Emma Balazs now has the complete set.
The 17-year-old Prince George resident blazed to a gold medal and a bronze medal at the Legion Canadian Youth Track and Field Championships last weekend in Charlottetown. She was golden in the 2,000-metre steeplechase and was a surprise bronze-medalist in the 1,500m run.
Two years ago, when the Legion nationals were held in Ottawa, Balazs finished in silver-medal position in the 1,500m steeplechase.
This was Balazs's last year of eligibility at the youth nationals so she was thrilled she was able to add the two missing pieces to her collection of Legion loot.
"It feels cool," said Balazs, who arrived home on Tuesday afternoon. "The first year I was happy that I got second but I thought, 'I should have got gold.' Now that I have everything, it's pretty cool. [The gold and bronze] will go next to all my other medals in my room. I have an extendable rod and it can't extend any more."
Balazs established herself as a national champion on Sunday. In the steeplechase, she and season-long rival Regan Yee of Hazelton ran away from the rest of the field. Balazs crossed the finish line in a personal-best time of six minutes 57.65 seconds and Yee was a few strides behind (6:58.52). Katie Robinson of New Brunswick was a distant third with a clocking of 7:26.41.
In the five-lap race, Balazs stayed behind Yee on the first lap but passed her at the beginning of the second. Balazs kept the lead from that point forward and had no problems clearing any of the hurdles or water jumps. When she beat Yee across the line, she was elated.
"It was awesome," Balazs said. "I was just so excited."
Balazs and Yee have traded victories all season. At a national-qualifying meet in July in Coquitlam, Yee (6:55.30) edged Balazs (6:58.29) for the win in the 2,000 steeple. And, at the B.C. high school track and field championships in June in Burnaby, Balazs topped Yee in the 1,500m steeplechase. Their times, respectively, were 5:08 flat and 5:08.02.
In Charlottetown, Balazs started her Legion meet with the bronze in the 1,500m run on Friday. Originally, she wasn't expecting to compete in the distance but was told a couple weeks before nationals she would represent B.C. in the race.
Taking full advantage of the opportunity, Balazs set a new PB of 4:38.30. Fellow B.C. runner Kala Stone grabbed gold in a time of 4:35.77 and Ontario's Rebecca Wendt (4:37.14) crossed the line in second place.
"I didn't even expect to get a medal," Balazs said of the race. "I looked before I left home and I was ranked sixth, and I was surprised that I was even ranked sixth.
"I ran in fourth the whole race and then on the last lap I was like, 'I'm in fourth, I might as well try and get a medal' so then I kicked. At the end, the coach said that if [the race] was 15 metres longer I probably would have got second."
Balazs's coach with the Prince George Track and Field Club is Brian Martinson. Naturally, he's tickled with her results at nationals.
But is he surprised?
Nope.
"She did just as I expected her to do," Martinson said. "I told Emma before she left that there'd be some PBs at this meet and she'd do fantastic. And she did."
Balazs is entering Grade 12 at Kelly Road secondary school and is starting to think about landing a college or university scholarship for the following year. Ideally, she'd like to attend school in the United States.
Already, she has been contacted by Wayne Phipps, a P.G. product who is director of track and field at the University of Idaho.
"Idaho has a really good program but somewhere hotter would be cool," Balazs said with a grin.
