24 - The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday July 12, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Oakville's next Olympic crop? Three local runners reach finals at national track-and-field championships While most people's eyes are on this year's crop of Olympians, a trio of young Oakville runners has its sights set on possibly qualifying for the 2012 Games. Miana Griffiths, Caitlin Bailey and Scott Emberley all reached the finals of their respective events at the Canadian Olympic track-and-field trials in Windsor last weekend. Griffiths, who won the senior girls' 100-metre gold at last month's provincial high school championships, placed fifth in the 100m at nationals. Bailey, a five-time OFSAA medalist during her days at Abbey Park High School, finished sixth in the 800m, and Emberley -- an Ontario University Athletics 1,500m champ in 2007 -- came eighth in the 1,500m final. "I think it's great for the sport and great for Oakville," Emberley said of having three local residents reach national event finals. "To have three athletes competing at that level is incredible." Griffiths, 18, has had a goal of reaching the Olympics for a long time already. Her showing at nationals only boosted her confidence. "I had goals and I wanted to accomplish them," said the St. Thomas Aquinas grad, who will attend the University of Guelph in the fall. "I have a pretty good shot (at the 2012 Games), with my mom behind me and my coach. I'm very happy." Griffiths ran a time of 11.93 seconds at the trials. Her personal-best time is 11.79 seconds. Bailey isn't quite so sure of her Olympic prospects, but she never figured she'd still be running competitively at this age either. "I didn't even think I was going to run in university," laughed the 20-yearold Boston College student. "Now that I'm doing it, I have absolutely no regrets. (The Olympics) are not something I'm really going for, but if I take quite a few seconds off my time, I wouldn't push the idea away." Bailey, nursing a neck injury at trials, crossed the line in a time of 2:07.42. Her best time of the season was 2:05.18, a time she also posted at the 2007 NCAA championships. "The season dragged on so long, I passed my peak," she said. Emberley, a former Aquinas student, set a goal of making the finals at nationals. "Once I got there, it was all gravy," he said. "I wasn't running (at the pace of) the guys who were making the Olympics (this year), but I still finished eighth -- which was above my expectations -- and set a new personal-best doing it." Providing more reason for optimism for the 21-year-old is the fact that he was able to run a time of 3:47.67 despite not being able to train much this season. Recovering from plantar fasciitis that still flares up, and working 50-60 hours a week with a stock brokerage in Toronto, Emberley has been able to run only half the amount he was running in April. "To be able to run as well as I did this summer with all the other stuff going on was really motivating for me," said the University of Western Ontario student. -- Jon Kuiperij SUBMITTED PHOTO SUBMITTED PHOTO NATIONAL FINALISTS: Pictured clockwise from top, local runners Caitlin Bailey, Scott Emberley and Miana Griffiths all reached the finals of their respective events at last weekend's national trackand-field championships in Windsor. OAKVILLE BEAVER FILE PHOTO WHO DOES IT... 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