Jeremiah Lauzon, 18, is a Grade 12 track athlete from Lindsay Thurber High School in Red Deer aiming to garner a spot on the U20 and U23 National Teams.

By Sheldon Spackman

Rising Track Star

Thurber track star seeking spot on National Teams

May 16, 2019 | 2:00 PM

A local track star is one-step closer to securing a spot on both the U20 and U23 National Teams after beating the Athletics Canada qualifying standard during a sprint race in Calgary last weekend.

Jeremiah Lauzon, 18, is a Grade 12 student at Lindsay Thurber High School in Red Deer and the Calgary Spring Challenge was his first race of the young season.

“I did the one, two and four, but I’ve always been better at the 200 metres than the other two events,” says Lauzon. “I broke my PB (personal best) twice that day actually. My previous PB was a 21.76, so in my heat, I got a 21.61, then in my final I got a 21.20.”

Lauzon admits he was a little surprised to achieve that time.

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“I was happy,” says Lauzon. “If I can do 21.20 this early in the season, I’m thinking I have more of a chance at going sub-21 this year, which if I do, would be quite an accomplishment for me.”

Lauzon says the results make him feel like his goals are more attainable.

“For this season, I want to get a medal at Nationals – preferably a gold,” says Lauzon. “Then I’m also-wanting to go to the Western Canada Summer Games and make it to a final there and possibly go to the U20 National Team and the U23 National Team to Costa Rica and Mexico. Those would all be very cool experiences.”

Lauzon points out, however, that eating right, working out and having a great coach in Ronald Hewer are all key ingredients to success.

“He really goes above and beyond for pretty much everything,” declares Lauzon. “He’ll always keep an eye out for sponsorships or for other ways that most people might not know to get a little bit of extra money. I haven’t met too many athletes that have been coached by Ron and not liked him.”

Hewer, a sprint and hurdles coach with the Red Deer Titans, says standards to qualify for the National Team are not easily met.

“Usually, about 0.05 per cent of the athletes qualify,” he says. “The particular event we’re talking about is the 200 metres. On the weekend, he ran a 21.20. The standard is 21.30, so not only did he achieve it, but he achieved it by quite a lot.”

Hewer says the accomplishment is remarkable considering their goal heading into this season was to run a 21.40 and win the high school championships.

“At the beginning of the year making the National Team was an outside goal, now here it is – 95 per cent a reality” adds Hewer. “The team is a selection of 45 athletes that have all met the standards set out for them. Jeremiah’s work ethic is like no other, he’s already at a college/international work ethic level.”

Jeremiah is now ranked number one in Canada in the U20 and is number two in the U23 category. He is eighth on the Canadian depth chart, including the current Olympics squad.

“Obviously I’m impressed with his athletic achievements, but the human being that puts on the spikes and competes is a pretty unique individual,” he says. “He’s my hero.”

While waiting for selection on the U20 and U23 National Teams which happens in June, Hewer says Lauzon will now prepare for the Red Deer City Championships on May 22, Zone Championships on May 29 and Provincial High School Championships on June 7 and 8.

Lauzon was the Red Deer Dairy Queen Athlete of the Month for March 2018.