Blessed with unseasonably mild weather and moderate winds, some 555 boys and girls in grades four-eight from across the region competed in the 29th-annual Legion Mid-Canada cross-country run in Thunder Bay on Saturday.
Locally, the Mine Centre girls’ team finished second overall, and Katie McTavish (a grade seven student at Crossroads School in Devlin) was third overall individually, finishing the two-mile race in a time of 14:23.
Among the boys, Angus Melrose of Mine Centre was neck-and-neck for the lead, eventually finishing second in 12:54.
Here in town, the Robert Moore School team, which sent nine boys to run, finished fifth overall. Jared Catholique-Bruyere (sixth), David Fagerdahl (15th), and David Pierce (20th) led the way.
“I [wanted] to win . . . or at least finish top 10,” said Catholique-Bruyere.
“I [wanted] to finish in the top 10 again [he was 10th in 1999], and get a scholarship to the Legion Peace Garden summer camp,” echoed Fagerdahl.
“It’s my third year here, and I [wanted] to imprve from last year’s 30th place finish,” added Pierce.
Meanwhile, Skylar VanDulmen, Jacob and Luke McMahon, Kurt Carlson, and Michael Sobkowicz finished in the top 100.
“We wanted to stay in shap for hockey, and also see what this race was all about,” said VanDulmen and Carlson, both eighth-graders and first-time competitors.
Michael Sande, a grade five student at J.W. Walker School here, also ran an excellent race. He said he was kind of nervous beforehand but wanted to race “because I like to run.”
On the girls’ side, Sandi Elliott, Rachel Dutton, Natatlie Cain, Brittany Shine, and Brittany Hayes all ran very well for Robert Moore, with Elliott finishing in the top 25.
Race co-ordinator George Walters, of the Royal Canadian Legion sports foundation, noted six of last year’s top 15 athletes returned and made the race exciting.
Maryanne Matthews, of Bishop Gallagher School in Thunder Bay, won the girls’ race in a time of 14:13, followed by Carly Brown of Riverview School in Dryden (14:17) and McTavish (14:23).
Graham Hettrick, the North Shore champion from Red Rock Public School, won the boys’ race with a time of 12:49–just five seconds ahead of Melrose.
Bishop Gallagher won both the girls’ and boys’ team crowns.
Here are the top 15 finishers for both the girls and boys:
< *c>Girls
1. Maryanne Matthews (Bishop Gallagher)
2. Carly Brown (Riverview)
3. Katie McTavish (Crossroads)
4. Amy Brook Sloan (Franco Superieur)
5. Julie Follis (Bishop Gallagher)
6. Amanda Roberto (Bishop Gallagher)
7. Rachel Johnson (North Star in Atikokan)
8. Amanda Gamerschlag (Gorham Ware)
9. Ashley Potson (Mine Centre )
10. Jenna Ward (Bishop Gallagher)
11. Samantha Roberto (Bishop Gallagher)
12. Randi Kelly (Wellington Public)
13. Sarah Opaski (St. Thomas Aquinas)
14. Megan Juenke (Barclay Public)
15. Miranda Thibeault (Ecole Gron Morgan)
< *c>Boys
1. Graham Hettrick (Red Rock Public)
2. Angus Melrose (Mine Centre)
3. Nicholas McParland (Bishop Gallagher)
4. Sean Spenrath (Bishop E.Q. Jennings)
5. Garret Kocis (Golden Learning School)
6. Jared Catholique-Bruyere (Robert Moore)
7. Andrew Holm (Bishop Gallagher)
8. Taylor Riley (Bishop Gallagher)
9. Chris Perieria (Bishop E.Q. Jennings)
10. Darren Miller (Barclay Public School)
11. Marc Staal (Thunder Bay Christian)
12. Aaron Bruno (Bishop Gallagher)
13. Jonathan Potvin (Sacred Heart)
14. Michael Smilsky (Terrace Bay Public)
15. David Fagherdahl (Robert Moore)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
