Toronto’s Lucia Stafford has set Canadian records on 3 occasions in 2017

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues' Lucia Stafford has won three individual races and set three Canadian records through the first five weeks of 2017.

Lucia Stafford
Lucia Stafford
Photo: Martin Bazyl.

The University of Toronto’s Lucia Stafford has set a Canadian record in, or won, each of her individual races so far in 2017. The 18-year-old freshman’s latest accolades include back-to-back record-setting performances at the Armory Track Invitational in New York City on Friday and Saturday.

The rookie standout for the Varsity Blues improved her Canadian U20 indoor 1,000m record on Friday running 2:42.21. On Saturday, at the same event at the Armory in Manhattan, Stafford broke the previous national U20 indoor mile (1,609m) record held by Nicole Hutchinson, which now stands at 4:41.30. Stafford finished second overall in the 1,000m, behind fellow Canadian Jenna Westaway’s 2:42.02, which broke the meet record held by Lucia’s sister Gabriela, and fifth in the mile.

The 18-year-old improved her previous 1,000m indoor personal best and the national U20 record by a rather remarkable four seconds.

Stafford had run a Canadian U20 indoor 1,000m record at the Can Am Classic in Windsor, Ont. in January before this weekend’s improvement. In 2017, the Toronto engineering student has as many wins as she does record-breaking runs. The wins include: Fred Foot Memorial 600m and 1,500m and Can Am Classic 1,000m. She has also qualified for the Canadian university championships on Toronto’s 4x400m relay team.

RELATED: Canadian Olympian Sage Watson takes down U.S. collegiate record.

Last summer, Stafford represented Canada at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. In her first cross-country season with the University of Toronto, Stafford finished as the top rookie at the Canadian university cross-country championships placing sixth.

RELATED: Melissa Bishop cruises to victory in first race of 2017.

The next big race on Toronto’s racing calendar is the Ontario University Championships at York University, Feb. 24-25, followed by the U Sports National Championships in Edmonton March 9-11. Stafford has the 600m and 1,000m national standards as well as an mile-equivalent in the 1,500m well below the required mark.

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