For Kyle Boorsma, the first three-time athlete-of-the-year at the University of Guelph, his varsity running career was just another step on his competitive path.

“He’s a major talent, he’s going to make some major games teams for this country,” Gryphon cross-country and track and field head coach Dave Scott-Thomas says of the Guelphite who will turn 23 next week.

Boorsma wrapped up his varsity career with individual national titles in cross-country in the fall and on the track in the 1,500 metres and 3,000 metres in the spring, the championships adding to a dream school year.

“Absolutely nothing was a surprise,” Scott-Thomas said of Boorsma’s year. “The only thing probably missing was the indoor track (team) title, we were second there.”

Boorsma found that there was a different feeling in the cross-country season to the track and field season. He was chasing the target in cross-country, but he was the target in track and field.

“In cross-country, I was going into the season having never won the individual title so I was feeling some pressure to step up and finally win that,” he says. “I was really happy to have it all come together in the fall.

“The indoor track season was kind of the opposite sort of pressure because I’d won both my events (1,500m and 3,000m) the year before so it was kind of more of a pressure to be that same person that I was the year before and win those titles again. It was a little bit different for the two seasons.”

He is also a member of Gryphon track and field’s golden class, the class of 2011. The graduating class of Boorsma, Rachel Cliff, Dustin McCrank, Guyson Kuruneri, Courtney Laurie and Kim Richardson have been part of 13 national university team championship wins in cross country and track and field and they’ve accounted for 11 CIS individual titles, 21 CIS medals and 25 all-Canadian awards.

While Boorsma had success in elementary school, his competitive track career started in earnest in Grade 9 at Centennial CVI.