Impressive performances by Endurance Project athletes at nationals

Four athletes of the Cochrane Endurance Project had some impressive performances at the Canadian National Track and Field Championships.

Jessica Kaiser, Courtney Brohart, Jacob White, and Holly Moores became the first-ever athletes to represent the club at the Athletics Canada's national championships, hosted by Langley, B.C., June 22-26.

Jessica Kaiser destroyed her previous personal best in the senior women's 1,500m, running a smoking fast 4:34.94, and barely missed advancing to the semifinals.

Endurance Project head coach Travis Cummings says the 4:40 barrier had been on the radar for Kaiser for some time, and the physical and mental preparation finally came together to make this happen.

"It was an inspiring result which totally recalibrates what we thought she was capable of this season," says Cummings. "She narrowly missed out on the semi-finals by 0.6 hundredths of a second. It was a truly amazing day for the athlete."

Holly Moores advanced to the semifinals in the U20 women's 1,500m.

Competing in U20 women's 1,500m, Holly Moores surpassed all expectations and even surprised herself by qualifying for the semi-finals in the U20 1,500m.

She smashed her previous personal best of  5:16 with a 5:04.90 in the seeding rounds, and then again dropped it to 5:03.97 in the semis.

"That is an astounding amount of progress in a single meet," says Cummings. "Holly ground each step of the way and put in the mental work to perform at her best at this meet."

Moores joins the SAIT team this fall and has competed for both the Endurance Project and St. Timothy High School.

Jacob White continues to build momentum. 

Although it wasn't the result he wanted, Jacob White recorded a new personal best of 4:17.59 in the U20 men's 1,500m.

He followed that by cutting more than three seconds from his personal best in the 800m with a 2:01.64.

"It was an incredible bounce-back performance after what could have been deflating for the athlete," says Cummings. "He showed lots of growth and resilience."

Courtney Brohart continued to build upon an impressive season. Competing in the senior women's 5,000m, she had a time of 17:10.43, her second-best in the 5,000.

Brohart has been on a roll since last November. She placed ninth in senior women's at the Canadian National Cross-Country Championship in Ottawa, ON, then recorded huge personal bests in the 1,000m, 1,500m, and 3,000m during the indoor track season.

Up next is Athletics Alberta's Age Class Provincial Championships.

It has been a banner season for Courtney Brohart.