The commute to Beausejour is paying off for a pair of Stonewall athletes.
Local athletes Lacey Learning and Gaia Turner have only been with Predators Athletics Club for one season, but they’re already among the top multi-event competitors in the province for their age groups.
Turner, 13, competed in seven events at the Athletics Manitoba Age Class Provincial Track Meet, held June 27–28 at the University of Manitoba. She especially shone in the U14 girls high jump and long jump, crediting her figure skating background for the edge.
She earned triple gold in high jump, long jump and shot put, added a silver medal in discus, and placed top five in the 80m, 150m and 4x100m relay.
A week later at the Kirk Cadman Memorial Classic, she added more hardware with gold medals in high jump and long jump.
Not a bad start for her debut season with Predators Athletics Club and coaches Donna and Kylo Harris, after previously only competing in school track and field.
“The coaches, they’re super helpful, and there’s a lot of them, so I get different feedback from everyone, and it kind of all goes together,” said Turner. “And then Lacey and Anna and all my friends there are really supportive too.”
Learning, the other half of Stonewall’s dynamic duo, is also racking up medals in her first season beyond school athletics.
At Provincials, she competed in the U16 category due to her birth year, despite being just 13. She earned silver in high jump and bronze in long jump, along with gold as part of the 4x100m relay team. She also cracked the top six in triple jump and the individual 100m.
Learning also credits her success to figure skating and her height.
“I think my biggest motivation to do well is the people around me,” she said. “I’m really competitive, so being around other athletes who are pushing themselves makes me want to work harder too. The coaches and the whole program at Predators were awesome. It’s a very supportive club, and I’m really glad I joined this year. It made a big difference for me and helped give me the confidence to compete at the bigger meets.”
The girls now head into a brief off-season—one that will include plenty of figure skating.
