Racewalking takes local athlete to West Va.
St. Peter’s student earns scholarship to American university
Audrey McCarthy has found an ideal situation to help further her racewalking goals.
The Grade 12 St. Peter’s Secondary School student has committed to West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, West Va. She received a partial athletic and academic scholarship to join their track team which competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
McCarthy, 17, hoped to begin biology studies there this fall but with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic deferred her move to 2021. She’ll return to St. Peter’s in the fall to upgrade her biology marks. She had a 95 per cent overall average last year and hopes to become a doctor.
The two-time Canadian U20 indoor racewalk champion hopes to pursue racewalking to its highest level. Since racewalk is not offered in U Sports or NCAA competition, she opted for an NAIA school that has a reputation for developing racewalkers.
“They have a really good men’s racewalking team that came first at nationals,” said McCarthy. “They’re trying to build up their women’s team now. I know there is one other girl from Maine who has committed to that school and the coach is working on getting a girl from Ireland and a girl from Germany to commit. There’s a pretty good chance they will so our team will be from all over the world.”
She’ll run cross-country in the fall but racewalk is her specialty. She hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow Peterborough Legion Track and Field Club alumnus Rachel Seaman, a two-time Olympian. While attending a racewalk camp Seaman ran in San Diego, California last year, one of the coaches there recommended McCarthy to WVU Tech track coach Bruce Cox. They started communicating by text and phone and it led to the scholarship offer. McCarthy intended to visit the school but the pandemic foiled those plans.
“I took the virtual tour and I was talking with the girl who has committed from Maine. She was able to visit and she really liked the campus. They’re updating a lot of things so it’s almost brand new. I saw pictures and it looks really nice.”
WVU Tech, which is affiliated with much larger West Virginia University, is a small school of 1,800 students. Beckley is a small town of less than 17,000 which appealed to McCarthy.
She considered Ontario universities but said her desire to continue racewalking swayed her.
“If I stayed in Canada I’d be training on my own most of the time. I wanted the opportunity to train with a team and other girls, too,” she said.
She said she was excited by “the idea of being able to represent a school in the States and having the opportunity to meet racewalkers from all around the world and train with them and just be able to push myself more and see where I can go in racewalking.”
She is also excited to work with Cox.
“He seems really nice and seems like a really great coach. He really focuses on the individual needs of the athletes,” she said. Peterborough Legion Track Club’s head coach Richard Borek, who also started Seaman in racewalking, said McCarthy has a lot of attributes coaches look for in young athletes.
“Considering her character, work ethic and her will, I think international teams are not out of her capabilities,” Borek said. “The thing we can predict as coaches is whether she has the character side the inner component, and she certainly has that to go quite far. Everything from self-discipline to facing adversity to a good balance in perspective.”
“Richard is a really good coach,” said McCarthy. “He helps a lot of people develop a love for track and field. He really helps you stay on the right path and keep motivated.”