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.
Hundreds of athletes descended on Albion Hills Conservation Area on October 1 to participate in the 4th annual Don Olson Classic 2.5K & 5K trail race.
Defending men’s 5K Champion Thomas Witkowicz earned his 3rd consecutive victory in a course record time of 15:56. Dean Cameron took the silver in 16:18 & Jamie Tarling won bronze with a 16:27. Jamie’s time shattered the men’s 20-29 age group record.
In the women’s 5K, Alessia Pizzimenti won the gold in 19:59 with Aysia Maurice & Emma Everett close on her heels in the silver & bronze medal positions in 20:02 & 20:03 respectively.
Top overall male in the youth 2.5K race was Jack Wierzbicki who crossed the line in 8:32 while top overall female, Ella Jackson, navigated the course in 9:17.
For complete 5K results CLICK HERE. For complete 2.5K results CLICK HERE.
Thank you to all the athletes & volunteers who make the Don Olson Classic a huge success every year. Thanks to you, we will be making a $7,000 donation to Bethell Hospice this year bringing our 4-year total up to $25,000.
310 Running’s Bantam girls team consisting of Aysia Maurice, Emma Everett, Lexy Maurice & Charlotte Barber took the team silver at the Athletics Ontario Provincial Cross Country Championships held in Etobicoke on Sunday November 15.
The girls finished 10th, 13th, 16th & 25th respectively for a combined team total of 64 against a very strong field of Bantam athletes.
Congratulations to all four girls for a spectacular effort to end an amazing season.