27 juin 2014- Times & Transcript World-class athletes hit Moncton

› Canadian Track and Field Championships begin today at stadium

Cole Hobson Times & TranscripT

This weekend’s 2014 Canadian Track and Field Championships in Moncton will feature some of the sport’s brightest stars.

It will be a proving ground for some, a stepping stone for others and a coming out party for other less-heralded athletes to shine on a big stage.

The event will see 49 of the 50 members of Team ’s team compete and for many it will be the last time they compete on home soil before making the trip to Glasgow, Scotland, for the Games that begin July

23.

Five of those Team Canada members were in attendance at Moncton City Hall yesterday to kick off the championships, which begin this morning and run through Sunday at Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium.

“This weekend is really about getting out there and performing and I’m fully prepared to defend my championship and I hope that’s what happens,” said Melissa Bishop of Eganville, Ont., who competed in the 800 metres at the 2012

Olympic Games and is the reigning Canadian champion in the event.

“It’s a go o d lead in to the Commonwealth Games and to what we will be preparing for here in terms of racing and fitness levels.”

Bishop is not only an athlete to watch as she competes, but is also a recognizable face, as she is currently featured in a Nike ad campaign alongside

Britain’s Mo Farah, a legendary British middle and long-distance runner.

“It’s a little weird, but I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity (to be in the commercial) for anything. It was a lot of fun”she said.

Another star to watch in Moncton is Aaron Brown of Toronto, who will compete in the 100m and 200m events. He first made a name for himself on the international stage at the 2010 IAAF world junior championships in Moncton with a bronze medal performance and said that experience was “pretty instrumental”in launching his track career.

“I got a chance to compete against the world’s best in front of my home crowd and that was something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,”he said.

“I just remember getting that medal and doing my victory lap, that was fantastic. I remember how supportive the crowd was and that really made me feel good about competing in front of Canada, being an athlete on the world stage and that motivated me to get even better, to give back to the country and perform at a high level”

Brown was also in Moncton for last year’s national championship and won the

100m event, but opted out of participating in the 200m.

He just completed his career in the NCAA at the University of Southern California and he recently set a new Canadian record in the 200m of 20.16 and he is a member of Canada’s 4x100m relay team that took bronze at the 2013 world championships.

But Brown said while he’s excited with his Canadian record in the 200m,he is focused on the future.

“I guess at the end of season I’ll look back and see what I’ve accomplished”he said.“I haven’t paid too much attention to it because I was still trying to move forward. When you get caught up in what you’ve done, you don’t necessarily focus on moving forward in the future.

“I’m not trying to get complacent, I’m trying to stay focused and still improve but try to compare myself to the rest of the top people in the world. There’s still a lot of things I want to go out there and do.”

Derek Drouin will have all eyes on him when he competes this weekend. The Corunna, Ont., high-jumper is a 2012 Olympic Games and 2013 world championships bronze medallist and recently improved his own Canadian record to 2.40 metres. He is one of only 10 men in athletics history to surpass that barrier.

He said reaching that goal“felt surreal” for a little while.

“I’ve never really set height goals for myself, but I think always in the back of my head, 2.40m was a bit of a magical number. That’s always been the number … and I always told myself if I could clear that at some point in my career I think I would be able to retire happy. I’m not planning on retiring anytime soon, but it’s nice to get those goals out of the way pretty early,”he said.

“I think at this point I’ve had to sort of re-evaluate my goals and I think as a competitive being, the only realistic thing for me to do is make my next goal to hopefully take jumps at the world record (2.45 m) and once you start jumping at heights like that,anything can happen and it’s pretty easy to get pumped up in a situation like that.”

Brianne Theisen-Eaton is another Canadian record holder who will be looking to put forward a solid performance at the national championships this weekend. She broke the Canadian heptathlon record at the 2014 Hypo-Meeting in Austria and won silver at both the 2013 outdoor world championships and 2014 indoor world championships.

She is only competing in select events at the Canadian championships and said she is using the event as a launching off point to reach the top of the podium at the Commonwealth Games.

“I am sick of getting silver. I got silver (in Austria to Katarina Johnson-Thompson of the United Kingdom) so obviously we’ll face off again at the Commonwealth Games and I’m excited about that,because track and field or any sport, it’s all about competition. So if you’re always constantly the best it gets kind of boring,”she said.

“Being able to compete against her again in Glasgow is going to be awesome and I think every single event is going to be a huge battle, it’s going to be really fun”

Theisen-Eaton said she doesn’t look to put specific numbers out there in terms of what performances she wants to achieve, as she said that can“actually hinder”her performance.

“A lot of the time I just focus on my training and knowing that I’m fit going into an event and knowing if I focus on everything I know I can do and doing it in the correct way, those results come,”she said.“That’s kind of what happened with the

Canadian record this year.”

The event will also be an opportunity for 45 New Brunswick athletes to compete and a few of those athletes were in attendance at yesterday’s launch event.

Moncton’s Christel Robichaud is competing in the para throwing events. She holds records in all those events and won the in para shot put last year at nationals.

“Hopefully PBs,” she said when asked her expectations for the weekend.

“I’m not really expecting Canadian records because there’s other people in my category and I also got injured three months ago and my arm still hurts and it’s my throwing arm”

Stéphanie and Jean-Marc Doiron will also get the unique experience of competing on a national stage together. The siblings grew up outside Rogersville but now live in Moncton and will both be hoping for the best for their own performances and their siblings.

“I’m really hoping to get a personal best, but really these championships are more about gaining experience,”said Stéphanie, 21, who will compete in high jump.“These are my first championships so I’m just hoping to learn a lot and bring that into future events.I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but just really excited to compete.”

While it’s his sister’s first national championship,Jean-Marc is a veteran on the national scene and will compete in the 800m.

“This is my fifth national championships that I participated in and last year I false started in the semifinals in the 800m, so that was a big disappointment and I’ve carried that pretty much with me since last year,”he said.“So this year I hope to redeem myself and have a great race and not false start.”

Both siblings agreed that it’s a great thrill to be competing in their hometown.

“If the championships weren’t in Moncton I might not be able to go, so it’s definitely more affordable,” Stéphanie said. “Having all our friends and family behind us to support and no matter what we do we know they are going to be proud of us, it’s just an extra motivation to have them in the crowd cheering us on”

Jean-Marc, who is the current cross country coach for l’Université de Moncton, added that staying at home instead of a hotel “is always a big plus” and said their familiarity with the track and surroundings also helps.

The Canadian championships also serve as selection trials for the country’s North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association under-23 championships team,with that competition taking place in August, in Kamloops,

B.C.

Last year’s national championships served as a qualifier for the world championships, but this year is not a selection trial, as the world championships are held every two years, with the next not until 2015.

Events begin at 10:30 a.m. today at the stadium and culminate with the Shot in the Dark shot put final in downtown Moncton starting at 9:20 p.m.

Tomorrow, events run from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.and on Sunday events run from 8:45 a.m. to 3:40 p.m.

Jenna Westaway of loosens up at the CEPS track yesterday. She will be competing in the 800 and 1,500 metres at the Canadian track and field championships in Moncton. PHOTO: VIKTOR PIVOVAROV/TIMES &

TRANSCRIPT

Tyler Hopkins of Burlington, Ont., warms up at CEPS yesterday. He will be competing in the .

PHOTO: VIKTOR PIVOVAROV/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT