Twin Lakes Secondary School graduate Zach Courtney is jumping toward his Olympic aspirations.
Courtney, 20, grew up playing hockey until he broke his wrist when he was 13. Then, he made the switch to basketball.
"I decided I could still shoot with a cast," he explained. "My friends played basketball and I wanted to stay active, so I played with them."
In Grade 9, while playing with the Orillia Lakers, coach Jeff Waite saw Courtney's potential in track and field because of his ability to dunk the basketball.
"He did high jump in high school and put the thought in my head to try it," Courtney explained. "I didn't really take it to heart immediately."
When Courtney reached Grade 11 and COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions kept him off the basketball court, he kept working on his jumping abilities.
"I was mainly focusing on trying to dunk," he explained. "My vertical was getting better, and I was getting a little faster."
During his high school victory lap year, Courtney was training at Peak Performance Fitness where he ran into Waite who once again put the bug in his ear about trying his hand at high jump.
"We ended up practicing twice a week doing long jump and high jump," Courtney explained. "I ended up doing mediocre at my first couple of meets but it turned around when I went to OFSAA Centrals."
At the pre-OFSAA event, Courtney ended up long jumping six metres and 77 centimetres. In the high jump, he reached 1.9 metres.
"It was cool to know that I was excelling pretty quickly," he said. "I stuck with it and it started to come together."
At OFSAA, Courtney placed sixth in the long jump and eighth in the high jump. His performance caught the attention of several scouts, and he was offered the opportunity to continue his track-and-field career at Western University where he is today. At the end of the 2022-23 season, Courtney was ranked 13th nationally.
"I really just try to better myself every single time I go out onto the track," he said.
Now entering his third year of university, Courtney has Olympic aspirations.
"That's my goal and I'd love to chip away at that over the next four years," he said. "I know there is a long way ahead to get there."
To achieve his goal, Courtney says he needs to keep focused and disciplined.
"I know the things that I need to do aren't easy," he said. "I need to stay on top of myself."
This past weekend, Courtney competed at the Ontario Outdoor Championships where he finished third in the high jump and fourth in the long jump. He is currently ranked 39th in Canada with a seven-metre long jump.
"I'm going to keep training as hard as I can," he said. "If I fall short, I'll only get better from it."
Courtney is in a five-year undergrad Kinesiology program at Western University. If track and field doesn't work out, he has an interest in a career in physiotherapy or cryotherapy.
