Given her prodigious success in recent years on the track, surely there must have been a handful of races where Sudbury sprinter Melina Doiron emerged out of nowhere, overtaking opponents down the final straight-away to secure yet another win.
In a very real sense, that is exactly the strategy the University of Idaho Vandals utilized in securing the post-secondary services of the Air Blastoff / Lo-Ellen Park Secondary speedster, beginning next September.
Over the course of the past 18 months, Doiron and family have held many a conversation with potential suitors. And through much of that process, Idaho did not necessarily have the inside track with the 17 year old who has run a personal best time of 11.92 seconds in the 100m dash (and 24.65 in the 200m).
“Idaho creeped up on us about a month ago,” noted Doiron, who will join a track and field squad that features athletes representing no less than 14 different countries, including a handful of fellow Canadians (mostly from British Columbia).
Four on-line meetings ensued before Doiron was signed and delivered, offered a full ride to the NCAA Division I program that competes in the Big Sky Conference and is located in Moscow, Idaho, almost 300 miles north of Boise but just twenty minutes across the state line from Pullman (Washington) – home of the Washington State Cougars.
With plans to study Business Economics in the hopes of pursuing a career in real estate, Doiron quickly determined that the school of some 12,400 students checked off several of the boxes she (and family) most valued.
“I wanted to know what times their athletes are running now – and how they saw me fitting in, so they could help me reach my goals,” she stated.
For as much as the appeal of the training environment of more southern institutions would not be discounted, it was coach Robert Esmie (Air Blastoff) who suggested Idaho be given serious consideration – not the least because three-time Canadian Summer Olympian Angela Whyte (100m hurdles) was a product of the Vandals’ program.
“I was looking at California schools and the year-round training – but Idaho has an indoor football facility that is turned into a huge indoor track complex in the winter months,” said Doiron, who hopes to close out her career with the Lo-Ellen Park Knights by earning a podium placement or two at the OFSAA Track & Field Championships in June.
Certainly, she is on the right trajectory.
“I would describe the past 12 months as probably my best 12 months to date,” said Doiron. “I figured out how to run relaxed and my technique has come together much better. There are always things to work on but I would say, for the most part, things have come together.”
In fact, her first indoor meet of the year earlier this month featured a new PB in the 60m dash (7.68), chopping 0.07 seconds off her previous fastest time.
In the life of a sprinter, improvement is not necessarily clearly visible, in terms of race times, on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. There is a certain mindset that is required in order to tackle every workout with a degree of intensity and motivation, even when the benefits are not clearly tangible.
“If your times are not great on a given day – and that is going to happen – you just have to tell yourself that this does not define your abilities as a sprinter,” said Doiron. “It’s okay. I try and go into every practice forgetting about the previous practice. Today is a new day.”
That said, recent PBs are encouraging – and very much in line with the general game plan that coach and athlete devised. “The thing with Rob’s program is that it’s really about starting to peak now,” said Doiron. “I am peaking now in terms of my high-school abilities, but when I get to my mid-twenties, that is when you reach your maximum speed, when you really hit the big leagues.”
“There are almost two stages, I would say.”
Open minded to the point of entertaining the notion of even competing in her non-specialty events – Doiron has run the 400m and thrown the javelin during her time with Air Blastoff – the local product remains as coachable as ever.
“Rob is always teaching us that you need to become an athlete who can be versatile.”
And appreciative.
“Without coach Rob, I would not be where I am right now,” said Dorion, quickly adding a huge shootout to her parents (Phil and Joelle) in addressing the support she has received on her journey. “You go through some doubts, but Rob always believed in me. I am so grateful to have a coach like him.”
For his part, Robert Esmie continues to work with a good number of teens (and younger) who are displaying more and more potential. At the 34th International Youth Meet of Champions in Toronto in early December, the likes of Anderson Parent (gold in U18 boys shot put – 13.35m) and Amanda Syncox (gold in U18 girls 60m hurdles and 400m race) were kicking off the indoor season in style.
Others who competed at the event donning the Air Blastoff colours included Yuvraj Singh, Jaxson Mason, Jacob Paille, Jacob Lemieux, Mikko Leinala, Jaya MacDonald, Annabelle Richardson, Ay’den Nixon, Ash’li Nixon, Nadia MacDonald, Brooke Wylie, Brielle Doiron, Beatrice Kerr, Ella Gagnon, Anna Corsi, Lachlan Kerr, Rya D’Amour, Megan Pineau and Mackenzie Roy.
Some of these athletes then returned south for the inaugural Andre De Grasse Holiday Sprint Festival in Whitby, with sights now set on an Athletics Ontario meet (January 10th/11th) as well as a trip south of the border to attend the University of Michigan Invitational on January 18th.
