Young track and field athletes headed to Legion Nationals

By Lethbridge Herald on August 9, 2023.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Zachary Hillier pratices his Steeplechase.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

Two members of the Lethbridge Track and Field Club are set to compete at the Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships in Quebec this weekend.

Mercy Awosoga and Zachary Hillier solidified their spots and will be joining 700 talented athletes from across the nation at the championship in Sherbrooke, Que., from Aug. 11-13.

Awosoga will be competing in the U18 triple jump and Hillier will  in the  U18 2,000-metre Steeplechase, which involves  a footrace over 33” fixed barriers and five water jumps.

Both athletes qualified at Athletics Alberta events under the umbrella of Athletics Canada.

“Mercy and Zach’s impressive dedication and consistent personal best performances at each track meet have earned them the privilege of representing Lethbridge at the national level,” as read in the release.

For Hillier, he qualified for his first national event with a time of just under the standard of seven minutes at a provincials meet in Edmonton last month.

“So for Steeplechase, there’s times you have to hit to qualify to it and I hit those times at provincials this year. So I was able to go to nationals,” said Hillier.

His preparation has included going on daily runs that are between 10 to 15 kilometres long during the last couple of months, practicing with the Lethbridge Track and Field Club and strength training with LTFC club Danny Robdrup.

“He just tells me to, you know, keep focused on running and stuff, and make sure I’m eating properly, make sure I’m doing all my training and just keeping dedicated to running,” said Hillier.

Robdrup told Hillier that it’s a big event.

“So I just need to make sure to not feel overwhelmed (and) don’t get too anxious,” he said.

His hope is to do better at nationals then he did at provincials.

“You know, try to get my time down a bit (and) maybe try to  like have better form and stuff,” he said.

He is looking forward to seeing the other runners and more specifically on how  good they run in order to see if he can replicate that at later events.

“So I jumped the standard (10.53 metres) at a few meets and so I qualified,” said Awosoga.

Awosoga says it was a pretty great feeling when she found out  she qualified.

“Yeah, it was exciting and I am really grateful to the club for sponsoring me to go and yeah I’m really excited for the track meet.”

She has been training on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the track.

“Yeah and basically I just do like jumping drills and then I mix in stuff like that,” she said.

“(I) do practice runways, and jumping into the pit and just making sure everything is good to go for  when I get there, so that there’s no surprises and stuff.”

She is looking forward to meeting and watching other athletes compete.

“Because it’s going to be like a really high level of skills, and a lot of other athletes, and it’s really exciting that I get to watch that,” she said.

“We are extremely proud of both Mercy and Zach. They have dedicated themselves and have consistently hit personal bests at each track meet they have attended. We couldn’t be happier for them and know they will represent Lethbridge with class and sportsmanship,” said Shauna Gallant, a  LTFC board member.

Their efforts had not gone unnoticed with Robdrup.

“The amount of work each of these athletes has put into reaching their goals is unparalleled. Their accomplishments thus far show what dedication and an unrelenting pursuit can achieve. Watching both Mercy and Zach move through this season always pushing themselves to do better has been inspiring.”

The Royal Canadian Legion organizes the National Youth Track and Field Championships for U17 and under athletes and gives them a chance to compete, develop confidence and understand more about the diversity with other sports-minded youth across Canada.

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