YARMOUTH, N.S. – It was quite a first year of collegiate running for Yarmouth County’s Hudson Grimshaw-Surette, a season that included multiple wins at the AUS (Atlantic University Sport) indoor championships and being named Dalhousie University’s rookie male athlete of the year.
The 19-year-old from Chebogue – whose main event is the 800 metres – is eyeing some potential summertime meets.
Interviewed June 13, he said he was considering a meet in Quebec City the weekend of June 23 and perhaps the Canadian Track and Field Championships in early July.
This past winter, Grimshaw-Surette was a big winner at the AUS championships in Moncton, taking the 600 and 1,000-metre titles. He also won gold as a member of Dalhousie’s 4 X 400 relay team and was a member of the Tigers’ second-place 4 X 800 team.
He then went to Windsor, Ontario, for the Canadian university championships, where he placed 11th in the 600 and seventh in the 1,000. Dalhousie’s 4 X 400 relay team was 10th, but the school’s 4 X 800 team didn’t go to the nationals.
Last fall, at an indoor meet in Halifax, Grimshaw-Surette ran 1:54.97 to set a new provincial junior indoor record.
Also last autumn, he was an alternate on the Dalhousie cross-country team that won the AUS title.
Reflecting on his first year as a collegiate runner, he said, “Everything went well. I was happy with it. It was a little rocky in the middle. I ended up with an injury, but that’s part of the sport, and by the end of the season everything came together.”
In recognition of his accomplishments, he received the award for Dalhousie rookie male athlete of the year.
(He excelled academically too. Grimshaw-Surette, who is studying kinesiology, finished the year on the dean’s list and was a U Sports academic all-Canadian.)
This spring he went to Boston for his first outdoor 800 of the year, placing fourth in 1:53.
Since then, his focus has been on training. His mother, Torey Grimshaw, continues to work with him here at home, but he said he stays in touch with Rich Lehman, his coach at Dalhousie, via email.
“It’s like both of them working together,” he said.
Grimshaw-Surette ran his personal best for the 800 of 1:51.44 last year. The 800 is his primary event, although he said he may run a couple of 1,500s this summer, perhaps some 400s too.
