A St. Albert Mustang broke a 32-year-old Athletes Alberta record with a photo finish at the recent Western Canada Challenge in Winnipeg.
Ryder Horton edged out Vaughn Taylor of Saskatchewan in the U15 midget male 800-metre final with a winning time of 1.57.33, a personal best by two seconds.
“It was pretty exciting,” Horton said of eclipsing the long-standing mark of 1:57.7 by Mark Lynch. “I thought I had a PB but I didn’t think I broke the record. We didn’t know our times until a little bit after the race.”
Taylor was also a super fast 1:57.37.
“It was pretty crazy,” Horton said of the frantic finish. “I stayed right behind the guy the entire time for the last lap and then, around the mark of 150 metres left to go, I started to kick and passed him and then he started to catch up a little bit but I tried to keep holding him off right to the very end.”
The front-runners also broke the Manitoba record of 1:58.51, set in 2012 by Jay Ort.
Horton, 15, was aware of the record but was surprised he finished with a faster time at the Tri-Prov meet.
“I’ve been training really hard but I didn’t really think about breaking it in Winnipeg, it just happened,” Horton said. ‘I’ve always been thinking about it. Last year Scott Chalupiak, he’s a youth from (Airdrie, who competed in the 400m hurdles at the 2015 IAAF World Youth Championships) and the one I’m trying to chase down, I guess. He was trying to break the outdoor record when I went to the (Alberta) summer games, which was my first major meet. I ended up getting fifth there and he didn’t end up breaking it.”
Roger Hazlewood, the Mustangs’ middle distance coach, described Horton’s record-breaking performance as a big deal.
“He started training with us last year for the Alberta Summer Games and at that time I believe he was running 2:12 but he hadn’t had a lot of running experience, he was doing other sports, so when you think of it we’ve come from running 2:12 to running 1:57.33 and that is pretty big in one season. Actually, it would be from the end of the (2014) summer season, the outdoor season, a whole indoor season and then the outdoor season here so I would say that’s huge,” Hazlewood said.
The 800m has quickly developed as Horton’s specialty and favourite distance.
“Its one of the hardest races out there for sure. It’s a full out sprint pretty much for two laps,” said the member of the Mustangs’ provincial indoor record-setting youth relay team.
Horton and Taylor, the 2014 Legion national runner-up in the U16 800m, also went head-to-head in the medley relay.
“We handed off at the exact same time. It was the day after (the 800m) and we were both pretty tired. He wanted to slow it down but I had to keep it up,” said Horton, who ran the 800m anchor as Alberta finished first at 3:44.10 and Saskatchewan was second at 3:45.93.
Horton was also awarded gold in the 1,200m (PB 3:16.43) and bronze in the 300m (36.64) in his Team Alberta debut.
Last weekend, Horton geared up for next weekend’s Legion nationals by medalling in four events: gold in midget 1,200m (3:22.33) and 800m (2:01.03) and the youth 4x100m relay and silver in the midget 300m (37.37).
“I was just making sure to get my laps in, the right laps for nationals, like running a 58 the first lap for the 800 and keeping my speed up for the next one.”
Horton will compete for medals in the U16 1,200m, 800m, 300m and possibly one of the relays at Legion nationals, which is co-hosted by Sainte-Therese and Blainville, Que.
“My goal is to try and run really good times, have self-satisfaction and PB hopefully,” he said. “Hopefully I can run a sub 36 in the 300 (PB is 36.09). That would be pretty cool.”
Legion nationals is a major milestone for Horton after giving soccer the boot when he discovered the thrill of competing in track and cross-county at the junior high level.
“I’ve always liked doing my own thing and not rely on other people. It’s all your own work to get you far and I like that a lot,” said the Grade 10 Ardrossan resident who makes the long commute to Fowler Athletic Park to train with the Mustangs under Hazelwood’s tutelage. “All the support from my family and friends and my coach, Roger, has helped push me. It’s taken a lot to get me here so far and I really appreciate it.”
Last year’s Zone 5 trials and Alberta Summer Games wet his whistle for the sport.
“It was actually the first time I’ve really been in a big track meet. I really liked it. All the people in track are really nice,” said the 2,000m silver medallist (6:17.18) and medley relay bronze medallist at the Games.
Hazlewood has high hopes for his star pupil.
“I really believe he has great body mechanics on his side. The other thing is determination. He’s not afraid to train hard and that’s what he does. Some people train twice a week and I believe he is training five times a week so he’s willing to do what he needs to do to be successful, which is train hard. I have seen lots of people with lots of natural ability but done nothing with it because when things or times get tough they get going the other way, so an athlete with natural ability and determination to train hard is a fabulous thing actually from a coaching perspective as well,” said Hazelwood, a high-ranking timing official and former University of Alberta middle-distance coach who is closing in on 20 years of service with the St. Albert track club.
