Home » Sports » Mustang Olson performs well at Pan Am’s

Mustang Olson performs well at Pan Am’s

Mustang track athletes Scott Leitch and Jenessa Olson competed in Trinidad and Tobago over the August long weekend against some of the world’s best young athletes in the Pan American Junior Games.
Olson qualified for the 400m hurdles final with a near personal best time of 1:01.35. She would finish seventh overall in the competition.
According to Western’s track and field coach Vickie Croley, performances like this from Olson will make her the rising star to look out for in the upcoming season.
“Jenessa showed her composure when competing at a high level,” she said. “She will be an outstanding addition to our team. I’m confident that she has the ability to come in and compete like a veteran.”
Unfortunately for Leitch, Western’s reigning male rookie of the year, a fall in the opening heat of the men’s 400m hurdles ended his competition prematurely.
“My experience taught me that I still have a long way to go,” he said. “The calibre of competition I witnessed there was one I had never been a part of.”
According to Croley, this experience will definitely help the athletes improve their run times in the future, especially during the upcoming season.
“It would have been eye opening for both of them for sure,” she said. “Both of their heats, as well as Jenessa’s final, would have had more competitors going out faster than they had ever experienced before.”
Shortly after returning from Trinidad and Tobago, Leitch headed off to Prince Edward Island to compete for Team Ontario in the Canada Summer Games. Fellow Mustangs Jason Kerr, Jen Cotten, Alicia Smith and Josh Archer will be joining him. All five athletes will compete later in the week against what promises to be a strong field.
“Knowing I will be going up against the best in Canada has kept me motivated in training,” Kerr said.

Jenessa Olson

As for improving on his performance at the Junior Pan Am Games, Leitch felt he was not far off from finishing at the top.
“It sounds funny, but although I fell, I was running very well and would like to repeat that, obviously with a better end result,” he said.
With the Canadian Interuniversity Sport track and field season fast approaching, Leitch hopes to build on his accomplishments from first year and his success this summer.
“This indoor season at Western, I have goals for where I want to finish. I would like to work on my 300m, but focus on my 600m, which I had success in last year. Hopefully, in the end, I can make it onto the podium at CIS and break the UWO record,” he said.
Buoyed by Leitch and other top athletes, the team feels this is the year it should be able to compete for the top spot. Despite finishing tied for third overall in the women’s competition, Croley thinks this year’s team is greatly improved.
“With Cotten, Olson, Smith and a host of others, our women’s team will be stronger than last year. If we were to win a CIS championship, this would be the year to do it,” she said.
As far as the men’s team is concerned, having the top athletes return when other schools are losing their best should bode well for the team in its goal to improve on the fifth place finish in last year’s CIS competition.
“Jason Kerr will be battling the best sprinters. Andrew Judge [2008 CIS long jump champion] returns to competition. With Leitch, Archer, Kyle O’Neill and others added to the mix, the men’s team is stronger,” Croley added. “Last season, Windsor dominated with the strength of Jamie Adjeity-Nelson and Derrick Watkins. Both are gone, opening the door for us to compete for the title.”

Follow the Gazette on Facebook and Twitter.