Officials at Athletics Canada know young talent when they see it.
After winning two gold medals at the Ontario High School Track and Field championships earlier this month at York Lions Stadium, Kingston’s Anna Workman got a surprising call — asking her to represent Canada at an international track meet in Jamaica.
The 16-year old student from Kingston Collegiate Vocational Institute jumped at the opportunity to run the 1500-metre event.
“I was so excited to be selected to run for Team Canada,” said the OFSSA double gold medalist.
“It will be my first international competition, so I will try to soak up as much experience as I possibly can. There is a lot of travel involved and I presume the weather conditions will be difficult to deal with.”
Despite her young age and lack of experience, her coach Brant Stachel predicts a positive outcome.
“She’s a great leader,” said Stachel, the assistant cross country coach at Queen’s University.
“Her teammates really look up to her because she leads by example in training and racing,” Stachel added. “It is a joy to coach Anna because she has that competitive drive to succeed.”
Workman used to play soccer in the summer but has given up the sport to train full-time.
“This is the first year that I’ve decided to train all year ’round,” said Workman, who will enter grade 11 this fall at Kingston Collegiate.
Coach Stachel says Anna is learning to love and enjoy the process of running.
“It’s been really fun to watch her fall in love with racing and running, and to be rewarded with a spot on the Canadian national team is absolutely amazing.”
Anna leaves for Jamaica on June 29. She will have a few days to acclimate herself before racing on July 4.