By Jeff Gard/Today’s Northumberland
Cobourg’s Kate Current won two individual gold medals at the U Sports national track and field championships in Saint John, New Brunswick.
Current, who competes for London’s Western University Mustangs, won the women’s 3,000 metre run Friday evening and the 1,500 metre race Saturday afternoon at the University of New Brunswick. She also earned a bronze as the Mustangs women’s team placed third overall.
With a quick pace, Current finished the 3,000 metre race in 9 minutes 17.59 seconds ahead of Jessy Lacourse (9:21.28) and Catherine Beauchemin (9:27.70), both from the Laval Rouge-et-Or.
“I’m very happy with both races. My focus was on the 3K simply because it was first and my goal was just to get myself near the front of the pack and match everyone’s moves as they were made,” said Current, a former Cobourg Collegiate Institute runner. “Every race is different so it’s hard to have a set race plan before you’re in it, but I trusted my race instincts and it paid off. The pace quickened significantly in the last five laps and I waited until just over one lap to take the lead. I checked behind me twice in the last 100 metres and it was clear that I had it.”
Saturday’s 1,500 metre competition was a tight sprint to the finish with Current winning with a time of 4:20.90, narrowly ahead of Jazz Shukla (4:21.58) from the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and Sydney Pattison (4:23.32) from the Windsor Lancers.
“The 1,500 was very different from the 3K in that there was little movement from the pack,” Current said. “There weren’t any major changes in pace or alternating leads until the last lap so it was just a matter of waiting until the right time to kick. I think I timed both of the races perfectly.”
In November, Current and her Mustangs team earned a silver medal at the U Sports cross-country running championships in Quebec City.
Current previously won a silver medal in the 1,500 metres at the 2020 U Sports track and field championships and is a former winner of the Mustangs’ female athlete of the year award as well as a recipient of Western’s F.W.P Jones Trophy Award for contributions to intercollegiate athletics, academics and community service.
