A competitor’s spike cut and bloodied the back of Nickolas Colyn’s calf, broke the spikes on one of his shoes, and forced him to finish the last half of the senior boys’ 2000m steeplechase event with what amounted to one shoe.
“I was able to slip the shoe on and finish the race,” he recalled of his fifth-place showing in the event at the 2013 B.C. high school track and field championships.
Colyn would finish the race in fifth place with a time of 6:15.51, not bad considering the circumstances.
But there would be no issue at the 2014 championships, held May 29-31 at Langley’s McLeod Athletic Park as the Grade 11 Langley Christian student was first across the finish line in a time of 5:59.14.
“I did a lot of events (at the meet) so to be able to win a gold medal was nice, especially in the steeplechase because that is my main event,” he said.
Colyn entered the race as one of the favourites after winning the Fraser Valley title two weeks earlier, setting a personal best and a Fraser Valley record in 5:57.98.
“I had a pretty good feeling that it was my race to win, but you always get nervous. (Competitors) can pop up out of nowhere.”
The 16-year-old was able to improve on last year’s time by 15 seconds.
“Just a lot of training, a lot of mileage (long running) to build up,” he explained. “That was one of the biggest things from last year.”
Colyn, who trains with the Langley Mustangs Track and Field Club, is hoping to land a spot on the Canadian team for the youth Olympics in China this August.
