| Not that
Spicer ever lacked motivation. Pretty much since the time
that he burst onto the local track scene via various Lively
elementary schools, the young man who surprised himself
by qualifying for the Canadian Legion Track & Field
Championships in 2018 in the high jump has been more than
willing to put in the work.
Typically, the rewards of those efforts
are confirmed in competition. Not in the spring/summer
of 2020, however. Not even likely in 2021. And so athletes
are left to train - and train and train and train some
more.
“I was blessed to do a sport like
track where I can pretty much go and run anywhere, and
it really doesn’t matter,” rationalized Spicer.
“As long as it’s warm enough out, I can run
wherever I want. But a lot of coaching wasn’t able
to happen during the lockdowns. It was weird not having
that coach who was constantly picking away at the technical
stuff.”
“It felt like I was working out
more based on general fitness than the technical aspect
of it.”
Unfortunately, “warm enough”
are two words that are seldom used in the same sentence
as “Sudbury winters”. With no access to the
fieldhouse and indoor track at Laurentian University,
Spicer and others simply had to make the best of it.
The young man who would have been given
great odds to break the current senior boys 100m dash
record of 11.07 (Eric Roque - Spicer ran 11.05 at the
Legion District Meet in June of 2019) had a SDSSAA championship
been hosted in either 2020 or 2021 was back to counting
his blessings.
“Towards the end of my volleyball
season (November 2020), I was able to get a treadmill
and some weights from family and family acquaintances,
which I was thankful for,” he said. “It’s
difficult not having access to the facilities.”
“I got a good amount of weightlifting
and strength training in, which was still beneficial for
a strength-based athlete like myself. I was happy to get
that sort of work in.”
Of course, it certainly didn’t hurt
that Spicer’s pre-pandemic numbers had already caught
the eyes of track coaches across the province, enough
to generate some interest. Rest assured that he would
love nothing more than to repay the faith of the Gryphons
coaching staff in spades, whether the OUA indoor track
season is ready to go this winter, or somewhere a little
further down the road.
"It’s unfortunate that I lost
these opportunities to show what I have,” said Spicer.
“I’ve been training my butt off for a year
and a half but unable to compete. I’m hoping that
when I hit that university stage, I’ll be able to
show what I have been training for. I’m looking
forward to that, excited to have the opportunity.”
“I know that I am going to have
opportunities in the future - hopefully, I will be able
to capitalize on them.”
It’s been 18 months or so of relying
on those closest to him, family, Track North coaches,
teammates, everyone that Logan Spicer realizes is in his
corner. Still, he looks beyond that.
“The athletes that I compete against
motivate me indirectly,” he suggested. “It’s
not even that I necessarily talk to them, but knowing
that other athletes are in similar situations to me. That’s
what I try and think about, that there’s these other
guys that are training just as hard as me, possibly even
harder - and that keeps me going.”
Though he is unable to offer tangible
proof, with meets and such on hold, Spicer feels stronger.
Cautiously optimistic, he acknowledged having at least
some numbers that run through his head.
“It’s hard to say with the
high jump, just because I haven’t been over a bar
in so long,” he said. “I’m really curious
to where I am going be at. I’m really not sure,
quite honestly, but I’m hoping that I am above 2.0
metres - but it’s really hard to say.”
What he can say, with certainty, is that
come September, he will be ready to start the next leg
of his journey, at the University of Guelph. And that,
if nothing else, is a positive thing - which is what Logan
Spicer is really all about.
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