While winning a gold medal at the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association provincial competition in high last year of high school was certainly a feat to be proud of, St. Paul athlete Matthew Hawiuk’s sights were set on a bigger prize.
Since his Grade 11 year, Hawiuk has been competing fiercely in the long jump, and recently solidified his place as one of the country’s best long jump athletes by taking home a bronze medal from the Canadian Track and Field Championships.
Held in Ottawa from July 3 to July 9, the competition took place just a matter of days after Hawiuk celebrated his high school graduation from St. Paul Regional High School.
“I was training for this stage more than provincials,” admits Hawiuk, who only started jumping above average distances in his Grade 11 year.
He explains that in Grade 10, he was jumping below average while recovering from an injury. In Grade 11, he jumped over 6.7 metres, and realized he was an “above average athlete in Alberta for long jump.”
After competing with the Northeast Alberta Track and Field Club (NEAT) for a couple years, Hawiuk decided to join the Voleo Athletics Club, based out of Edmonton.
It was with the Voleo club that Hawiuk competed at nationals in the U20 category, coached by Ron Thompson. Fellow Voleo athlete Marco Arop also competed strongly at the event, taking the win in the U20 200-metre.
Despite being an outstanding athlete on the provincial stage, heading into the national competition, Hawiuk knew he was in for a challenge, since he was seeded near the bottom of the list of athletes competing.
First up, Hawiuk had to take part in a qualifying round, where he came in first place with a jump of 6.61 metres, moving him along in the competition.
“I really just wanted to try my best,” says Hawiuk of his mindset going into the competition. He added that while he didn’t have a specific goal in mind, he was keen to keep up with the competition throughout.
Adding to the challenge of competing at such a high level, Hawiuk’s family wasn’t able to make the trip to Ottawa with him due to the death of his grandfather. While he admits it was hard for Hawiuk to miss the funeral, technology did allow for his family to watch him compete via a live stream of the event online.
Following the qualifying round, Hawiuk would foul on his first two jumps. But, he managed to pull things together, registering 6.76 metres on his third attempt. He would then register jumps of 5.45 metres and 6.25 metres before heading into his last attempt against the other 11 athletes in the finals.
It was in that jump that he would record a distance of 6.95 metres, to narrowly win a bronze medal, and place himself among the top U20 long jump athletes in Canada.
Hawiuk says he didn’t realize how far he had jumped on his last attempt, as he hobbled out of the pit, hurting his shin during the attempt.
“I actually really didn’t know I came in third.”
Despite some of the athletes signaling to him that he had placed in third, it wasn’t until he actually heard his name announced that he realized what he had just accomplished.
Looking ahead, Hawiuk has already been named to the Grant MacEwan University track and field team, where he plans to attend school in the fall. From there, Hawiuk’s ultimate goal is to try out for some larger events, and become part of a team that competes on the international stage.
Hawiuk says he is thankful to his high school coach Hank Smid who helped him gather support to attend the national competition, along with the Town of St. Paul who also offered support for the trip to Ottawa.
