WINDSOR JUNCTION: Two athletes from Windsor Junction brought home half a dozen Atlantic University Sport (AUS ) track and field championship medals from the recently-held competition.
Abbi Gaudy, who competed for Dalhousie, and Jill Langille, who represented the UNB Reds at the competition, held in Moncton, N.B.
The Lockview High alum said she was excited to get a gold in the long jump, where she registered 5.40 metre jump. That came after a hard fought pentathlon the day before where she managed just a silver medal.
“I thought going to U-Sports wasn’t going to happen for me this year, but I gave it all I had in long jump, and it worked out,” said Gaudry. “I’m really looking forward to watching the older athletes and learning from the experience.”
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Gaudry said the gold medal means the world to here as she had several hurdles to overcome.
“The beginning of this season started out tough getting adjusted to jumping again with my previous back injury,” she said. “Getting to a place where I have been aiming to get too for a few years now is always a great way to close out AUS.
“I’ve worked hard and my body held together when it needed to!
She said training as a student athlete is tough physically and mentally. As a pentathlete the hours she’s put in every week to improve for five different events is quite a lot. Gaudry trains six days a week, usually two or three hours a day, which as a full time student can be really exhausting.
“Mentally it’s been a year of development and getting stronger so seeing my speed and consequently my jumping improved has made all the hard work worth it,” she said.
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Langille came away from AUS championships winning four medals—gold in the 60 metre and 4 by 200 metre relay; and silvers in the 300 metre and 4 by 400 metre relay. She’s proud of her results.
“I’ve trained really hard this season and seeing all my hard work paying off is really rewarding,” said Langille.
“I’m lucky to have the amount of support I do from my parents, teammates and coaching staff and having them around made the result even more rewarding.
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She said the results mean a lot as she has worked through a spat of injuries and setbacks, so racing healthy was the goal and everything else was a bonus.
“Racing with all the other amazing athletes and my friends makes it even more special because I got to share the excitement and the moment with some of my best friends,” said Langille. “I’m really excited to see what’s next and looking forward to continuing to improve and work hard for USports and other competitions.
“Overall I’m really proud of myself and extremely happy with my achievements.
Langille said the UNB team put in the work during outdoor training and racing early in the season. That helped her hit her peak at AUS, but juggling school and athletics wasn’t easy.
“Balancing training, weights and school work can be challenging but it all pays off when big accomplishments like my races at AUS come about,” she said with a smile from ear-to-ear.
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Gaudry said this years result has made up for what was a disappointing 2022.
“Having a tough back injury kept me from being able to compete in what I love (Pentathlon) which was really hard,” she said. “Being back this year has made me so happy and even more motivated.
“After loosing the gold last year in hurdles and coming back this year by setting a Pentathlon hurdle record it’s brought back my love for the sport.
“Overall this weekend I achieved some big goals I’d set for myself and am ecstatic to get to go to nationals for one more competition.”
Langille and Gaudry will now both compete at U-Sports national track & field championships in Saskatoon, Sk. from March 9-11.
