Twenty-one student athletes: each blessed with their own personal skill-set; each having travelled a much different journey to this point; each one living with their hopes and goals and dreams.

And each having a much different story to tell.

Yes, these are the members of the Laurentian Voyageurs indoor track and field TEAM – but far more than the settings where pucks and balls are passed back and forth between teammates, where one player volleys to the next, these individuals are somewhat separate entities into themselves.

By now, many in Sudbury have heard of Shelley Hladin.

The first year Criminology major from Chartierville (PQ) has already re-written the program record book on two occasions in the long jump. She is also among that rare breed of track and field athletes who started quite young, enjoyed success quite young, maintained their involvement and remains successful some 15 years later.

“I think the reason I stayed in track for so long is because I also did so many other sports,” said Hladin, quite the accomplished soccer keeper, a standout in flag football, and a definite afficianado for activites ranging from basketball to cross-country and badminton. Even in the domain that is track, the 20 year-old was still actively training in the hepthlon just a few short years ago.

This all from a starting point that so many sibling athletes can relate to.

“I have an older brother (he’s 24) and he did track and field his whole life,” said Hladin. “I saw him win a lot of competitions and I got jealous. I’ve been running and jumping ever since.”

Those were the memories of the then seven year-old, one who took quickly to the sport.

“I always had a serious aspect to track, even when I was seven,” she suggested. “I always wanted to compete. I was always that kid who wanted to compete and win. I think that’s my older brother complex.”

Thankfully, it was only four years ago or so that Hladin ramped up her commitment to track to a whole other level. And even then, it remained multi-faceted. “Before getting into just long jump and triple jump, I was mainly training for the heptathlon,” she explained. “I decided to focus on jumping when I made Team Québec for the (2022) Canada Summer Games as a jumper.”

And where some further specialize, clearly favouring one of the jumps over the other, Hladin admitted that there is some ebb and flow to her preferences. “It really depends how I am doing that season,” said the woman who has enjoyed success on both fronts. “I usually end up doing both at most events.”

“At the end of the day, I’ll be sore, but I like them both.”

Where Laurentian has been able to appeal to Québec-based student-athletes, at times, based on the francophone course offerings at the school, Hladin was the outlier, favouring studying in English and narrowing her choices to between Bishop’s and L.U.

“Even though I am from Québec and I have an accent, I am really bad at French – reading and writing,” she said with a smile. “But my great uncle helped to found the Criminal Justice program at Laurentian.”

For years, Hladin has benefitted from the training venues availed to her in Sherbrooke, a city that has hosted countless national caliber track and field competitions. Though the Laurentian fieldhouse is clearly more modest, there are some advantages to her training regimen this winter.

“It’s less jumping here,” she stated. “Back home, I would do a lot more pit work (the LU fieldhouse is not equipped with an indoor pit) – but I also realized that I am getting less injured. I am focusing on just getting the basics better.”

Having already reached the OUA Championship standards, the target that Hladin now eyes might differ from many of her teammates. “My goal this year is to make it to U Sports,” she said.

“I don’t know if I will make it, but I really want to.”

Lasalle Secondary graduate and second year Nursing student Brandon Radey brings a more scaled-down set of expectations into the new year. “I just want to keep setting PBs (personal best times) and make it to OUA’s,” he said.

Of course, for the young man who was more of a middle and long distance runner until his final year of high-school – “I thought I had a chance to make it to OFSAA (in grade 12) in the 400m – and it worked” – the learning curve is still new as he transitions to the indoor 300m / 600m tandem.

“Last year, the focus was more on the 600m and this year, well, we’re still looking,” said Radey. “There’s a little more pacing on the 600m; the 300m is more just all out.”

On a macro level, there is still some juggling of events as the 19 year-old taps into his early secondary school years, at times. “Last season, I thought track was my strong suit – but this season, I had a really good cross-country season,” said Radey, the latter more in line with his time with the Lancers.

“I think the track training really helps with my speed and the cross-country really helps with the base of endurance – so they kind of help each other out.”

That said, there is a need to alter the pathway for runners, even when making the move from the traditional 400m outdoor oval to the more common 200m indoor version. “The corners are really tight on the indoor tracks,” noted Radey. “You’ve got to slow down a little bit sometimes, just to make sure you don’t spin out of your lane.”

Plus, every track setting is unique, as the Voyageurs prepare to travel to Western University this weekend, site of the Don Wright Team Challenge. “I like the Western track,” said Radey. “I like that it’s around a hockey arena, so a little bit cooler.”

Then again, he is but one individual on a team of 21 – and God only knows each and every one is unique.

The remainder of the Laurentian 2023-2024 indoor track team includes: Travis Annett, Cameron Date, Seamus Doherty, Josh Kim, Patrick Leroux, Keegan Lockley, Owen Roney, Tristan Routhier, Skyler Savage-Perreault, Keon Wallingford, Sarah Booth, Charlotte Grenier, Abby Lanteigne, Erika MacNeill, Angela Mozzon, Kristen Mrozewski, Naomi Palmer, Claire Scholl and Jessy Trottier.

Joining head coach Darren Jermyn on staff are assistant coaches Kait Toohey, Dick Moss, Jim Taylor, Ryan Taylor, Neil Mahalanobis, Alexandre Noel de Tilly and Marvin Zongo, as well as student trainers Matt Keogh-Bateman and Kiara Lachance.