Campbell looking ahead
Eric Campbell is attempting to make up for lost time.
The 17-year-old Sir Winston Churchill student had high hopes for the 2019 high school track season after winning a gold in the 800-metre and silver in the 1,500-metre race at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) meet in 2019.
But the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the track season in the spring and Campbell was forced to the sidelines, along with all other athletes.
Campbell returned to action Sunday, winning the men’s 800-metre race at a meet held at the Niagara Olympic Club. The event was originally slated for Saturday but pushed back a day due to an ominous weather forecast that called for rain but didn’t prove to be correct.
“It feels great to have competition and have that racing feeling again,” he said. “We’ve been training a lot and doing time trials but it’s a different atmosphere compared to racing. Racing, you have everyone supporting you and the people you are competing against motivates you and keeps you going.
“It’s great we’re able to race again and good to have that feeling again.”
Campbell won in a time of 1:59.50, well off his personal best of 1:54.06.
“The goal was to try and run a good time,” he said. “Today wasn’t it, I didn’t feel too good, but there’s always next time. There’s always more opportunities. Just have to keep training hard and hopefully we’ll get it next time.”
Campbell, who also won three gold medals in his Grade 10 year by winning OFSSA in cross-country, along with the 800 and 1,500, is well aware how important the upcoming year will be for his future.
“It’s going to be a big year,” he said. “Last year, we thought it was going to be a really important season but unfortunately because of COVID it got cancelled on us. It just puts a bit more pressure on us to do well but we just have to keep training hard and keep motivated and see if we get the results out of it.”
Campbell, who doesn’t turn 18 until early in 2021, would love to compete at the next level.
“I’ve been doing some research and I’m midway through the recruiting process for universities,” he said. “I’m keeping my options open of course taking to Canadian and American universities. I’d like to compete in university just to bring myself to the next level and push myself even harder.”
BPSN’s coverage of the track and field season is made possible with the support of the Niagara Olympic Club (https://nocrunners.com).
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