Five medals for The Speed Academy

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Published: Friday, 16 March 2012 22:38

Team competes at U.S. High School National Championships

PICKERING -- The Speed Academy brought home a total of five medals from the U.S. Indoor High School National Championships, which was held in New York.

Mariam Abdul-Rashid led off the medal haul by winning the Grade 9 girls 60m and 400m. Her winning time of 55.99 seconds in the 400m was a new U17 provincial record. Her 400m performance was one of the most impressive of the competition.

Brandon Bobb matched his personal best time of 6.73 seconds to take the silver medal in the boys 60m dash, narrowly missing the gold by just one 100th of a second.

Tacuma Anderson-Richards won a pair of bronze medals. He cleared a high of 2.01m in the boys high jump and leaped 14.71m in the triple jump to earn a spot on the podium.

Winning five medals at the U.S. High School National Championships is the club's greatest accomplishment to date.

Tony Sharpe helps score scholarships for track and field stars

tony sharpe

Sharpe, the former Canadian Olympian, runs the Speed Academy, a developmental track and field club in Pickering, which has helped dozens of athletes get NCAA scholarships.

The club was founded in 2006 and Sharpe left his corporate account manager’s job at Bell to track athletes full-time a few years later.

“I’m a full-time coach, you know, not something people do often in Canada,” says Sharpe, 59, adding about 50 Speed Academy athletes have received scholarships.

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