Courtesy of The Western Star
Melissa Hardy has berth in Canada Games on her bucket list for summer
ANTIGONISH, N.S. — Melissa Hardy's fleetness should earn her a spot with the province's track-and-field team for the 2013 Canada Summer Games, but she's not taking any chances.
The talented distance runner with the St. Francis Xavier University X-Women's cross-country running and track team hopes to represent Newfoundland and Labrador in the 5,000-metre (5 km) race when the Games are staged in Sherbrooke, Que. in August.
During the month of June, the Deer Lake speedster was busy hitting the pavement with participation in two 5-km road races in Nova Scotia and also made the trek to New Brunswick to partcipate in that province's Canada Games trials for track and field hopefuls.
She kicked off the month by claiming 17th spot overall and second in her age group at the Enfield Penguin Run 5-km trek with a final clocking of 18 minutes, 35 seconds. Next on the slate was the CIBC Wood Gundy 5K in New Glasgow, N.S. where she nabbed fifth spot overall and first among all female entries.
She posted a final clocking of 18 minutes, even in the 5,000 metre race at the New Brunswick Games Trials in Saint John to finish second behind of Sarah Macpherson of New Brunswick, who clocked in at 17 minutes, 22 seconds.
Hardy finished second behind Macpherson in the 1,500 metre with a time of four minutes and 48 seconds, which put her 11 seconds off the pace.
"I like the progress and now that I hit 18 minutes flat I want to hit 17 so we'll see," Hardy said Tuesday on her lunch break from her internship.
Hardy was actually hoping to represent her province in the 1,500 metre race, but her busy schedule with her internship won't allow her to be in Sherbrooke in time for that particular event.
She will be in the spotlight Aug. 15, provided she meets the Games criteria, when she challenges the top young track stars in the country on the 5-km track.
She hopes her commitment to training will give her the edge when she competes for a berth at the provincial Games Trials July 13 in St. John's.
Hardy starred for the St. Francis Xavier X-Women for the past couple of years and will complete her last year of eligibility in the fall.
While she's had her share of personal success, she was more interested in talking about her younger brother, David Hardy, and his running talent when contacted for an update on her own progress.
David, 15, who is heading into Grade 10 in September, made his running debut on Canada Day by winning top honours in his first-ever five-kilometre race when the town held its inaugural Canada Day 5K Run.
The mult-sport athlete won the race with a final time of 21:03, beating his nearest competitor by over a minute, according to the proud sister.
"He does it a bit more for the recreation running, but now that he's raced and he's seen that he is very talented he'll probably continue with it," she said.
"He's capable of being a stellar athlete."