Eric Campbell gears up for OFSAA
Eric Campbell has been training hard and keeping his head down as he works his way through his second high school track and field season.
“Training has been going really good, I have been a lot more consistent with hitting my splits at practices and I’ve been healthy and haven’t feeling injured or anything which is big for me this year because a lot of my competition has been injured and unfortunately isn’t racing this season,” the Grade 11 student at Sir Winston Churchill said.
The 16-year-old St. Catharines resident knows avoiding the injury bug is crucial.
“The main thing is to stay away from injury and stay healthy, and get good sleeps and all that to prepare myself for the big meet coming up.”
Last year’s Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ silver medalist in the midget boys 800 and 1,500 metres admits getting a little paranoid when he sees so many injuries amongst his top competitors.
“I know those guys personally, I know they are good athletes and they do their stretching and all that,” say the reigning OFSAA junior boys cross country champion. “I make sure not to do too much or do something stupid because I don’t want to risk injuring myself and missing a huge opportunity.”
So far, it has been business as usual for last year’s Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association midget boys 800- and 1,500-metre champion.
At last week’s SOSSA championships, he won the junior boys 800 and 1,500 metres and set a record of 1:57.6 in the 800 metres.
“I wanted to go hard and see how I could do in the 800 because I haven’t raced an 800 in a while,” he said. “At zone, I went a little easy just because I went hard in the 1,500 and then I missed a couple of other meets because I got my wisdom teeth out.
“Fortunately I did pretty well in the 800 considering I broke the record.”
He isn’t keying on one event over the other.
“They’re both equally important to me, but I am trying to focus on the 1,500 and improve that because I’m confident with my 800 and I know I am doing really well in that. There is more competition as well in the 1,500.”
He would love to move up on the podium in both events this year.
“I’m hoping it will be different and I will be able to clutch that first-place spot.”
He feels he’s making steady progress as a runner.
“My training has been really good and consistent and I think that is going to be an important part to being more consistent in my runs,” Campbell said. “Last year, it felt like I just went out as hard as I could to see how I could do.
“I am a bit smarter now and hopefully when I’m racing, there will be a big change from last year.”
Niagara Olympic Club coach Derrick Beach likes what he has seen from Campbell.
“Eric enjoys coming to the track every day and trying to push himself to go just a bit faster each time,” he said.
Fellow NOC coach Sharon Stewart feels Campbell has a huge range of talent, from speed to endurance.
“He races smart with his race plan, but he has the ability to read the race and adjust the plan as needed,” she said. “His patience for the big picture brings him great results.”
His latest great result was placing first in the junior boys 1,500 metres at the OFSAA regional track and field meet Thursday at the Niagara Olympic Club. His time of 4:05.8 was 6.98 seconds faster than the next closest runner. The time was a personal best for Campbell.
In addition to primary high school sponsors. Johnny Rocco’s and Mick and Angelo’s, BPSN’s coverage of the track and field season is made possible with the support of the Niagara Olympic Club (https://nocrunners.com)
