Logan Spicer is right on target as the sprinter joins the Guelph Gryphons
SUDBURY, Ontario — Logan Spicer was looking to run sub-11 this summer; which is to say that he would fly blocks to tape in the 100 metre dash in less than 11 seconds.
At his very first race of the season, first race in two years, actually, he did that – well, sort of, not officially, not legally, given the wind at his back – so then he did it again, roughly one month later.
Yes, it’s been quite the summer for the recent graduate of Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School who begins his OUA career with the Guelph Gryphons this fall.
Given that the current SDSSAA senior boys 100m record of 11.03 seconds (Eric Roque) has been around since 2008, the times of 10.81/10.94 (wind-aided) and 10.85/10.87 (non wind-aided) posted by Spicer are impressive.
Given that as recently as 2018, Spicer would be attending the Canadian National Legion Track & Field Championships competing in the high-jump, a legitimate threat to clear the bar at two metres (six feet or so), the results in the 100m are perhaps even more impressive.
Year one of the pandemic might have proved challenging, but the past few months have been nothing short of wonderful for the well-spoken Track North athlete. “I was lucky enough because some of the coaching staff was able to get out a little bit earlier in the summer, so I was able to get that coaching aspect of the sport, once again, which helped me tremendously,” said Spicer, who has worked extensively this summer with the father/son tandem of Jim and Ryan Taylor.
“Once I got a few things down pat with them, I was feeling really good and so excite to compete.”
If your first inclination is to associate the Taylor clan with the jumping events, you’re not wrong.
Affectionately referred to locally as the Jumps Doctor, Jim has worked with the likes of multiple national champion triple jumper Caroline Ehrhardt, while Ryan has recently completed his studies at Central Michigan University, where he received a track and field scholarship.
“They are absolutely jump coaches, but Jim has a great knowledge of sprinting as well,” suggested Spicer. “It is a big portion of the jumps. He is a long jump / triple jump coach and with those, you are running really fast before you jump. Sprinting has a big part to play in the jumps.”
“He also has a really good understanding of the technical aspect of sprinting,” Spicer added. “He was able to work on my form and get it to a point where it’s never been. I’ve always ran with a straight arm at the back – that’s a bad thing. He was able to teach me to relax and get that arm to ninety degrees.”
“Now, with a few cues, well, the times have been showing exactly what that has done for me.”
The times have indeed.
Competing at the Thorold Prep Meet in late June, Spicer reeled off clockings of 10.94 (heats) and 10.81 (final), though both were deemed to be wind-aided. The fact that it wasn’t quite a legit sub-11 did little to detract the future Human Kinetics major. “It gave me that feeling of what a sub-11 race feels like,” Spicer noted.
“Even though it wasn’t a legal time and it didn’t count (as a PB), the feeling itself was really valuable. The next step was obviously then to do it without wind, which I was able to do later on.”
On July 17th, Spicer captured top spot at the 2021 NXTCHAMP Invitational in Toronto, following up a heat time of 11.20 with a dash of 11.29 seconds in the final, edging Desmond Fraser of Brampton by 1/100th of a second (Travis Campbell of Hamilton finished third in 11.31 seconds).
One week later, the official breakthrough would come as Spicer turned in back to back performances of 10.85 and 10.87 seconds, earning a silver medal at the Ontario U20 Championships. All of which raises the question: does Spicer run for time or placing?
“I try and go from the mindset of looking to run a PB rather than winning the race, just from the reason that if I focus on others in the race, then I get distracted from running my own race,” he said. “In a race, you can’t really tell where everyone is, but you can hear it – you hear the footsteps.”
“If I hear someone in front of me, I tense up, and if I tense up, I run slower. If I am not really focused on those people around me, it’s easier to stay relaxed during the race and run a better time.”
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