By Sean Leslie

PA track star named athlete of the year

Feb 15, 2013 | 11:08 AM

St. Mary High School track star Katelyn Lehner has been named the Youth Female Athlete of the Year by Sask Sport.

Lehner was nominated for the award by Saskatchewan Athletics after a dominant year in which she won numerous gold medals at provincial and national competitions.

She beat out two other finalists, Sierra Bronkhorst and Gabrielle Edwards, through an online vote decided by provincial sports organizations.

“It’s a real honour … and it shows that your work is paying off and that you’re doing well for yourself,” said Lehner.

Lehner’s 2012 track season was outstanding as she dominated at the high school, provincial and national levels. She ended the season ranked number one in the 300 metre hurdles, No. 2 in the long jump and number four in the heptathlon (junior level) nation-wide.

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The scary thing for her competitors is that Lehner just started competing in the heptathlon and 300m hurdle last year.

“It was a really great year,” she said, “the hep was something brand new for me … the 300 hurdles was something pretty much brand new for me so being so fresh at those events and working out the way that they did was kind of a real surprise.”

The high school senior isn’t sure exactly where she will be in the fall but is weighing her options both north and south of the border.

One thing is certain, she would like to represent Canada one day, “Olympics is the main goal for track and field so that would be amazing one day,” she said.

However, she is taking things one day at a time, “you can’t look four and eight years into the future, you have to be looking at your next training session, your next meet because things can happen so quickly.

Lehner is currently training with Canada’s Olympic development program.

sleslie@panow.com

On Twitter: @_seanleslie