Camaraderie and self-challenge were the orders of the day as junior and senior high runners took part in St. Paul Athletic Association (SPAA) cross-country under beautiful blue skies last Thursday at Ross Lake.
“It was a nice day to run,” said Mallaig’s Brooke Corbiere, a Grade 12 student who came in first in the senior girls’ category. She said she found the run to be easier than Westcove, where the event has been held in past years, with more gradual hill runs rather than steep inclines.
Spectators watching the finish line cheered and hollered for every person coming through the run, which varied in length from two to six kilometres, based on the age of competitors.
“It’s actually really cool, as you’re running, everyone will be like, ‘Good job. We all high-fived each other as we went by,” said fellow Grade 12 student and Saints competitor Courtney Hebert. “Everyone’s pretty sportsmanlike.”
“It’s way more fun to run when you’re cheering for each other, rather than fighting (to place),” added Corbiere.
After all was said and done, Racette Junior High school would capture the junior high banners for boys and girls, while St. Paul Regional High School and F. G. Miller would split senior high honours for the girls and boys respectively.
Gilles Gervais, coach for Racette cross-country, said that his junior high students “basically train harder and longer distances than the meet” at the trails at his place. For kids that put the effort in at those practices, “Ross Lake is a piece of cake.”
Coaches also run alongside the students at practices, and he says, “That’s kind of motivating for them, because they don’t want to get beat by the old guys.”
But in the end, his main focus is making sure that students are active, setting personal goals for themselves, and developing lifelong habits of physical fitness.
Hebert said the senior girls’ banner has been a long time coming for the Saints.
“I think our coach mentioned we haven’t won the girls’ banner for (four) years. That’s really exciting for us - I guess that’s a big deal,” she said.
In those four years, Saints coach Hank Smid says, “It’s a fight between Mallaig and us.”
This year, the female Saints pulled away from their Stinger rivals in the senior girls category, with Mallaig only having one athlete, Corbiere, run in the category.
Smid said he was also happy to see F. G. Miller developing its cross-country program and claim the senior boys banner.
“Obviously, I do want to win it, but it’s nice to see another team getting involved in cross-country,” he said, adding now he’s focusing on zones, where he’s excited to see 41 athletes from the school take part in the run in Vermilion this Wednesday.
FG Miller coach Jonathan Randall said his boys were really close to winning the category last year, but just didn’t have enough senior high runners. This year, the school won the junior and intermediate categories, and came third in the senior category to win two points over second place finisher, the Saints.
“The kids were pretty excited about it,” he said, adding most of the cross-country athletes are in a sports-performance class in which they practice running.
“For it to pay off is kind of nice,” he said, noting building the program in junior high also helps.
While banners were exciting to receive, all the coaches expressed their pride in the athletes coming out for their schools, whether they came in first or last or finished at a sprint or a walk.
Tristan Dell was the sole senior high boy running for Glendon School, explaining he came out because, “I just wanted to do a good run, and support my school, support my body.”
Dell said he has been working over the last month to get in shape to compete, running in the mornings and evenings outside of school. Running has an appeal as something an individual can do on his or her own, he said, adding, “Even someone like me, who doesn’t play sports – I’m challenging myself.”
