There’s definitely one athlete who won’t be coming back to the Scarborough-based Toronto Thunder’s annual alumni day Saturday, June 14 – and that’s Olympic sprinter Aaron Brown who just turned 22 last month.
Brown was not only a star football player for the Thunder, but also for Scarborough’s Birchmount Park Collegiate.
But football is not what got him to the 2012 Olympics in London nor the full scholarship to the University of Southern California. Instead, it was his blazing speed on the track.
Last year, he helped Canada to a bronze medal in the 4x100 metre relay event at the world championships.
This week, he is closing out his four-year U.S. collegiate career at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) track and field championships in Eugene, Oregon – and so far, so good!
Actually he simply could not have been much better in qualifying for this weekend’s finals in both marquee sprint events with the fastest qualifying time in the 200-metre event and second fastest qualifying time in the 100m.
As a result he will be in the NCAA final, in a good lane, in the NCAA 100-metre championship final Friday, June 13 at 5 p.m.; and in the 200-metre championship final on Saturday, June 14 at 2:42 p.m.
His top qualifying time for the 200m was 20.45 seconds on Thursday; his second best qualifying time for the 100m was a wind-aided 10.1 on Wednesday. The top qualifier, Trayvon Bromell, a first-year sprinter from Baylor, however, made a statement with a 9.92 qualifying blast.
As if that’s not enough, Brown is also a part of USC’s 4x100m relay team which also qualified for Saturday’s final at 2:03 p.m.
The Thunder, meanwhile, host a quadruple header at Birchmount Stadium (of which Brown is certainly no stranger to) with peewee, bantam, junior and varsity games at 9 a.m., 11:30 p.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively (all against the Pickering Dolphins except the opening peewee game against the Etobicoke Eagles).
Brown grew up in the area of Coxwell Avenue and Gerrard Street attending Bowmore public school.
The Thunder have a long list of alumni who have made it into the pro football ranks, including a currently active National Football League player (and Scarborough native) Orlando Franklin who is getting set for his fourth season on regular duty on the offensive line of the Super Bowl finalist Denver Broncos. He has made his share of visits back to his old youth club.
For more on the Thunder visit https://www.scarboroughthunderfootball.com/