Photo is courtesy of Gryphon Athletics - www.Gryphons.ca

 

A week ago, Zoe Sherar found herself enthusiastically chatting away with other brainy student-athletes from across the country.

The University of Guelph sprinter had been summoned along with seven others to Rideau Hall, the Governor General’s residence in Ottawa. This elite intelligent bunch of athletes were feted with the distinction of being among the Top-8 Academic All-Canadians.

 

Zoe was accompanied to the occasion by her parents, Michael and Jane, an aunt and uncle who reside in the Nation’s Capital as well as U of G athletic director Scott McRoberts.

 

“It was a pretty special occasion,” said the third-year economics student. “My parents were there, and so were an aunt and uncle and Scott McRoberts. It was cool to meet the others, share our experiences and listen to their stories.”

 

The 20-year-old Sherar only was the third Guelph student to earn the honour. The others were soccer player Laurie Halfpenny (1996-97) and pentathlete Brae Anne McArthur (2007-08).

 

How does Sherar find the time to balance her studies, track and volunteer work? It wasn’t always easy, but she is a model in time management.

 

She maintained an 85.7 percent average last year, won three gold medals at each the provincial and national levels and volunteered in the Peer Helper Program, in which she helped fellow students with academic-related questions, and other volunteer endeavours.

 

“It wasn’t always easy,” she said. “In my first year I lived in residence, and it was too easy to go home and hang out with friends.

 

“Now I treat it more like a job. It’s almost like a class or studying in the library is like a shift. I like to get all my studying done and class preparations done before I go to practice so I can relax afterwards.”

 

Sherar trains daily at the Gryphon Fieldhouse between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

 

Sherar comes from an athletic family. Her Mom was a cross-country runner at Queen’s and was named the Kingston school’s female athlete of the year in 1986. Michael set a school record at the University of Toronto in the 800-metre discipline during his time with the Varsity Blues. Older brother Matthew was on the Queen’s sailing team and now is a road racer cyclist.

 

Michael and Jane met each other at a post-meet party during their collegiate careers. Zoe also played hockey and soccer in high school. But she decided in grade 11 that once she began university, she would focus solely on her running.

 

She burst onto the provincial and national track scene last season with gold medals in the women’s 300m as well as the 4x200m and 4x400m relays at the OUA and U-Sports championships. The U of G women won the national title.

 

Her outstanding season earned Sherar a spot on the national team’s training camp last spring. She departed for Florida a day after her final exam.

 

Her two highlights with the national team arrived at the 2019 IAAF World Relays in Yokohama, Japan, helping Canada capture silver in the mixed 4x400m relay in May. Two months later, she helped Canada finish fifth in the 4x400m relay at the 2019 FISU Summer Universiade in Naples, Italy.

 

“I agree that I burst on to the scene [last season],” she said, crediting her weight and speed training as well as growing confidence gained from results and experience.

 

“The other part of why I improved was my training partner at Guelph, Morgan Byng. She was running so well and getting results she inspired me.”

 

Sherar has continued to gain ground this season with a personal best of 7.51 seconds in the 60m in Windsor earlier this month. She’s just a few weeks away from the OUA finals at York and U-Sport championships in Edmonton in early March. Then, she hopes to qualify for the 2020 Canadian Olympic team at the nationals in Montreal in June.

 

“The Tokyo Olympics definitely is something on my mind,” she said. “I think I have my best chance in the relays. The mixed relay is a new event that will be introduced in Tokyo this summer.

“But I don’t want to get too fixated on the Olympics yet. There's still is a lot to do before then.”