310 Running’s Aysia Maurice set some bold goals for herself in 2017 and in a year with a lot of ups and one hard down, she proved that she is one of the best 13 year old track athletes in Canada.
During her 2017 indoor campaign, Maurice earned a spot on Team Ontario for the Ontario/Quebec Midget Dual Meet by winning the Midget girls 2000 at the trial meet in a U14 Indoor Provincial record time of 6:48.83. Aysia went on to be the top performing Ontario athlete in the 2000 placing second behind the winner from Quebec at the dual meet.
At the Indoor Provincial Championships in March, Maurice showed her strength and versatility by taking gold in the Bantam girls 1200 and silver in 60m hurdles.
In the transition between the indoor and outdoor seasons, Maurice competed in the WWF CN Tower Climb ascending the 1,776 steps in twelve minutes and 53 seconds, more than a minute faster than any other female athlete participating.
The outdoor season started well with early personal bests and National standard times in the 1,200m and 1,500m steeplechase.
In late June, Maurice went down hard and fractured both of her arms sustaining what, for most, would have been a season ending injury. Undaunted, Aysia was medically cleared to train within days and showed up to the track sporting two casts.
By Outdoor Provincial Championships in late July, Maurice was free of her casts and ready to run fast. She earned three Provincial gold medals, two personal bests and an Ontario U15 steeplechase record in the 1200, 2000 and the 1500 steeplechase over the two day meet.
In August, Aysia competed at Legion Nationals in Brandon, Manitoba. At Nats, Maurice posted three personal bests and three top ten finishes including a 5:02.27 fifth place finish in the 1500 steeplechase to set a new Ontario U15 and U16 record.
Aysia ended her outdoor season ranked first in Ontario in the Bantam girls 1200, 2000 and the Midget girls 1500 steeplechase. The 13 year old finished ranked seventh in Canada in the U20 age group for the 1500 steeplechase.
Maurice’s hard work and success was rewarded on September 30th when she was named the Athletics Ontario Bantam girls distance athlete of the year.
310 Running had nine athletes meet the qualifying standards for Legion Nationals with five choosing to travel to Brandon, Manitoba to compete in them from August 11-13.
Liam Bauer made his first trip to Nationals to compete in the Midget boys 2000 and 1500 steeplechase. On Saturday, Liam’s 6:11.96 knocked 6.66 seconds off his best 2000 time earning him a 16th place finish. He followed that effort up by running a 3.81 second PB in his 1500 steeplechase on Sunday. His time of 4:54.82 was good for 17th place.
Lexy Maurice returned to Nationals for the second time to compete in the Midget girls high jump. After successfully making some late adjustments to her approach in practice on Saturday, Lexy easily equaled her personal best height of 1.45m on Sunday. She narrowly missed at 1.50m and finished the competition in 11th.
Aysia Maurice, who was also competing in her second Legion National Championships, had a busy weekend. On Friday, Aysia posted a ninth place finish in the Midget girls 1200 with a 3:46.28, eclipsing her previous best time by 5.34 seconds. On Saturday, she also placed ninth posting a 2.47 second PB time of 6:45.99 in her Midget girls 2000. Maurice saved the best for last, running a 5:02.27 in the Midget girls 1500 steeplechase on Sunday. This result was a 6.90 second improvement over her record breaking effort at the Provincial Championships held two weeks earlier and was good for 5th in Canada. 13 year old Aysia now holds the U15 and U16 Ontario Provincial records for the 1500 steeplechase.
Cameron Moir made his debut at Legion Nationals in the Midget boys 800. Cameron, who has set PBs in almost every 800 this season, proved once again that he was capable of going faster. His 2:03.14 on Sunday beat his best 800 time by 1.84 seconds to secure a 10th place finish.
Finally Sarah-Rose Sullivan, another first timer at Nationals, raced in the Midget girls 800 and 1200. On Friday Sarah-Rose dropped her best 1200 time by 4.56 second finishing just behind her teammate in 10th in 3:48.02. On Sunday, Sullivan was back on the track where her 2:20.49 800 time earned her 7th place and her second PB of the weekend.
Out of the nine events the 310 Running athletes competed in, they had six top ten finishes, eight new personal bests, one equaled personal best and everyone improved on their seed position.
Two 310 Running athletes added their names to the record books at Provincial Championships on consecutive weekends.
At the Athletics Ontario Bantam/Midget/Youth Provincial Championships held in Brampton, Aysia Maurice set the U15 record for the Midget girls 1500m steeplechase. Aysia nailed down her third gold medal of the meet by running a personal best time 5:09.17, shattering the old record of 5:11.24.
Maddie Spadzinski posted a new U12 record in the 200m hurdles at the Minor Track Association Provincial Championships in Etobicoke. Her gold medal time of 29.70 seconds was a personal best that beat the old record by .18 seconds.
310 Running’s competitive outdoor track & field and & spring recreational programs begin on Thursday April 27th.
The spring session will focus predominantly on running, both mid-distance & sprints, but will also include specialized training in sprint & intermediate hurdles, steeplechase, high jump & horizontal jumps for interested athletes.
For more information on our programs, CLICK HERE. To register online, CLICK HERE.