From black belt to speed demon
Karate’s loss is track and field’s gain.
“I was winning a lot and getting tons and tons of medals and accolades but then I found track and I switched,” said Thorold Elite’s Nixson Scarlett, a gold medalist in the U16 boys 60-metre hurdles and a silver medalist in the 60-metre dash at the recent Athletics Canada Indoor National Track and Field Championships in Toronto.
His conversion to track and field took hold at last year’s District School Board of Niagara finals.
“I found out I was actually fairly good at running.”
One week earlier at track regionals, Scarlett had been approached by Thorold Elite head coach Steven Fife to join the club.
“He had this energy and aura about him and you could see that he was a really electric personality,” Fife said. “You could see that he had a desire inside of him that he wanted to unleash and become the very best.”
One week after talking to Fife, Scarlett won silver in the 100 metres and long jump at the DSBN finals and came third in the 200 metres.
From there, it was on to practising with Thorold Elite.
“I found out that I really enjoyed it and I just went from there,” the Grade 9 student at E.L. Crossley said. “I found that the training was very intense and I enjoyed that because I love pushing my body. It was a good atmosphere, I met some great friends and I enjoyed spending time with people and getting to know them. Now that I know them, I still enjoy it because I love competing with people who are at the same level as I am and doing the things I love.”
And while the black belt is no longer competing in karate, his martial arts training is still paying dividends.
“It has created discipline and instead of quitting halfway through the reps, I am able to push myself to completely finish. It has also granted me a lot of strength and abilities throughout my body and has given me body awareness,” the 14-year-old Fonthill resident. “When there are finer things the coaches tell me that I need to fix, I am able to locate where it is and fix it. And with the core strength that I have gained, I am able to run faster.”
He thinks his speed comes from competing in karate.
“When I was fighting in karate, I was very fast and agile on my feet and I was able to move around the ring very quickly and get the points that I needed. I am now able to apply that to track as well.”
Scarlett, who also won a gold medal in the 60-metre hurdles and a bronze medal in the 60-metre dash at the Athletics Ontario Under-16 Provincial Championships, surprised himself by becoming a Canadian indoor champion and setting a meet record in the process.
“I was thinking of running to do a bit better in high school and I didn’t think it would take me that far.”
He attributes his rapid development to the discipline of doing the reps and putting in the work week after week.
“It is not always about the quantity of what you are doing, it’s the consistency of doing it every day.”
It’s also what you do away from the track.
“It’s eating the proper foods every day and not just when your coaches are around. It’s doing the core workouts and the leg workouts at home and when you wake up.”
He is motivated by his parents, dad Mike, step dad James and mom Karen.
“I see that they really enjoy it when I succeed because it gives them a sense of success themselves. When I succeed, I feel that they also succeed. I keep wanting them to succeed with me.”
His goals have changed because of his successes on the track.
“When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a lawyer. That has changed because now I want to try for a D1 scholarship at a school in the States. I don’t know where I want to go but I don’t have to think about that yet.”
In the short term, he wants to keep up with his fitness, win outdoor nationals and do well at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships.
He loves track and field.
“I enjoy that it is not a team sport that you have to rely on someone else. It’s you versus you and when you don’t do as well, it is only you that you have to work on.”
Fife feels Scarlett has easily exceeded expectations.
“If he raced the same guys he lost to at DSBN, he would win by a significant margin. He has gotten to try a lot of stuff, not just sprinting, and he has excelled in everything, He is such a dominant athlete.”
