Humboldt has a long history of local representation on provincial squads and that list has grown a little longer after Teijon Abel-Douglas was selected to represent Saskatchewan at the 2018 Tri-Province Western Canadian Championships.
“It was more just plain shock,” said Abel-Douglas of being selected for the squad.
“Having only done track coming up to two seasons now it’s more of how I got here just from running track as a young athlete to competing at the provincial level, which it’s just cool to look back and think of what I did to get there.”
The track and field championships pit the best athletes from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba against each other with this year’s event coming July 27-29 in Sherwood Park, Alta.
Abel-Douglas will be competing in two events at the championships, running the 300m and 800m races.
With 300m being a unique distance, Abel-Douglas admits it takes some getting used to but, says having run it a couple of times has made it easier.
“Adjusting to it at first was definitely difficult because you have to go faster than a 400m but slower than the 200m so you’ve got to find that balance and once you’ve found it and can build off of it, it definitely helps.”
The Humboldt native enjoyed a solid track season claiming a pair of provincial bronze medals at the high school level in both the 400m and 800m races.
Abel-Douglas also claimed the 300m provincial title at the 2018 Saskatchewan Provincial Championships in Regina June 9-10, which qualified the Humboldt native for the tri-provincial meet.
Being able to attend the meet will be important for his growth, said Abel-Douglas because it allows him to test himself against the best.
“Sometimes just racing faster guys just makes you faster, makes you more competitive towards wanting to get better so you can finally get up there and compete with them.”
While Abel-Douglas has won many medals on the provincial scene since June, the 15-year-old says he does not want to put any undue pressure on himself by aiming at a position, but instead says his goals are all time based.
“It’s more of me just setting goals for myself. So I want to run under a 2:05:00 in the 800m, which would be a two-second personal best. I think I’m in the shape to do it I just need the right people pushing me. The 300m I want to be right up there low 37.00’s somewhere in there.”
While Abel-Douglas has not yet been to Sherwood Park, the Humboldt native has visited nearby Edmonton, and says away from the track he just wants to enjoy himself.
“Definitely just the new experience of going there… just being with friends, being with family and just embracing the moment.”
Abel-Douglas is currently tentatively set to run the 300m in the afternoon session on July 28 and the 800m in the morning session on July 29, with both being subject to change.
