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Three local junior athletes will represent Canada at the Youth Commonwealth Games in India Oct. 12 to 18.

Etobian Phillip Hayle and Mississaugan Lauren Leon, a product of the Etobicoke Track Club, will join Duncan Moffat, an Etobicoke-born wrestler, as a part of the 59-athlete Canadian team participating in the Pune, India Games next week.

Moffatt, who got his first taste of international competition at the Fila Cadet Pan American championships in El Salvador this summer, where he grappled to a silver medal, earned his ticket by winning his 58-kg weight class at the national trials in Ajax this year.

One of just seven junior wrestlers representing Canada, Moffatt took to the mat a few years ago because he grew tired of his older brother Alan, currently with the national team, practising new moves on him.

He's aiming for gold in India but, ultimately, he's looking to a bigger picture.

"I'm nervous but I'm confident in my training," he said about his expectations. "I'm looking to widen my international experience and use (it) as a stepping stone for future international tournaments - and in four years the 2012 Olympics."

Hayle, in his last year of high school and training out of Brampton Track Club, will run in the 100m and 4X100 relay. It marks the 17-year-old's third time representing Canada.

"I love the sound of the spikes ripping the track, the sound of the starter's pistol, and the sound of the crowd... the environment is amazing and it gives me an adrenaline rush," he said, in describing the appeal of the track.

Competing against older runners at the junior nationals in B.C. this summer, Hayle turned in a silver medal performance in the 100m (10.57) and a bronze medal in the 200m (21.62) to qualify for the Games.

He hasn't given much thought to where he'd like to attend school after high school, but it hasn't stopped the offers from rolling in, including scholarship offers from Cornell University, Columbia University, Stanford University, University of Arkansas, University of Tennessee, University of California Los Angeles, Florida State, and University of Idaho.

He currently holds the Canadian record in the 100m (10.51) and is hoping to shave two-tenths of a second off that mark by next season to qualify for the Pan American Games next year.

Last but certainly not least, Etobicoke Track Club's Leon is running the 400m in India.

She's fired up about her first international experience.

"I have never represented Canada before, but am very excited at the opportunity," she said.

Leon, 18, is aiming for a new personal best (55 seconds or faster).

"This (trip) will be a great learning experience."

More than 1,300 junior athletes are expected to participate from 71 Commonwealth countries.