One can run like the wind while the other strikes a golf ball with the precision and confidence of a young Sandra Post – Canada's greatest female golfer.
Emily Lucas is ranked number 1 as Alberta's best female track and cross-country mid-distance runner while Courtney Dickson is the best young female golfer in Central Alberta and a favourite this year to win the provincial school championship.
Both young ladies are just 16 years old and Grade 11 students at Innisfail Junior/Senior High School.
“Yes, they are our two showcase athletes right now, girls excelling to the highest level,” said Jeff Anderson, athletic director and vice-principal at the Innisfail high school. “Both of these girls work. Both of them are high-end academically. They don't play multiple sports. They focus on that passion. Courtney's passion is golf and Emily's passion is running.”
Last year Lucas won the central zone gold medal and captured top prize at the provincials. She is a national-calibre runner in both cross-country and track. Already this season she has won two prestigious meets in Red Deer, the G.H. Dawe Run and the Red Deer Lightning Invitational XC Race. She finished second overall last weekend in a meet in Wetaskiwin.
“There are four more runs and I know she has got her sights set on zone gold again and provincial gold this year,” said Anderson, adding Dickson is just as dominant on the links. “Another phenom. We are so lucky. Courtney came in last year and blew the competition away, doing an 80 to win the zone championship.”
Both girls know the key to their current and future success depends on full commitment to a strict training regime.
“I train every day of the week because I am training with track and cross-country right now, so it is a little crazy,” said Lucas.
While training for her four-kilometre cross-country run competitions she is also working hard for her track future with a focused and keen eye on the Olympics.
“That is any athlete's end goal. That is what you have in the back of the mind,” said Lucas, who is currently ranked number 1 in the province in the 1,500-metre and 3,000-metre track events. Her goal this season is to make the national team for the World Youth Championships.
For now though, Lucas is training for the four-kilometre cross-country competitions. “It's not my best race but it's different,” she said.
Lucas has the zones coming up on Oct. 9 and the provincials on Oct. 19. With two big meet wins already under her belt she is clearly the favourite to win both. However, she is not taking anything for granted.
“It puts a lot of pressure going into it and you don't want to go in and do badly,” said Lucas, adding she is already excited about competing at both meets. “Some of the girls I raced with at track nationals are going to be there.”
Dickson, meanwhile, has had commitment to improve and succeed at her game for most of her life. She first began playing golf when she was just three. The young woman's mentors were and still are her parents.
“My dad golfed for his whole life pretty much and my mom got into it. I guess it just funnelled down to me,” she said.
As for the professionals on the LPGA tour, she has no particular favourite but she is a student of the game, conceding there is much to learn from them.
“I really like to watch the different techniques they all have. Every one plays a totally different game,” said Dickson, who works and practises at the Innisfail golf course. “In the end it all comes down to the mindset you have when you go into it. If you go into it and say, ‘I'm not sure' but if you go in and say, ‘I can win this' or ‘I can place top five' then it makes it a lot easier on yourself.”
Like Lucas, Dickson is off to a roaring start this year. She won both the Innisfail Junior Open and the Lacombe Junior Open titles along with the central school zone. She is now aiming for a provincial school title, which was held last weekend in Strathmore. Dickson came fifth out of 72 competitors last year, her first attempt. This year she wants to come out on top. If she keeps things straight with the mental side of her game the championship could easily follow.
“I know I can win. The thing to do is keeping myself calm and not over-thinking things,” said Dickson. “You just have to breathe and not let your mind get the best of you.”
With their youthful drive and dedication to their respective sports, along with their excellence in academics, the young ladies have clearly established an enviable path towards great success that could go way beyond the humble confines of high school.
“The sky is the limit for these girls if they want to go post-secondary,” said Anderson. “They have what it takes.”
"They are our two showcase athletes right now, girls excelling to the highest level. They focus on that passion."Jeff Anderson,athletic director, Innisfail Junior/Senior High
