friday's pole vault event

Spencer Allen of the Kamloops Track and Field Club will take part in the men’s pole vault final at the Canadian track and field championships and Olympic qualifier in Calgary Friday.

Allen will be the only Kamloops-based athlete in action on the championships’ third day — the remaining nine athletes will have today off before taking part in finals Saturday.

Allen qualified for the final by hitting 4.40 metres on Wednesday. He will be up against 10 others this afternoon.

The only Kamloops athlete in action Thursday was hammer-thrower Spencer Prince, whose heave of 53.41m was good enough to get him into Saturday’s final, according to Athletics Canada’s website. Prince finished second in the qualifier, which should put him into Saturday’s final alongside National Throws Centre teammates Ryan Jensen and Adam Keenan.
Keenan and Jensen went straight into the final based on prior results.

Saturday’s women’s hammer throw final also will feature three local athletes — Sultana Frizell and Megann Rodhe, both of the NTC, and Jennifer Joyce, who lives and trains in Kamloops. Frizell is seeded No. 1, based on her personal-best, with Joyce third and Rodhe fourth.

The men’s shot put final — also Saturday — will include Kamloops’ Dylan Armstrong and Justin Rodhe, an Ohio native who moved to Kamloops to train and now is a Canadian citizen.

Taryn Suttie, who also trains at the NTC, has qualified for the women’s shot put final.

Part of today’s action will be televised on CBC-TV — from 2:30-4:30 p.m., Pacific — as well as a portion of Saturday’s competition, from 1-3 p.m.