The Martlet

The UVic track team has a rising star on its hands and her name is Rachel Francois. Francois, originally from St. Albert, Alta., is attending her first year at UVic, and has burst out of the gate to start the indoor track season with new personal records in the 300‑, 600- and 800-metre events.

As a star athlete in high school, Francois decided to attend UVic because of the competitive training advantages it offers.

“We can train all year around here outside,” says Francois. “I didn’t want to be running indoors on a 200-metre track for half the year. I liked that there’s good weather here all the time, there’s a good running culture and the coaches are outstanding. There’s just lots of opportunity.”

Francois entered the season with a focused mindset. She knew that if she put in the effort needed to improve, the Vikes coaching staff would help her rise to her potential. With the season now underway, she’s reaping the benefits of her driven mindset and her hard work is starting to produce results. At the Golden Bear Classic in Edmonton, Francois set new personal bests (PBs) in both the 300- and 600-metre events. In fact, her 600-metre time of 1:32.05 was only a second off from the school record and she is now the top ranked Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) runner in that event.

“My training had been going really well and I was feeling really good that day,” laughs Francois when asked of her accomplishments in Edmonton. “I was able to set another PB last weekend [Jan. 28] as well in the 800-metres at a meet in Seattle. I ran a 2:07.70. I’ve been putting all my energy this year towards track so it’s nice to see results.”

Despite all the hard work, Francois believes that a lot of her success can be contributed to how her teammates have treated her off the track.

“Just having a group of friends on the team made the transition of coming out here and moving away from home a lot easier,” explains Francois. “I was close with some of the team members already because they were from Alberta so that really helped.”

Most athletes would be ecstatic with setting three PBs in a single season but Francois has her sights set on accomplishing more. In fact, she’s far from finished.

“I always want to be looking to set a new PB every time I race. At CIS [the national championship] I’d like to hopefully do something really big there. After that, it’s the outdoor season and I definitely want to make nationals there.”

After her tenure at UVic, Francois plans to continue her family trade and compete internationally.

“My dad was in the Olympics in 1988 so I’d like to do something similar,” says Francois.

One thing is for sure: Canadians should remember the name Rachel Francois because we’ll certainly be hearing about her in the very near future.