Cross-Country Western Region Champions!

It was a beautiful sunny day on the River Hills Golf course in Clyde River, site of our 2022 Western Region championships, until it rained on the senior race. Running on a golf course is typical for larger cross-country races like this one, and it also offers a great comparison. Scoring for golf and cross-country is the same; the lowest score wins. If you cross the finish line first, such as Natalia Shaw ‘27 did in her junior girls race, then you have earned one point. If you finish in 50th place, then you have earned 50 points toward your team score. A team earns their score with just their first four finishers. The closest team races for podium positions were separated by just one point, two points and three points. Each of those exciting races involved a KES team!  

For a whole host of reasons, the vast majority of runners start out too quickly in their races. It is a rare runner of any age, but even further so, a junior runner who has the maturity to keep the reins tight. Natalia Shaw ‘27 had her best race ever in that regard. Halfway through her three-kilometre race, she was in fifth position, and comfortable. (I have a photo of her at this point with another runner who eventually finishes in 18th – she went out too fast). The ending I already gave away – she claimed her gold medal by exercising patience and having a very strong second half, and by running a lot, especially over the summer months. In eighth position was Chelsea James ‘29. The results don’t tell me if Chelsea is the only Grade 6 student in the top 10, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me. Also cracking the top 10 among 118 finishers was Ali MacLean ‘27 in ninth, up from 10th last year. Our fourth scoring runner was another 2021 returning junior in her first race this season, Laura Oulton ‘27 in 30th spot. Showing how much our team has improved in a year, if Laura had been absent, then Maggie Wellard ‘28 would have been our scoring fourth, and we still would have had the same team placing! That is strong. Completing our sixth and seventh team runners were Maria Jose Pedroza ‘27 and Nathaelle Etou ‘27. The team scoring for first was about as close as it could be with our junior girls taking silver just two points out of gold (46-48). For comparison, third place was 83 points, and the 14th team stood at 312 points. When you see the medal ceremony photos, you will notice that Nathaelle is not pictured, that’s because she was out on the course cheering for her friend and teammate Ana Paula Valencia ‘26 as she represented KES as the only intermediate girl. Ana Paula has taken to heart what I want most from my athletes – to try their best. She lined up at the start line and gave it her best shot, but a long-term injury ended her race before four kilometres.  

In the largest race of the day, 122 junior boys did their best to qualify among the top five teams, and therefore, earn their ticket to provincials one week from today in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax. Kenshin Hojo ‘27 was our top junior Highlander in 13th position, followed by Fletcher Wellard ‘28 in 20th. Keen readers will remember that Hojo and Wellard were our top two last week as well. Harvey Hadley ‘27 and Carlos De Los Santos ‘27 completed our team score. Our fifth and sixth runners were Eli Strum ‘28 and Altyn Hood ‘29. All six junior boys earned their bus seats to provincials next week by scoring 91 points for fourth position, just one point ahead of the fifth team. 

As he has with every other race this season, Vinnie Armstrong ‘25 led the way in fifth spot overall to help secure a provincial spot for the team. Yasuhito Hojo ‘25 showed that he has the speed for shortstop and the fearlessness to push himself to hang with Vinnie as long as he could to cross the finish in eighth. Wesley Oulton ‘25 and Alex Graham ‘25 had two of the best races of the day as they continually pushed each other. After one kilometre, they were in 32nd and 33rd but climbed the ladder of broken runners and finished a very tough race just 12 seconds apart in 18th and 20th (Oulton, Graham). It takes a minimum of four to make a team, but this quad maximized their grit as they knew during the race that they were battling for a medal. The top three team scores were 40-48-51 with our Highlanders taking a well-earned bronze.

If looking and being tired won the race, then these two would have medals around their necks. Besting his previous fastest five-kilometre race by 24 seconds, August Henrici ‘23 had a fantastic senior boys race and ended his KES cross-country career on a high note. Just six weeks ago Max Stulberger ‘24 could not have completed a five-kilometre course without walking. He was able to accomplish that and push himself faster. That’s a great race day.

11:00 am – Opening ceremony 

11:30 am – Junior girls event 

12:05 pm – Junior boys event 

12:45 pm – Intermediate girls event

1:10 pm – Presentation of awards (Junior)

1:30 pm – Intermediate boys event

2:10 pm – Seniorg girls event

2:30 pm – Presentation of awards (Intermediate)

2:50 pm – Senior boys event/para-athletes event

3:45 pm – Presentation of awards (Senior)