Goodyear brings home silver from Legion nationals

Only one medal was brought back to Newfoundland and Labrador from the 2009 Legion Canadian Youth Track and Field Championships in Quebec.

The silver medallion arrived in Port aux Basques around the neck of Joel Goodyear.

Goodyear jumped 1.63 metres in the under 15 division high jump to take second place during the games, which were held in Sherbrooke from Aug. 5 to 11. Gold went to a Quebec athlete who jumped 1.73 metres.

He was competing against four other athletes from other provinces. More than 200 youth participated in the games in two age divisions, under 15 and under 17.

Goodyear was part of the 17-member Newfoundland and Labrador team. The competition was the first national sporting event for the young athlete who will be starting Grade 9 in September.

He also participated in two team events - the 4x100 relay and the four-man medley relay. The Newfoundland team was disqualified from the first event and came last in the second relay.

As well, Goodyear competed in the 1,500-metre but finished last with a time of 4:37.31.

It's still quite an accomplishment for an athlete who only started training for track and field events for the first time in May. Goodyear is an avid cross country runner, but joined the new track and field team at St. James' Regional High when it started up during the past school year.

He travelled to Stephenville twice to get some instruction from a coach, but largely trained on his own and with the help of fellow runner Thomas Martin. Most of the other athletes on the team were from Stephenville and the province's east coast.

Goodyear said he enjoyed competing at a national level and had a lot of fun at the championships. He hopes he gets to do it again next year, but for now isn't certain if there will be a track and field team at the school this year.

The teacher who started the track team, Heather Penny, will be teaching at another school this year and Goodyear doesn't yet know if another teacher will take over the responsibility.

The Legion championship is nationally sanctioned by Athletics Canada and many Canadian track and field stars who have participated in the Legion program have gone on to world and Olympic glory. Approximately 80 per cent of Canada's national track and field team have participated in the Legion program.

editor@gulfnews.ca