The present and the future of female middle distance running took to the line on Saturday in the final Super Saturday Series meet of the season with Olympian Melissa Bishop in the 800m and University of Ottawa freshman Emma Galbraith in the 1500m.
Bishop, who’s indoor season has already included a club record 1:27.95 at 600m, was looking to get a jump start on her outdoor season with a fast performance in the 800m. The pride of Eganville didn’t disappoint, passing through 400m in 60 seconds before crossing the line in 2:01.69. The time bettered Melissa’s own Dome record of 2:02.09, which she used last year as a spring board to qualify for the Olympic Games. Melissa has stated she will make her outdoor debut at next month’s Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut, California as she sets out to qualify for this summer’s World Championships.
Over 1500m, Emma Galbraith continued to make her case for CIS rookie of the year by setting a new open Dome record with her time of 4:20.23. Aided by the pacing of teammates, Emma’s time was the fastest recorded by a junior woman in Canada since 2010. It also moves Emma into the top rank heading into this weekend’s CIS Championships. She will also be competing in the 1000m where she is currently ranked second in the country.
Also enjoying record setting performances in the middle distances were Lucas Trapeau and Owen Day in the 800m. Despite running in a slower heat, Trapeau sped his way through two laps to cross the line in 1:54.87 and lower Mickey Day’s Youth Boys Dome record of 1:56.30. Unfortunately for Mickey, that wasn’t the only one of his records to fall as his younger brother, Owen, shaved 0.02 seconds off his Midget Boys record of 2:02.24, crossing the line in 2:02.22. Both Lucas and Owen look to be in fine form as they prepare for the high school season.
The final record of the day came from Connor Dobson in the youth boys 110m hurdles. Connor’s time of 15.86 seconds was a 0.4 second improvement on Justin Taylor of Pickering High School’s mark of 16.26 set in 2010.
Also competing this past weekend was Divya Biswal who lept to a new personal best of 12.07m in the triple jump enroute to claiming the East Coast Athletic Conference Division III title Friday night in New York City. The second year athlete competing for St. Lawrence University will have a chance to better that mark this Saturday at North Central College in Illinois as she battles for her first NCAA Division III title.
