Newton leads North Bay contingent to Canadian juniors

Adam Newton finished fourth, well back in the photo finish in the 100 meter OFSAA final this spring. He hopes to finish in the top four in the Canadian Juniors this weekend. Photo courtesy of OFSAA.

It’s a different environment for Adam Newton as he prepares for this weekend’s Canadian junior Track and Field Championships in Montreal.

At OFSAA, Newton was the favourite in the 100 M final, but at this National event he is flying in under the radar.

“I had pressure to represent the school and the city (at OFSAA) but now the only pressure is on myself,” Newton said in a phone interview Wednesday night.

Newton finished 4th in the OFSAA final, and last week ran a 10.85 at the Canada Games trials in Ottawa.

However, he admits it’s a real long shot to think he could capture gold in this high profile event, as the OFSAA gold medalist Justyn Warner of Toronto ran an incredible 10.35 last week, but he believes he has a shot at making the Canadian 4 X 100 meter relay team which will compete in the Junior Pan Am games taking place in Windsor in late July.

To accomplish that Newton has a game plan as he makes his way through his heats, the quarterfinal, the semifinal and hopefully for him, a birth in the final.

“I’m looking to run a 10.8 or 10.7 and gradually improve each round,” Newton said.

Newton is also going into his first big meet with his new sprint coach David Case. The Sudbury based coach was former Canadian Olympic 4 X 100 meter gold medalist Robert Esmie’s trainer back in the early 90’s.

“Larry Sheppard taught me a lot, but it’s time to move on,” Newton said.

“He’s already taken me far, and taken me to a new level,"

Newton adds that Case has helped him with the mental aspect of sprinting which he believes has been a big help.

Not alone

Newton isn’t the only North Bay athlete heading to Montreal’s event. Long distance runner Kali Gawinski (Widdifield) will also head east as a member of North Bay’s Legion 23 Track and Field team, while Algonquin’s triple jumper Tanya Simard will be heading to the event as a member of a Sudbury based track club.