People
Two Frosties to Go
U of G’s twin President’s Scholars pace each other in class and on the track
BY REBECCA KENDALL
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| The commitment that Nadine, left, and Lydia Frost showed to serving as role models and mentors for younger students in high school has continued here at Guelph. Photo by Martin Schwalbe |
St. Andrews, N.B., may not have its own McDonald’s, a mall or even a stoplight, but the rural community does boast incredible whale-watching, a vibrant summer tourist industry and Lydia and Nadine Frost, U of G’s first set of twin President’s Scholars.
Now in their second year of study, the Frosties, as they’re known to those close to them, were top students at Sir James Dunn Academy in St. Andrews, graduating with averages in the high 90s. But both are also skilled athletes and talented musicians with a record of giving back to their community.
Lydia, who is studying human kinetics, captured a bronze medal at a national track-and-field competition in 2007. Just a week before that, she was in Beijing, China, playing bassoon with the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra. That same year, the orchestra performed at the opening gala for the East Coast Music Awards and took home the award for best classical recording.
She also mentored younger students academically during high school and, as a certified Level 1 track-and-field official and “Run Throw Jump” coach, she encouraged young athletes to excel in sports.
Here at Guelph, Lydia worked last summer with Prof. Lori Vallis, Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, on a biomechanics research project that measured the gait of seniors as they walked over an obstacle and performed cognitive tasks.
Nadine, a biological sciences student, was also a member of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra and travelled with the group to Italy and China. As an athlete, she was ranked nationally as a top middle-distance runner and represented the Atlantic region at the North American track-and-field championships. By graduation, she was a registered track coach and was selected by Athletics New Brunswick as one of its leading athlete ambassadors.
She also served as a peer tutor, was a member of Teens Against Drinking and organized a 30-Hour Famine.
Last summer, she worked in the lab of Prof. Chris Hall, Environmental Sciences, setting up methodology for a project that is examining the release rates of pesticides and insecticides in different water formulations.
The Frosts are two of just three students from their graduating class at Sir James Dunn who left the East Coast to attend university. For them, there was never any question about whether they’d go to the same university. There also wasn’t much question about which school they would choose.
“We started hearing about U of G’s track-and-field team winning national banners,” says Nadine, “and at first we were like, ‘Where’s Guelph?’”
They did some research and started talking to Dave Scott-Thomas, U of G’s head coach of cross-country and track and field. The sisters visited U of G when they were in Grade 11 to meet with him.
They made quite an impression on him.
“After we met, I went home and said to my wife: ‘Man, I really hope they come here,’” says Scott-Thomas. “I knew they’d fit in great and that they’d be fun to work with.”
Three years later, Nadine and Lydia haven’t disappointed.
“They’re focused, they’re talented, they’re trustworthy, they’re tough and they’re national-class athletes,” says Scott-Thomas, adding that the Frosts are the first set of twin female runners he’s coached in his 13-year career at Guelph. “They’re serious about what they want to do, but they still have a good time with it. You don’t always see that in sports. They’re a coach’s dream. I’ve got three young daughters, and if they grow up to be like Lydia and Nadine, I’m going to be a really happy dad.”
Last year was a successful rookie year for Nadine, who was a 1,500-metre finalist at the Francophone Games and a first-team All-Canadian and is now the third-ranked 1,500-metre runner in Canada. She also helped the Gryphons capture gold at nationals as part of the 4X800-metre relay team. This team, whose other members were Rachel Aubrey, Jess Vanhie and Lindsay Carson, also captured a new U of G record for this race.
Lydia also excelled athletically in her first year at Guelph and was a first-team All-Canadian. As a member of Athletics New Brunswick, an association that considers members to be running on behalf of New Brunswick even while competing on teams outside the province, she captured the provincial record in New Brunswick for the 1,000 metres (indoor).
So what do they owe their success to? They say that coming from a supportive small town was key because all the young people participated in every available activity.
“We did pretty much everything we could because our school was so small,” says Nadine. “There were about 170 kids from grades 7 to 12 in our town. Our population was about the same as that of South Residences, so it was a very different upbringing. Our parents had to do a lot of driving to get us to places to do all the things we wanted to do.”
Adds Lydia: “There weren’t enough students in our school to have cliques. There weren’t enough of us to have only sporty people on the teams or only drama people in the theatre productions, so you had to fill a lot of roles.”
The Frosts say another key to their success in high school was their fierce competitiveness with each other, which drove them to constantly do better each time.
“We started doing track in Grade 3 because we knew we’d get one Friday off for a track meet,” says Lydia. “Then we discovered we were pretty good at it, and we enjoyed training and competition. I’d win one, then Nadine would win one, then I’d win one, and it went back and forth like that. We were very competitive. It has mellowed down since then.”
Despite their past sibling rivalry, they now view themselves as a team, and when it came to choosing a university, there was no doubt they’d make this journey together.
“It would have been extremely difficult for me to leave home and be here by myself,” says Nadine. “It was such an easy transition because I had half of my home life with me.”
The commitment Lydia and Nadine showed to serving as role models and mentors for younger students in high school has continued here at Guelph. For the past year, they’ve been volunteering with the Kidsfest Running and Reading Club, an organization whose executive director is former Olympian runner and U of G graduate Sylvia Ruegger. Locally, the program runs fitness and literacy programming at Willow Road Public School.
The twins also visit schools to speak on behalf of Believe to Achieve, an outreach program that aims to inspire youth to work hard and achieve their goals. In addition, they serve as mentors to younger members of the Speed River track-and-field team.
“It’s nice to be viewed as a role model for kids because when I was a kid, I found role models to be so important,” says Nadine.
For Lydia, the best part of community service is seeing the excitement of the kids and watching them progress toward their goals.
“It’s incredible to begin to see all the things you’ve been working with them on all year finally come together. That’s when you know you’ve made a difference.”