Nationals beckoning Balazs

Two years ago, Emma Balazs was a silver-medalist at the Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships.

Last year, by the narrowest of margins, she missed qualifying for nationals.

It was a bitter disappointment, one she doesn't want to feel again.

Balazs, a 17-year-old who trains with the Prince George Track and Field Club, is determined to get back to the Canadian championships, set this year for Aug. 17-19 in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Her main event is the 2,000-metre steeplechase.

"I'm very motivated," Balazs said Saturday at Masich Place Stadium, where she was participating in the annual Sub Zero track and field meet. "It was so much fun and the competition was really good. Hopefully I can do it."

When Balazs won silver at the 2010 nationals, she was a first-timer at the event and a first-year steeplechase competitor. Running the 1,500m distance in a torrential downpour, she finished in a time of five minutes 1.99 seconds, behind only B.C. teammate Tanya Humeniuk (4:53.60).

At the 2011 qualifying meet, Balazs met the required standard in the 2,000m steeplechase to represent B.C. at nationals but finished third in the race. Only the top two -- Regan Yee and Humeniuk -- advanced to the Canadian finals, where they finished third and fourth respectively.

This year's qualifying meet is July 27-29 in Richmond. Again, Balazs will need a top-two result and a time quicker than the national standard. She expects the standard to be around 7:15, which shouldn't pose a problem for her because her personal-best time is 7:09.

Balazs, a Grade 11 student at Kelly Road secondary school, trained all winter at the Northern Sport Centre and also played indoor soccer with the PGYSA Under-18 Kodiaks. Consequently, she's in great condition and reaped the benefits at the Sub Zero meet. On the way to victories in her 400m and 800m races she set personal-best times of 1:02.78 and 2:27.12. In her 1,500m race, Balazs finished in 5:01.57, second to Yee, who crossed the line in 4:55.82. In high jump, meanwhile, Balazs was the only entrant and set a new personal standard of 1.41m.

Job action impacts meet

For most athletes, the Sub Zero was the first track and field meet of the season. Only about 130 competitors showed up for the event, when in past years 350 participants was not unusual. The lower turnout this year was the result of B.C. teachers withdrawing their support for extra-curricular activities, as part of their job action against the provincial government. Northern communities like Dawson Creek, Vanderhoof and Quesnel -- which are usually well-represented at the Sub Zero -- had a total of just four athletes in attendance.

Later this month, the north central high school championships are scheduled for Masich Place Stadium and they, too, will be affected by the labour strife. The championships, which qualify athletes for provincials, were slated for May 17 and 18 but will probably be scaled back to one day and be run by parents and PGTFC officials instead of teachers.

"That's the idea right now, but we'll see how all that works out," said outgoing PGTFC president Brian Martinson, who is a teacher at PGSS.

As for provincials, June 1-2 in Burnaby, Martinson said they have been given the green light by teachers.

"We found out late last week," he said. "We heard nothing for a long, long time until they finally came out and said that they were going to do the meet."