VANCOUVER – UBC Track and Field head coach Marek Jedrzejek has announced the commitment of Kwantlen Park Secondary standout Justin Kent (Surrey, BC), son of former UBC runner Scott Kent, to the Thunderbirds program.  He will join the T-Birds in the fall of 2010 as both a cross country and track athlete.

“He brings a lot of talent and added depth to the team.  We are excited to have him compete for the Thunderbirds,” said Jedrzejek. “After adding Luc Bruchet last year, we are landing another top BC High School recruit for 2010.”

Kent was recently named the 2009 Youth Male Cross Country Runner of the Year at the BC Athletics Awards Banquet, the same event where UBC freshman Maggie Woodward picked up the Junior Female Cross Country honours and sophomore Rohan Stewart won the Junior Track and Field Athlete award.

“It was just a comfortable fit. I know the school, I know the coach and the training program is very similar to what I am already doing,” said Kent. “The depth of the team also made my decision very easy as UBC has the potential to win a few national titles in the coming years. Living on campus will give me the feeling of being away from home even though I’m not.”

Justin was the top youth finisher (17 and under) at the BC Cross Country Championships at Jericho Beach on October 31. He then placed second at the BC High School Cross Country Championships a week later in South Surrey. Kent was also the top youth finisher from BC at the Canadian Junior Championships in Guelph, ON, on November 28.

Kent's father, Scott, was one of UBC’s great middle distance runners during the late 80’s when Jedrzejek first started coaching at UBC. The elder Kent competed in the 800m, 4x800m and 4x400m events for the Thunderbirds and even ran on UBC’s 1985 4x800m team which won the C.I.A.U. National Title and broke the Canadian record in a time of 7:32.

The younger Kent, however, is more of a long distance specialist.

At last year’s BC High School Track and Field Championships, as a grade 11 he won bronze in the 3,000m with a time of 8:52.26 and silver in the 2,000m Steeplechase in 6:09.57 – just 0.27 seconds over the standard he needed to qualify for the World Youth Championships in Südtirol, Italy.

Despite hitting the qualifying mark few weeks later, when setting a personal best of 6:01.78, he just missed out on selection to the Canadian team as two other runners posted marginally better times. Kent also ran a personal best time of 4:02.35 in the 1,500m at the Harry Jerome International Track Classic, which was the second best youth time posted by a BC Native last year.

“I am very proud and excited to be a second generation Thunderbird,” said Kent. “Signing with UBC has taken a lot of pressure off me and now I can just  concentrate on my upcoming track season.”

Kent is currently preparing for the upcoming track season where he will be aiming for double gold in the 3,000m and 2,000m Steeplechase events at the BC High School Championships and potentially qualify for the 2010 World Junior Track and Field Championships to be held next July in Moncton, New Brunswick.
 
He plans to pursue a degree in UBC’s world renowned Human Kinetics program.

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