A sprint to the finish

Sprinter Susan Sobey. (Nick Pearce Photo)

Susan Sobey is no stranger to achievement. The master’s student from Searletown, P.E.I., is a sprinter on Dalhousie’s Track and Field team and has been selected, for the second time, as an Academic All-Canadian.

“It’s a pretty big honour,” she says. “I didn’t do so well in my first year, so it was definitely a goal in mind for my third year.”

“I was starting to figure out school a lot better,” she laughs.

And figure it out she did. Ms. Sobey receives a number of academic awards, including a Dalhousie Renewable Entrance Scholarship, and is on the Dean’s List. She has also figured out how to manage school, athletics, and volunteer work with equal degrees of success. Along with being co-captain of the Track and Field team and a member of the Varsity Council, she has medaled at every Atlantic University Sport Championship she has entered, was a member of Team Nova Scotia at the 2005 and 2009 Canada Games, and has participated in the Olympic trials.

Ms. Sobey has also coached the track and field team at her old high school, as well as volunteered in a nursing home.

“It’s obviously a lot of time management,” she says of her busy schedule. “I really think that having track there helps me get my schoolwork done faster. It kind of gets you rolling better. You can’t procrastinate.”

With a training schedule of five to six days a week for 2? hours a day, Ms. Sobey graduated last year with an undergraduate degree in kinesiology, and has now enrolled in a Masters of Health Administration program. Although she is unsure of her future career, she anticipates track and field will always be a part of her life. “It’s not as easy to get training in once you start working, but I do plan on coaching at some point.”

And as this is likely her last year on the track team, she has set a goal for herself to medal at the CIS Championships, as well as to break the A-list record in her event (the 60 metres), a goal she is only 0.06 seconds away from.

“I’m coming in to the season probably in my best shape out of the last four years,” she explains. “I wanted to come back because I wasn’t that happy with how things went last year. It’s kind of my last chance at it.”