Earle Couper
Record Staff
Cross-country runner Cam Levins is criss-crossing many countries en route to achieving his goal of representing Canada on the world stage.
The Black Creek competitor was recently in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, for the 2011 North America, Central America and Caribbean (NACAC) championships, where he placed a close second in the senior men鈥檚 8K event. Kenyan-born runner Robert Cheseret won gold for the United States in 23:43 while Levins nabbed silver in 23:46.
That strong showing qualified Levins for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) world championships in Punta Sumbria, Spain on March 20. Levins' second-place finish led to a second-place finish for the Canadians, trailing the United State by 22 points in the race. Trinidad and Tobago finished third as a team, scoring 86 points.
It would be fair to say the G.P. Vanier grad, who now attends Southern Utah University, is rapidly acclimatizing himself to running with the world鈥檚 best.
He qualified for the NACAC event by braving sub-freezing temperatures and a snowy 10K course in Guelph, Ont. in November, 2010, then headed for the much sunnier climes of Port of Spain on Feb. 19 for the NACAC championships. After winning the Canadian title by more than 24 seconds, the competition was much hotter in Trinidad and Tobago.
鈥淭he race started out at a relatively easy pace and turned into a sprint finish,鈥� Levins said from the Cedar City campus of SUU. 鈥淢e and Cheseret of team USA were very close over the final 100m but he edged me out. I was very happy with the result though as I have struggled with a few injuries since Canadian nats back in November.鈥�
Things will really heat up next month in Spain for Levins. 鈥淭he world championships will be a 12K and I think with some more solid training going in - now that I'm healthy - I'll look for a top-20 finish.鈥� Which would be pretty impressive since this will be the 22-year-old鈥檚 first trip to the world championships.
鈥淚 haven't raced any indoor track (at SUU) because I was injured the whole season, but I was still redshirted anyway. However, I'll race on the track for the first time this year next weekend and I'm really looking forward to it,鈥� Levins added.
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