Long-distance education
Alexis Brenzil wraps up freshman year at Hawaii representing Canada at Pan Am Junior Games
Alexis Brenzil didn’t return from the Pan American Under-20 Championships in Peru empty-handed.
While the University of Hawaii freshman and Welland Centennial Secondary School graduate fell short of her goal of winning a medal in the javelin, a sixth-place finish against some of the top athletes in the world more than made up for any disappointment she felt leaving Estadio Chan Chan in Trujillo.
“I could not be more honoured and happy to have placed sixth in Peru,” she said. “Initially, my goal was to medal, but that’s everyone’s goal here — to do well for the country they’re representing.”
The daughter of Scott and Delinda Brenzil of Welland described finishing in the top 10 in her first-ever international competition “amazing.”
“Even though I got sixth, it just gives me the goal to go after for future meets.”
Brenzil, who has added more than eight metres to her career best during her first season at Hawaii, rose above her seventh-seed projection with a throw of 46.25 metres, her secondbest toss of the year.
“We’re very proud of Alexis,” said Tim Boyce, the newly named head coach of the Rainbow Wahine track and field team. “Congratulations to her and coach Josh Aydlette on a tremendous result to conclude an outstanding freshman year.
“We look forward to great things from her in the future.”
Brenzil spent three years competing for Niagara Regional Athletics at the club level and four with the Cougars at the high school level.
She went to Hawaii on a four-year athletic scholarship intending to major in architectural design but switched majors early on.
“Thankfully, I realized soon that it wasn’t my thing, so I decided that marketing was something that suited the type of person I am.”
As an athlete, Brenzil found her first year competing at the collegiate level “life-changing.”
“As a multi-event athlete, the training was incredible, ranging from two to three times a day, including weights,” she said.
One thing she wanted to focus on was becoming stronger following recover from surgery a year ago.
“I saw a huge change in both my body and my performances,” Brenzil said. “If there’s one thing that any athlete strives for it’s to always get better at what you do, and I did.
“I was able to have several personal bests in the heptatathlon, individual events, as well as my personal favourite, javelin.”
A throw of 47.63 metres at the Big West Conference championships in California was the high point of Brenzil’s freshman season in the NCAA.
“When I threw this, it was one of the best feelings to know that I had been able to match what I once threw.”
The throw was long enough to send Brenzil to the regional championships in Austin, Texas.
“Even though at that meet I might not have placed as well as I thought I would, it was an amazing experience.”
There were low points as well, but she stopped far short of describing poor performances that way.
“I can’t quite call them ‘low points’ because I learned something from them,” Brenzil said. “For example, a low point for me was the Stanford meet, where I threw in the 30s, something I hadn’t done in a very long time.
“Of course, it didn’t feel good at all to know I had underperformed, but it showed me that everyone has a bad day and if you dwell on it, you’re not going to get any better than the day before.
“I took the throws from that day and watched the videos to see what I needed to fix and how I was going to get better so that it, hopefully, wouldn’t happen again.”
Topping the sophomore’s to-do list is making the All-American team for University of Hawaii and, over the longer term, representing Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Toyko.
Brenzil, who was born in Nashville but grew up in Niagara, couldn’t have gone further any further south and west from the region without leaving the U.S. when the time came to select which scholarship offer to accept.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say that at first it was a little hard when it came to studying in, yes, ‘paradise,’” she said. “However, that’s definitely a major life lesson that university anywhere offers, time management.
“Of course, being on an island as beautiful as Oahu, you’d naturally want to explore everything it has to offer, but (only) after I’ve completed my training or finished all my work for the following days.
“Athletics and academics come first, then I can experience the island on the weekend with teammates and friends.”