Joey Payeur
All things—or all times—being equal, Muskie cross-country running coach John Dutton was brimming with optimism about the trail ahead.
With a collection of noteworthy efforts from his contingent at the annual Hial Pike Invitational at the Falls Golf Course last Tuesday afternoon, Dutton had lofty ambitions heading into today’s NWOSSAA championships in Thunder Bay.
“Based on last year’s times [at NWOSSAA], I think from the times I saw today [Oct. 13] we’re going to be competitive as a team and we will have individuals competitive, too,” he predicted.
Fort High needs to finish in the top two in the team standings at NWOSSAA to qualify for the OFSAA championships Nov. 7 in Collingwood.
Barring that, any individual Muskie wanting to advance will need to be one of the top four finishers among those runners not affiliated with either of the two qualifying teams.
The Muskies finished eighth out of nine teams in the girls’ five-km standings last Tuesday with 195 points.
Also finishing eighth to give Fort High its best individual result in the 94-runner event was team captain Jenny Hammond in a time of 21:07.
Lexi Erickson of the host Broncos claimed top spot with a sizzling mark of 19:22.
“I wanted to be in the top 20 today,” noted Hammond, who believed the mostly flat layout of the course posed a more difficult challenge than expected.
“I feel like I’m going to place all right [at NWOSSAA]; hopefully somewhere near the top,” she added.
Hammond was expecting more from herself in the middle portion of the Falls race but was pleased otherwise.
“My start was good and my ending was really good,” she recalled.
“In the last 350 yards, I was able to pass two people.
“I like it when there’s more people around you running,” Hammond added. “It pushes you to go harder.”
Landing in 45th place was Muskie Sydney Radigan (23:54), who overcame serious cases of shin splints the past two years to make her Grade 12 season her best since she was a first-year high schooler.
“I’m not feeling my shins at all, they’re perfectly fine,” beamed Radigan, whose only setback during last Tuesday’s race was having a rock find its way into one of her shoes.
“I had to stop and get the rock out, but I still finished strong and actually had a lot better run time than in previous years except in Grade 9,” she noted.
Sydney Beck wound up in 52nd spot (24:54) while Gabi Peters came in 58th (25:13).
“That’s one of the best runs I’ve had so far this year,” enthused Peters.
“I was a little bit frustrated with all the people around me at the start and it was tough trying to pass them,” she acknowledged.
“The team has been improving all throughout the year, and I think we’re ready to do this and hopefully go to OFSAA,” Peters added.
Grade 12 runner Erin Tomalty, meanwhile, is using her first-time venture into cross-country running as a conditioning tool in preparation for the high school curling season.
“I would like to have run a little bit faster,” admitted Tomalty, who finished in 69th place (26:05).
“I didn’t push myself as hard as I could have,” she noted.
“We’ll just see what’s going to happen in Thunder Bay.”
But teammate Tory Beaudry surpassed her own expectations by clocking in at 26:31 to land in 74th spot.
“We all ran really well today [Oct. 13] and our times were improved from Dryden,” noted Beaudry.
“It’s really different from most of our races having that many people coming off the starting line,” she added.
“But I kept a good eye on my teammates in front of me and managed to get through the pack.”
Kennedi Handberg rounded out the Muskie results with an 84th-place finish (29:07).
“That was my best race this year and I was happy with my time,” said Handberg, who felt she set a comfortable pace for herself.
“At the start, you have to find the right speed so as not to get tired throughout the rest of the race,” she reasoned.
“I think I kept up my pace pretty well and only walked once, which is good for me.”
In the girls’ 3,200m race, featuring participants from Grades 7-9, a pair of local seventh-graders who are practising with the Muskies this season as developmental runners both cracked the top 15.
Jaida Norris (Robert Moore) finished seventh in the 44-runner event with a time of 14:39.
Greta Fedoruk (J.W. Walker) wound up 14th (15:18).
“I don’t know where they placed for sure, and I don’t even care,” Dutton said, referring to his entire contingent.
“They all did very good and I was really pleased, especially coming off of Thanksgiving weekend where they probably all ate too much turkey,” he chuckled.
“We had a lot of personal bests [in the Falls].”
