BEAVER BANK:<\/strong> Abby Lewis returned home from the NACAC U-18 championships with some extra luggage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Beaver Bank track and field athlete came home from San Jose, Costa Rica, where she represented Team Canada at the U-18 and U-23 NACAC championships, which were held July 21-23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides the two gold medals, Lewis broke new records, so her name is in the NACAC record books after hitting new times in the 3,000 metre and 1,500 metre races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 3,000, her first International race and proudly wearing the Canadian Maple Leaf, she won gold in a time of 10:01.67.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two days later, Lewis raced in the 1,500-metre race, and earned gold in a blistering time of 4:35.01 an almost 10 seconds better then the record set by Canada\u2019s Kendra Lewis in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWinning gold was really exciting, and it was a bonus to set new NACAC U18 record,\u201d said Lewis in an interview with The Laker News on the 3,000-metre race. \u201cWith the travel, heat and humidity I had no idea what to expect.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate group=”8″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”111″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said standing on the podium with the Canadian flag while they played the National anthem was really special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will remember it forever, \u201csaid Lewis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lewis had a day off before her next race and took advantage of it to the fullest to be prepared to give 100-plus per cent. She credited that to Team Canada\u2019s staff including a team Doctor and Massage Therapist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey were so helpful with massages and ice baths,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt as prepared as possible to race the 1500m on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said winning the gold in the 1,500 metre was just as special as the 3,000 metre golds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI got to race against one of my teammates, a great athlete from Ontario,\u2019 said Lewis, a Lockview High student. \u201cThat really helped motivate me to push hard. I felt proud to represent Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”192″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”78″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lewis was asked what the experience was like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe whole experience was amazing. I loved being part of Team Canada and representing my Country,\u201d said Lewis. \u201cNot only did I get to meet other athletes from across the country, but I also got to meet athletes from Central America and the Caribbean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m so grateful I had the opportunity. It was so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said donning the Canadian jersey on such a big stage gave her an idea what representing the country at an event like NACAC U-23 and U-18 championships was like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt definitely gave me a taste of higher-level competition,\u201d she said. \u201cI really tried to soak in the whole experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor now I\u2019m just staying focused on being the best I can be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no downtime for the Athletics East (formerly Chebucto Athletics) athlete as she gears up for the Legion Nationals in Quebec in mid August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”190″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”169″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”126″]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [adrotate banner=”84″] [adrotate banner=”115″] MAIN PHOTO: Abby Lewis of Beaver Bank stands on the podium with her 3,000-metre gold medal proudly draped in the Canadian flag. (Submitted photo\/NACAC U-18) BEAVER BANK: Abby Lewis returned home from the NACAC U-18 championships with some extra luggage. The Beaver Bank track and field athlete came home from San […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37335,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,21],"tags":[551,10,5,5204,545],"class_list":["post-37332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sports","tag-abby-lewis","tag-beaver-bank","tag-lockview-high","tag-nacac-u-18-championships","tag-team-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/362269455_10159426511802093_5025289481648306205_n-682x1024.jpg\")
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