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It was just another day at the track for Phoenix Athletics Association, which took part in the junior Canadian track and field championships in Abbotsford, B.C. recently.

The Aug. 1 to 3 track meet is one of two major competitions of the year for the club - the other being the Ontario high school championships - and signals the end of another outdoor season.

The Scarborough-based Phoenix, which sent six athletes aged 19 and under, turned in a first, a second, two thirds and a fourth-place finish.

The men's 4X400 relay tandem of Trent Sayers, Richard West, Andre Hamilton and Daniel Harper - all from Scarborough - took the relay title with a time of 3:16, while Umar Khan wound up third in the shot put with a toss of 16.86m.

Khan, an Albert Campbell Collegiate grad who is attending York University in the fall, hit his peak at the meet, throwing two personal best marks.

"He was really on his game that day," said Bill Stephens, club head coach.

Khan fouled on a throw of 17.20 which would have given him the title, he said.

The club's results, as strong as they were, didn't surpass any expectations, however. The club is perennially strong in the 400m, 800m and the 1500m.

"That's about what we normally do," said Stephens, pointing out that there were a couple disqualifications that set the club back a bit last year - including West being disqualified for stepping beyond his boundaries in the 800m - but both West and the club redeemed themselves this year.

West clocked in at 1:52:1 to finish runner-up in the 800-m.

He also finished fourth in the 400m (48:65), behind Hamilton who ran at 48:02.

Sayers, who along with West and Hamilton will represent Canada at the October Commonwealth Youth Games in India, finished fourth in the 800m (1:53:5).

With the exception of a couple of international meets Canadian athletes are typically required to pay their own way, according to Stephens, which, given the financial status of some, can be difficult.

"A lot of these kids can't afford to go, it's too expensive," he said.

The cost attached to sending an athlete to a meet, such as the Abbotsford one, can run upwards of $2,500.

"Some have to run around and try to get their own sponsors, some (clubs) pay for it."

Scarborough-based I Be Fast's Jadeene Lowe finished third in both the long jump and triple jump events in B.C.

Phoenix Athletics Association and I Be Fast both train out of Birchmount Stadium during the summer months and Variety Village during the winter.