Jordyn Piercy once wore a dress to jump hurdles for a modelling shoot, but today it鈥檚 not high heels, but track shoes, the 16-year-old will be lacing on.
Piercy and St. Andrew鈥檚 High School teammate David Boyd are both hurdling toward gold in the two-day sa国际传媒 high school track and field championships being held in Langley, where they鈥檒l be in the mix with 1,500 of the top high school and middle school athletes in the province.
Vancouver Island zone rep Angela McLeish, Piercy and Boyd鈥檚 coach at St. Andrew鈥檚 鈥� and St. Patrick鈥檚 Elementary School before that 鈥� expects the pair to be among a stellar Island group hauling in their share of medals.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not going to be one event Island athletes are not going to challenge the Lower Mainland, across the board,鈥� McLeish said. 鈥淲e have a lot of gold medal contenders.鈥�
Names that immediately came to mind for McLeish included 100- and 200-metre sprinter Saeed Shokoya, 800- and 1,500-metre runner Thomas Getty of Mt. Douglas, Parkland鈥檚 hammer thrower Courtenay Neville-Rutherford, nationally top-ranked in her age group, middle distance twins Thomas and Peter Oxland of Dover Bay in Nanaimo, and 1,500- and 3,000-metre specialist Ben Weir of Glenlyon-Norfolk.
In the team category, the powerhouse at Oak Bay is likely to challenge Vancouver鈥檚 St. Thomas More and Abbotsford鈥檚 W.J. Mouat for the top placings, according to former Oak Bay coach Keith Butler.
鈥淭hey expect to be in there for the sa国际传媒 title,鈥� Butler said, adding that an injury to hurdler Lexi Scott has put a bit of a wrench in the works for the Oak Bay squad. 鈥淎ll of a sudden the meet is a lot tighter.鈥�
Given the calibre of athletes at the championships, the meet will be tight for all the athletes. Success in the hurdles, in particular, apart from the agility, speed, flexibility, and co-ordination required for the sport, depends a great deal on mental toughness. Runners clipping one of the hard, heavy hurdles have about a tenth of a second to get over it.
鈥淚f you hit a hurdle you have to reset your mind, keep focused and get back out there and keep going,鈥� said Piercy, a Grade 11 student who took the 100- and 400-metre Island titles in hurdles, and was also on the gold-medal-winning 4x100 relay team.
Both she and Boyd 鈥� the top Islander in the boys鈥� 110- and 400-metre hurdles 鈥� compete in the tricky event, in spite of the falls and whacked knees, because it makes running more interesting.
鈥淚t gets in your mind,鈥� said Boyd, going into the weekend knowing this fall鈥檚 scholarship money at Trinity Western University depends on his results. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 just have to worry about running, but jumping the hurdles, and not hitting the hurdles.鈥�
Boyd, the student council president at St. Andrew鈥檚, first decided to try hurdles back in elementary school, since not too many kids did it, and he thought he might win. Piercy got hooked after McLeish told her she鈥檇 be a good hurdler. It turned out to be a good choice for both athletes.
鈥淭heir work ethic is phenomenal, their spirit is top-notch, and they鈥檙e very coachable,鈥� McLeish said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e willing to leave everything at the track during workouts and at meets.鈥�
鈥淲ith their hard work and perseverance, they can鈥檛 help but have success.鈥�
