Joey Payeur
Hailey Beaudry thought she had met her Waterloo in Thunder Bay last week—but she actually will be there this Saturday.
The Grade 12 Muskie runner looked to have been denied a third-straight trip to the OFSAA cross-country championships—by a mere 2.42 seconds—after finishing sixth out of 36 runners in the five-km senior girls’ event at the NWOSSAA showdown last Wednesday in the Lakehead.
Dryden Eagles’ star Andie Wood won the race in 21:06 while Madison Clayton of the Hammarskjold Vikings was fifth (23:34).
With those two schools qualifying for OFSAA through the team category, that left four provincial berths up for grabs for those not affiliated with DHS or Hammarskjold.
The first two spots went to the runners who finished second and third in the race—Jacqueline Desimone of the St. Ignatius Falcons (Thunder Bay) and Robin Sampson of the Atikokan Voyageurs.
The third berth went to Ericka Krummenacher (Red Lake Rams), who won a sprint down the homestretch to finish fourth overall in 23:31.92.
Beaudry then was in a position of crossing her fingers and hoping for an unexpected break—which is exactly what happened.
Hammarskjold decided Friday to not send its team, leaving the option open to Clayton if she wanted to take the fourth non-affiliate berth and go to Waterloo on her own.
But when Clayton declined to do so, Beaudry suddenly was back in business.
“I was pretty excited when my coach told me,” said the reigning Muskie female athlete-of-the-year.
“I knew there was still a chance . . . but it didn’t look too good.”
Beaudry was knee deep in homework Monday in preparation for being absent from school for most of this week.
“Academics is a little more important than athletics,” she reasoned while still planning to get in a modified personal workout or two before heading for Waterloo.
“[Beaudry] ran a good race,” said Muskie coach Ilka Milne, who will stay behind while Beaudry’s mother, Kim, makes the trip with her daughter.
“She ran smart, kept up her pace, and had a strong finish.”
Beaudry was caught up in the mass start of the 300-plus runners last year at OFSAA and ended up 191st after coming in 174th in 2012.
But she already was planning ahead by scouting out the OFSAA course on YouTube, which Beaudry described as much wider for longer portions compared to last year’s course in Sudbury.
But she’s refraining from any placement predictions.
“I’m just hoping to have a good run that I can be proud of and that the people who support me can be proud of,” Beaudry remarked.
“I just want to have a good time, do my best, and have fun while I’m doing it.”
Beaudry’s performance at NWOSSAA last Wednesday was the key reason the Muskies wound up 10th in the team standings out of the 17 schools competing with 21 total points.
Hammarskjold won the team title handily with 201 points, followed by Dryden in second (133) and St. Ignatius third (121).
Meanwhile, Muskie Arthur Van Ael, in just his second race this season after battling through a hip injury suffered during the summer, wound up 13th overall out of 35 competitors in the senior boys’ seven-km event with a time of 32:11.
He landed just three spots short of an OFSAA berth—finishing sixth among runners not affiliated with DHS or Hammarskjold, who again captured the top two team slots among the boys.
“Arthur held up well,” noted Milne.
“He ran a modest, careful pace to avoid aggravating his injury, and we were all happy to see where he is currently relative to the competition while running conservatively,” she added.
Derek Patterson (Hammarskjold) topped the field with a time of 27:52.
In the junior girls’ four-km division, rookie Gabi Peters led the Muskie contingent with a time of 21:49 to land in 15th spot out of 26 participants.
Veteran teammate Tory Beaudry was 18th (22:44).
“Gabi and Tory ran well,” lauded Milne.
Hanna Johnston (Hammarskjold) was tops in the division with a time of 16:22.
And in the Midget (Grade 9) girls’ three-km event, Muskie Sydney Beck closed off an impressive rookie campaign by finishing ninth out of 29 starters with a time of 16:03.
“It was a good first NWOSSAA for [Beck],” said Milne.
“We hope very much to see her in juniors next year.”
Keegan Gaunt (St. Ignatius) led the pack with a time of 14:24.
Overall, the Muskie season was filled with ups and downs as injuries took a toll on a number of their runners, including Van Ael, along with veterans Sydney Radigan (senior girls) and Jessica Steele (junior girls).
But Milne remained upbeat about the season in general.
“We’re pleased with how the season went,” she remarked.
“Getting in our own home meet, and training consistently on trails, gave the runners more experience and confidence for NWOSSAA.”
The immediate goal for Milne is to recruit a broader base of runners for next season.
“We want more runners across the board,” she stressed.
“Our chances for OFSAA are much greater if we can field teams, with at least four runners in each division,” she explained.
“It is a tough sport and takes a lot of determination and self-confidence to train for, but it also gives back,” Milne added.
“Hills, uneven terrain, questionable weather all make you stronger,” she maintained.
“Team points, individual rankings, plenty of support from your competitors who know just how much pain you are in surging up that last hill—cross-country has it all.”
But Milne also said the building blocks for success next year have to start being put in place now.
“We also want to see our runners consistently establishing a strong running habit and endurance base through spring and summer, so that our season is more about finishing touches, race strategy, and pace knowledge,” she reasoned.
“That is the key difference between our higher-ranked runners and the rest that we need to work on,” she noted.
