To reach Canada’s biggest youth meet of the summer, Hannah Johnston is in training to overcome a few barriers. She has 10 of them in her two track events, the 100-metre and 400-metre hurdles, and her strategy is locked in.
“With hurdles, to go over them as fast as possible, when you’re jumping you need to have that fast reaction time when you’re taking off,” said the Grade 11 student at Van Tech who trains with coach Tatjana Mece and the Vancouver Olympics.
Most sprinters take three steps between hurdles in the shorter race, taking off with the same leg each time. In the longer race, Johnston alternates leading with her left and right legs to clear the hurdles, a technique of coordination not everyone can master for both sides. Her stride is her weapon.
“Some people, they can’t do that, they just can’t,” said the 17-year-old. “I’m lucky enough to be able to do it with both, which could be an advantage.”
On the first hurdle, she leads with her left leg. From there, she alternates. “That’s been working for me," she said, noting she’s running the 400m for the first season since moving up from the shorter 300m junior distance. “There’s more pacing involved with [the longer race]. In the 300, you just go all out but in the 400, I feel there is a bit more strategy. I find it a harder race. Coming around to the 300-metre mark, you’re very tired so you have to try really hard to keep your technique. I try to stay with the front runners as much as possible and give it all at the end.”
In the 400m hurdles, Johnston has to circle the track in one minute, three seconds to meet the standard for the Canadian Legion Youth Track and Field Championship, set for August in Quebec. In the shorter sprint, her benchmark is 15.67 seconds.
Her personal best in the 400m, known as distance hurdles, came at the city championship when she clocked 1:04.41 and in the 100m, the sprint hurdles, she won in 15.94 seconds. The results, plus her win in the triple jump, earned her a share of the girls aggregate for the most individual points. She tied with Hamber’s Conny Bregman.
Johnston is close to qualifying for the Legion meet. But she must also finish in the top two at the B.C. club championships, scheduled for the end of July in Nanaimo.
Last year she represented B.C. at the Canadain Youth Track and Field Championship after placing in the top two at club provincial championships. It was the first time she represent B.C. and finished fourth behind teammate Chicago Bains in the 300m hurdles.
"I'd really love to qualify for the Legions again this year, especially since they are no longer in Langley -- they are in Quebec. One of my ultimate goals would be to represent Canada at an international competition. It would be a big step up for me, and there also seem to be an especially large number of excellent distance hurdles and other athletes born in 1998 and 1999 here in B.C. as well as in Canada, but I believe that with training I could definitely be one of Canada's best."
In June at the B.C. high school championships, she’ll race for the Van Tech Talismen at the B.C. high school championships in Langley. Bains, one of the few hurdlers in B.C. that rivals Johnston, will also be racing. The Vancouverite is seeking a podium finish but is ultimately trying to shave seconds off her time.
“It’s always my goal to get a faster time each race and improve with my own personal best,” said the hurdler who set a city record in the 400m and finished, incredibly, nearly six seconds ahead of her closest competitor. She also holds the triple jump record of 10.71 metres. Records date to 2008.
(In 2005, Point Grey hurdler Corrie Fell set the B.C. high school record when she won the 400m hurdle provincial title in 60.27 seconds.)
Already in the record books for the Vancouver Secondary School Athletic Association, Johnston still has another year of high school ahead of her. She will almost certainly meet the standards she needs to qualify for the Legion and, in the meantime, will chase a gold medal at the two B.C. championship meets.
“I still have another chance if I don’t this year,” she said.
Twitter: @MHStewart
