Lauren Matheson was disappointed with her time in Saturday's 100-metre sprint.
"It was almost 14 seconds," Matheson told Bill Masich, her coach with the Prince George Track and Field Club.
Considering what Matheson has been through over the past two years while dealing with scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, her third-place result and 13.7-second time at the Sub Zero track and field meet was nothing short of miraculous.
In her first race since August 2013, when she began the long process of preparing for back surgery, the 16-year-old Matheson got off to a great start on the Masich Place Stadium track and hung on to finish just behind Emma Floris of Vanderhoof and PGTFC speedster Lina Hiller.
"I was a bit scared at first because it's been two years since I raced and I was afraid about my start, but I think that was one of the best things about my race," said the Grade 10 College Heights secondary school student. "It felt a little off, but it felt strong. I was telling myself to keep pushing to the end and not slow down, trying to get myself back to where I was - trying to prove to everybody that I'm back."
Two seasons ago, Matheson was good enough to make Team B.C. and qualify for the Royal Canadian Legion youth (under-16) national championships.
"It was a really rough year last year, I missed out on B.C. Summer Games and was upset about that and the year was an emotional roller coaster," Matheson said. "I knew I had to keep the mental part alright and kept telling myself the year's going to be over soon enough and soon I'll be competing. Here I am today already competing and it feels so good."
In January 2014, Matheson's spine was curved 67 degrees at the top and 45 degrees at the bottom when surgeons attached two stainless steel rods to straighten it out. The four-hour surgery at B.C. Children's Hospital left her two inches taller. She wasn't able to run for about five months after that but was a regular on the scene watching her PGTFC teammates work out.
Matheson has played volleyball throughout her school career and at the club level and returned to the court last fall to play for the College Heights junior A team. She started training for track and field season in January.
"I don't feel much pain anymore," said Matheson. "They did it on the top part of my spine so the lower part is still a bit curved and it hurts a little bit but it's the kind of pain I'm fine with.
"Usain Bolt had scoliosis too but his wasn't that bad. He always worked on his back muscles to get it stronger and that's what I've been doing too."
Jacquie Semeniuk, a former PGTFC member who left Prince George in 1982, also had scoliosis but that didn't stop her from going on to a four-year university basketball career with the University of Oregon Ducks from 1986-89. Semeniuk was the first Duck to ever become a starter as a freshman.
Matheson plans to compete this season in the 100m and 200m events, and possibly the long jump.
"That depends how comfortable I am with sprinting because that's my main priority," she said.
Masich had wanted Matheson to compete in the 400m race Saturday but with that event so closely scheduled to the 100m she declined the offer. As a social studies teacher at College Heights secondary, Masich has been monitoring Matheson's progress daily and has seen the subtle improvements she's made in balance and posture.
He was impressed with her 100m race, knowing it will just take time before she regains the strength he's used to seeing from her powerful legs for the duration of her sprint.
"She exploded out of the blocks," said Masich. "It was really nice to see. We've only done block work twice this season and she was quick. She was low and she drove hard the first 20 metres and then she got tall and accelerated quickly.
"Her speed's just not where it needs to be but what do you expect when you haven't run and haven't been able to train hard for 18 months. She was hoping she'd run 13.1, but that just wasn't realistic.
"She's really strong but she's not really flexible yet, particularly through her lower back, and that puts a lot of stress on your hamstrings and glutes. It's just a matter of working on flexibility and strength to build on that last half of her race, but I was pleased."
