STAFF PHOTO/BILL ROBERTS
Kaitlyn Oliver, 15, won a silver medal at the OFSAA cross-country meet. Next, she heads to the pool where she is a member of the Stingrays Swim Club.
Aurora
November 11, 2008 02:35 PM
It has been a pretty good year so far for Kaitlyn Oliver.
And it’s not over yet.
The Aurora Golden Eagles runner has, after all, captured two Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association medals, the most recent a silver at the junior girls high school cross-country championships held earlier this month in Sarnia.
That matches rather nicely with the gold medal she won at the Ontario high school track and field championships in the spring in the midget girls 3,000 metres.
“It was a good run,” said Oliver, who also competes for the Newmarket Huskies Track Club. “I was hoping to medal, that was my goal. I’ll just have to work harder to win the next one.”
While the high school season is over, the 15-year-old Oliver is looking ahead to this weekend’s Ontario Track and Field Association cross-country championships as a member of the Huskies in Toronto.
“I’m aiming for first, but at a minimum to be on the podium,” said Oliver, who was part of the Huskies’ 4x400 gold-medal winning midget team at the Ontario provincial championships in the summer.
“Our (Huskies) team is hoping to win that as well. We have a really good group.”
Once the cross-country season is over, she will turn her focus to the water as a member of the Newmarket Stingrays Swim Club.
She enjoys both sports equally although running seems to hold an edge right now.
“I like that you get to challenge yourself and there are a lot of people to train with in both sports,” she said.
“Hopefully I can get a scholarship to the States for running and run for Canada one day.”
Oliver credits swimming with contributing largely to her success in running.
Additionally, she has been competing in triathlons and is looking forward to competing next year at the junior level.
“I think it is just from when I was younger and swimming so much that I have the endurance and good cardio,” said Oliver, whose primary swimming events are the 400 and 800 freestyle.
She realizes she is fortunate to be part of two clubs that enjoy success competitively.
“It’s hard to balance it all, but when the focus is on running I scale back on swimming and vice-versa,” she explained. “The coaches are very understanding.”
She feels triathlon, which also includes cycling, provides the ideal next step for her athletic interests.
“It means balancing training for three sports but they complement each other,” Oliver said. “Swimming especially is such good cross-training.”