Morgan Walker owned the podium at the Legion Canadian Youth Track and Field Championships.
In the U16 division, the St. Albert athlete was the gold-medal winner in the 200 and 300 metres and a silver medallist in the 4x100m relay last weekend at the Terry Fox Athletic Complex in Ottawa.
“It’s definitely a highlight for me,” said the Edmonton Olympic Track and Field Club member. “It feels really good because I’ve been training the entire year working up to it. I worked really hard for them.”
Was she surprised by the medal haul?
“At first I was, then I realized how much hard work can really pay off.”
Walker, 15, lowered her personal best time in the 300m to edge out Ontario’s Taylor Sharpe, a first-year midget, by an eyelash at 39.89 seconds.
“It was a really tough race. The competition was really hard and just running it felt good,” said the provincial midget female record holder in the 300m. “For the first 250, I was ahead by quite a bit and then she was sort of closing the gap on me. At the end, it was a photo finish, which was amazing. Waiting to hear the results was exciting.”
It was only her third 300m race this year.
“I’m working up to the 400, so they’re putting me in the 300 for practice,” said Walker, who set a provincial age-group record in the 300m at 40.51 at the St. Albert Challenge in May. “When you train for it quite a bit, you get used to it, so I guess you could say I like it now.”
Her next race was the 200m and the runaway winner was clocked at 25.06.
“Going into the 200 the next day made me pretty confident,” said the 2010 nominee for the Athletics Alberta midget female of the year award.
Ontario’s Leya Buchanan was a distant runner-up at 25.42.
“It was pretty easy, a lot easier than the 300 for sure. I won by quite a bit,” said Walker, who finished the outdoor season undefeated in the 200m.
In the relays, Walker ran the anchor for the second-place Team Alberta/NWT line-up of Emily Wilson-Bodnar, Natasha Smallwood and Tiana Pisoni.
Walker also gave a big shout-out to her teammates and the rest of medal winners, noting there were “a lot of high-fives to go around.”
Last year at Legion nationals, Walker placed fifth in the 100m and 200m section finals and finished 12th in shot put as a first-year midget.
“Having gone there last year just made me more confident going in this year because I knew what to expect,” said Walker, who was literally feeling the heat in the 200m last year on a sweltering day in Ottawa.
Her second stint at Legion nationals was also taxing, but she was better prepared for the weather.
“It was very hot and very humid, so you had to be prepared and know that you had to drink lots of water so you didn’t get dehydrated or injure yourself,” said Walker, who will attend Grade 10 at Bellerose Composite High School this fall after graduating from Sir George Simpson School.
