The 2013 Canadian Youth Championships ended with a bang on Sunday as the quartet of Annie Dai, Reilly Jones, Alexia Lamothe and Erinn Stenman-Fahey set a new Canadian Youth Championship Club record in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:49.85. The previous record of 3:54.42 was set last year by the Laurel Creek Track Club, who incidentally finished second in Sunday’s race.
Annie Dai, who was part of the silver medal 4x100m relay team on Saturday kicked things off with an opening leg of 59.7 seconds. Dai handed off to Jones (57.4), followed by Lamothe (58.0) and culminated with a superb effort by Stenman-Fahey who closed in 54.8 seconds. Not only did their time when the club relay, but also would have beat the nearest provincial team by nearly two seconds.
In addition to her gold in the relay, Erinn Stenman-Fahey picked up a silver in the U18 girls 800m, crossing the line in a personal best 2:10.89. The silver medal brought her total for the championships to three, one more than she won a year ago in Charlottetown.
The final medal on the day went to Matt Bedard, who also picked up a silver, as he took second in the U18 boys 300m hurdles. Bedard, known primarily for his 400m prowess, has excelled over the intermediate hurdles since he began focusing on the event this summer. His time on Sunday of 38.58 seconds was nearly a second faster than his personal best entering the championship.
Other notable performances from the final day of competition included Austin White’s sixth place finish in the U16 boys 200m, where he sped to a new lifetime best of 23.47 seconds. As well, Alexia Lamothe, known primarily for her sprint hurdling, finished eighth in the 300m hurdles with a personal best time of 44.78 seconds.
In total, the Lions team brought home five medals from the championships, one gold and four silver.
