Ryan Gaiesky has been setting personal bests all season on the track.
And he'd like to set a few more this weekend in Langley at the 2014 tggyLegion Youth Track and Field championships.
Gaiesky, a 15-year-old member of the Athletics North Track and Field Club will line up on the starting blocks in the 110-metre hurdles and 300m hurdles in the youth boys division.
He's ranked 15th overall in the shorter 110m distance.
"I'm hoping for a top-10 finish," said the Grade 11 D.P. Todd secondary student. "I set 15.76 seconds at the B.C. Championships in Kamloops [in July] and got third. I want a top-eight in Langley and go below a 15.5 or 15.4 [seconds].
Competing in the younger age division of midget boys in his first crack at the Legion nationals in Langley in 2013, he finished sixth in the same event.
His PB in the 300m hurdles is 41.76 seconds and he'd like to shave a few tenths of a second of that time too.
Gaiesky's Athletics North teammate, 16-year-old Emma Floris of Vanderhoof is also competing in Langley in the 100 and 200m sprints in the youth girls division.
She too has consistently improved her times all season. Her fastest time of 12.82 seconds in the 100m was set at the beginning of the competitive season at a meet in Kamloops.
She most recently clocked 26.32 seconds in the 200m at the B.C. Championships in Kamloops last month.
"I just want to improve my times," said Floris, a Grade 11 student at Nechako Valley secondary in Vanderhoof. "I'm happy with the way the season has gone and I'm hoping to improve to a low 26 seconds in the 200m."
During the club track season, Floris has travelled to Prince George to train with her Athletics North teammates three to four times per week. She also follows a cardio regimen at her track in Vanderhoof.
Head coach Stephanie Gouin has not only seen her athletes get faster over the course of the season, but they've become leaders amongst the small club that has a stable of 16 athletes.
"Mentally they're a lot stronger," said Gouin. "They've become good role models for the younger kids. Emma and Ryan have shined and do what they're told. They set their goals and try to attain them."
Legion nationals signifies the end of the competitive club track and field season.
Both Gaiesky and Floris proved they're contenders in B.C. during the high school season in 2014.
Gaiesky hurdled to bronze in the junior boys 400m event at the B.C. high school track and field championships in Langley in May. He also came home with a fourth-place result in the 400m run.
Floris was eighth in the junior girls 200m.
