TRURO, N.S. – Truro javelin star Michael Adams has achieved unparalleled success during the past five years at the school level.
A five-time Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation champion, a junior record holder and former intermediate record holder, Adams has firmly staked his claim as one of best javelin throwers in the history of provincial school sport.
Now, the Grade 12 student at CEC is about to compete at the next level, and beginning next season will join the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds track and field team in Vancouver.
“I was looking at a couple of schools in the states, as well as UBC, but I also wanted to stay in the country and they’ve got good schooling out there and a great track team so that made my decision pretty easy,” said Adams, who will attend UBC on a conditional scholarship, which is based on results.
Adams, 18, looks forward to throwing at the university level and testing his skills against some of the top athletes in Canada and the U.S. The Thunderbirds compete in the Cascade Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Last year, both UBC’s men’s and women’s track and field teams won NAIA titles.
“Just watching over the past year and looking them up (on the internet), I see it’s like a family out there, a great team and the coaches are definitely top notch,” said Adams.
Adams is a multi-sport athlete, who played football at CEC. Last fall, he was the Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation Football League MVP in the Scotia Conference while handling quarterback, linebacker and punting duties. He’s also a soccer, volleyball and badminton player.
UBC coach Laurier Primeau said Adams will be a solid addition to the Thunderbirds.
“We have a really strong cohort of javelin throwers right now, so I think the reciprocal benefit that good training partners can have on each other will be paramount,” he said. “Our culture is strong, there is a good amount of peer coaching going on, and Mike’s addition will just contribute to that.”
Before his university career begins, Adams will compete for the Truro Lions at the junior national track and field championship in late July in Montreal. He enters that competition ranked seventh in Canada in the under-20 division.
As a high school senior, Adams won the javelin crown last month at the NSSAF championship in Wolfville. He also took gold in the shot-put to cap a highly successful school career and help CEC capture the provincial title.
“The track team was amazing, a great team, all the coaches were very helpful,” said Adams. “It was a fun season for my last year.”
Iain LaPointe has coached Adams for the past five years and is confident the teenager will do well at the university level.
“I think with Mike, the big thing is he’s such a multi-sport athlete … so now this is going to be the first time where he really puts all his time and energy into one sport, and I think the sky’s the limit for him,” said LaPointe. “I think we’re gonna see some really good results when he really buckles down and goes after one aspect of his sporting ability.”
Adams, who will study kinesiology at UBC, hasn’t set personal goals for the university level yet, but instead is focused on getting better with every practise session and competition.
“Just really do my best, improve my throwing abilities and see where it takes me,” he said.
While he will pursue athletics and academics on the other side of the country, Adams will see a familiar face at UBC. Football player Kamryn Matheson of Bible Hill has also committed to the university this fall.