Phoenix Athletic Association has the winning combination.

Andrew Heaney, a Cardinal Newman student set a record last week at a provincial meet.

He won the senior 800 metre at the Ontario high school track and field championships held in Ottawa on June 9.

He ran 1:48.26 breaking Kevin Sullivan's record at 1:48.64 which was set 15 years ago. Sullivan is an Olympic athlete.

"We talked early on about taking a shot at it," said Bill Stephens, Heaney's coach and head coach at Phoenix. "He worked hard and prepared well. He had other events at the meet that weekend but we dropped them. We put all our eggs in one basket. We tried to go for the record and it worked out."

The record-breaking run qualified him to compete in Brazil on the Canadian team at the Pan Am Junior Championships.

Heaney is also a 400 metre and a 1,500 metre runner.

"A 800 metre runner needs a combination of endurance and speed," Stephens said. "Most athletes have one or the other. It's rare to get one that has both."

He said genetics has a lot to do with great track athletes.

A week from his record-breaking run, Stephens put Heaney in the Ontario Track and Field Association (OFTA) Junior and Senior National qualifier 4 x 800 relay on June 16 with three other club members and they broke the record.

Stephens credits the win to the university students "coming home to roost" and they're ready.

"We're really strong right now," he said.

Phoenix has been around for about 45 years and Stephens has been coaching for more than 30 years.

"We have about 42 members," he said. "For the past two years we've been the top ranked track team in Toronto."

The relay team, along with about 20 athletes from Phoenix will compete at the OFTA Junior/Senior Ontario Championships in Ottawa on June 30 and July 1.