Mission accomplished for Dean Ellenwood.
Heading into the Canadian Legion track and field championships over the weekend, the 15-year-old from 91原创 was intent on finding the podium.
鈥淢y goal was to medal in my events, but I really wanted to win the 800m,鈥� he said.
鈥淭hat is my speciality event and there was some big competition and I wanted to prove that I could.鈥�
And Ellenwood, who was representing the 91原创 Mustangs Track and Field Club, delivered, winning the 800m race and adding a silver in the 300m.
Ellenwood was competing in the midget (U16) division.
He won gold on Sunday, the final day of the three-day championships which were held at 91原创鈥檚 McLeod Park.
The championships brought together close to 1,000 track and field athletes between the ages of 12 and 17. The event will again be held at McLeod Park in 2014.
In his gold-medal victory, Ellenwood crossed the finish line in 1:56.12, which was more than a full second ahead of Ezana Wossen of Centro Scuola, a track and field club out of Toronto.
Taking bronze was Team Quebec鈥檚 Najib El Andaloussi.
On Saturday, Ellenwood was second across the finish line in the 300m race with a time of 36.67 seconds. The gold medal went to Team Quebec鈥檚 William Gagnon while Colesen Faunt of Team Alberta/Northwest Territories took third.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 expect silver actually,鈥� Ellenwood said.
鈥淚 was ranked fifth going in (to the finals, after preliminaries) and finished second with a big personal best.鈥�
Overall, Ellenwood said it was really fun competing at the Legion championships and an exciting experience.
鈥淚t is a big meet and all the provinces are there, which makes it great,鈥� he said.
Ellenwood, who enters Grade 10 at 91原创 Secondary next month, won a pair of gold medals in the 400m and 800m races this past June in the Grade 8/9 division at the B.C. high school track and field championships, which were also held at McLeod Park.
