Kelsey Balkwill

Kelsey Balkwill
Personal information
Full name Kelsey Ellen Balkwill
Nationality Canadian
Born (1992-09-19) September 19, 1992
Leamington, Ontario
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Sport
Country  Canada
Sport Athletics
Event(s) 400m, 400m hurdles
Achievements and titles
World finals 6th 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics
Personal best(s)
  • 400 m Indoor: 53.21
    (South Bend 2016)
  • 400 m: 54.25
    (Tallahassee 2015)
  • 400 m hurdles: 56.80
    (Jacksonville 2015)
  • 4x400 m relay: 3:30.92
    (Gainesville 2016)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Canada
Pan American Junior Championships
2011 Miramar-Florida 4×400 m relay

Kelsey Ellen Balkwill (born September 19, 1992) is a Canadian athlete. She is a silver medallist from the Pan American Junior Championships and a finalist from the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics.

Personal

Balkwill was born in Leamington, Ontario, the daughter of Todd and Kim Balkwill. She has two siblings, one brother (Matt) and one sister (Andrea). She is a graduate of Essex District High School in Essex, Ontario where she was a 6-time outdoor provincial champion in the 400m and intermediate hurdles. She recently graduated from the University of Miami.[1] She is also a member of the very successful Windsor, Ontario track & field community known for other international track and field athletes' : Melissa Bishop, O'Brian Gibbons, Mike Nolan, Scott Russell, Bradley Snyder, Jamie Adjetey-Nelson, Jordan Young, Brandon McBride, Noelle Montcalm and Nicole Sassine.

Career

At the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Moncton, Balkwill ran a personal best time of 59.04 in the semi-final in order to qualify for the final.[2] She went on to place 6th in final of the 400m hurdles in a personal best time of 57.94 which was also an Ontario provincial Junior-U19 record for the event.[3] At the 2011 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships in Miramar, Florida, Balkwill finished 4th in the 400m hurdles in a time of 59.21 after a 7 week layoff due to an ankle injury.[4] She then combined with Annie LeBlanc, Katherine Reid, and Rachel Francois to win silver behind the United States and ahead of the Bahamas in the 4×400 m relay in a time of 3:38.99. In 2012 as a freshman at the University of Miami she sustained a navicular fracture to her foot, which required surgery and forced her to end her outdoor season prematurely. After a 1 year hiatus from competitive competition, Balkwill returned to the track as a redshirt freshman to post a time of 54.63 in the 400m at the Georgia Tech Invitational on May 10, 2013. 2015 was a break out year for Balkwill and she returned to form by successfully making NCAA Championships in Oregon, in the 400m Hurdles with a personal best of 56.80 and helping lead the University of Miami women's 4x400m team to a 6th place finish earning All-American status in both events. In July 2015 she represented Canada by competing at the 2015 Summer Universiade in Gwangju, Korea narrowly missing the 400mh final.

References

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