On track for hurdles
Notre Dame student Kendra Leger hopes Guelph will be next step toward Olympic goal
Self-determination and selfdiscipline are two hurdles Kendra Leger doesn’t need to overcome on the way to achieving a personal best in hurdles.
Just ask the 18-year-old Welland native and Notre Dame College student’s doctor.
On second thought, better not.
Leger wasn’t exactly following doctor’s orders when she literally hit the ground running while recovering from surgery to her abdomen.
Leger, a hurdler and sprinter, only received medical clearance to return to the track the day before the first qualifier for the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) track and field championships.
She went to set Zone 3 records in the senior girls 100 and 200 metres and Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (SOSSA) records in the 100 and 200 right after that.
“The doctor said I shouldn’t be running, but jogging,” she admitted sheepishly.
Her remarkable success at the provincial qualifiers turned out to be the end to the speedy recovery from surgery. She failed to qualify for provincials placing only sixth at regionals. “My muscle mass was gone.” Leger still made it to OFSAA, though. She raced the final leg on a Notre Dame relay team that finished ninth in the province.
The daughter of Matthew Ganchou and Sara Green also played basketball and volleyball in high school but short-distance running was always No. 1 on her what-I-want-to-do list.
Hurdles become her strength, and one of the reasons she was widely recruited by universities on both sides of the border, after stumbling out of the starting block in her very first attempt. Leger fell flat on her face when she tried hurdles in Grade 9.
“I got up and kept running,” she said. “I’m just naturally good at that. I just picked it up.”
“But it’s hard to do hurdles without a coach.”
Her technique has improved considerably since she began training under coach Michael Heron of Welland.
It wasn’t until later in the outdoor season that she really came alive, quickly becoming one of the top sprinters and hurdlers for her age in Canada.” University of Guelph associate track and field coach Jason Kerr
Harvard and Princeton in the Ivy League were interested in adding her to their track teams, as was Michigan from the Big 10.
She found out about the full scholarship offer from Princeton a week before she had to take the ACT (American College Testing) exam.
“I had no preparation for it whatsoever, and I didn’t know I had to take it right away,” Leger said. “I wasn’t prepared, and I just didn’t get a good score on it.”
On this side of the border Guelph, Toronto, the University of British Columbia, Waterloo and Western had her on their radar.
She only made a campus visit to Guelph.
“They are the headquarters for Athletics Canada, so it’s the best way to go if I want to stay in Canada.”
“They have national team coaches.”
Leger felt “right at home” touring the Guelph campus and meeting her future teammates.
“They’re very friendly over there. I felt connected to them right away,” she said. “I went there for a second visit, and all the girls came up and said ‘Oh, we missed you.’”
“They’re really friendly. They helped me fit in right away.”
The feeling of fitting in is mutual as far as Gryphons associate track and field coach Jason Kerr is concerned.
“Our program is already so deep and talented that it can be difficult to find recruits who will make an impact, but Kendra is certainly one of them,” he said.
“The culture and environment that we have in our sprints and hurdles group is top notch, and I think Kendra is going to flourish being part of it.”
Guelph first took notice of Leger after she competed at one of the university’s meets a year and a half ago.
“We were not familiar with her at that point, but she seemed to be quite talented,” Kerr said. “It wasn’t until later in the outdoor season that she really came alive, quickly becoming one of the top sprinters and hurdlers for her age in Canada.”
“She has the makings of an athlete who can compete internationally at some point in her career.”
Her athletic scholarship from Guelph, worth up to $4,500 and renewable annually, requires student athletes to average at least 80 per cent in the classroom.
That shouldn’t be a hurdle for Leger, who is averaging in the low 90s in her final year of high school.
“I find as an athlete time management is a lot easier to achieve. I’ve never had an issue with time management.”
She plans on taking criminology and law in university, but the student athlete’s immediate goals are focused on track and field.
“I want to make the national team, I want to be seen, I want to go to the Olympics,” Leger said. “That’s my main goal.”
To achieve those goals Leger trains five to six hours a day during the season and up to three hours at Top Dawgs gym in Welland where she lifts weights to strengthen her muscles.
She was asked to envision being on the podium at the Olympics. What discipline did she receive the medal for: hurdles or a sprint?
“I can’t do both?” she asked with a chuckle. “Probably, hurdles.”
Kerr can see Leger being successful in both specialities.
“Kendra has the ability to be one of Canada’s best in a handful of events if she wants to,” the Guelph coach said. “So the decision on what she will be specializing on will be primarily based on the things she is most interested and passionate about.”
“I am confident that whatever she chooses to focus on, she will do exceptionally well.”