Oak Bay High winning first place in both the menB次元官网网址檚 and womenB次元官网网址檚 High School Cross Country Island championships at Beaver Lake Park on Oct. 25.
Exceptionally talented Grade 12 Justine Stecko won the senior girls race running the 4.2-kilometre course in 16 minutes and 41 seconds while maintaining an even tempo to preserve energy for the Oct. 28 club provincials in Abbotsford.
BrentwoodB次元官网网址檚 Madison Heisterman was second in 17:17 and St. AndrewB次元官网网址檚 Regional School athlete Bridget Mateyko, another Oak Bay resident, finished third (17:19). National level triathlete Collete Reimer of St. MargaretB次元官网网址檚 School was seventh.
Grade 11 Findlay Day held off the boys competition for first in the 6km race in 21:47. Second was Cooper Langard (21:49) from Parkland, who burned a few matches to see if he could catch Day, while third place Fraser Van Allen of Dover Bay, a Grade 10 student, cruised in at 21:57.
The question of the day was whether to wear spikes or regular running shoes. Many of the elites did wear spikes but not all. Stecko chose not to, hoping to avoid the carnage of a wayward spike, though she nearly regretted it.
B次元官网网址淚t was muddy but I just didnB次元官网网址檛 want to hurt myself [with spikes], but then I did slip a lot,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚 guess it worked out.B次元官网网址�
Day also went without spikes, knowing the race was about pacing and wouldnB次元官网网址檛 come down to a sprint for Day, who was able to fend off Langard while preserving his race legs for Saturday in Abbotsford.
B次元官网网址淚 was focused on my pace and using the downhills to build a gap, that is the only way I am going to win,B次元官网网址� Day said. B次元官网网址淭he last 400 meters is not my strong suit, IB次元官网网址檓 not one for sprinting.B次元官网网址�
CowichanB次元官网网址檚 Jessica Castle won the junior girls race in 17:31, 10 seconds ahead of Maddy Perry (Glenlyon Norfolk School) in second and Emma Wong (Mark Isfeld) in third. Brentwood College athlete Keaton Heisterman won the junior boys race in 15:08, just ahead of Ethan Hart (John Barsby) in second and Jonah Brost (StellyB次元官网网址檚) in third.
While itB次元官网网址檚 certainly a trophy for the mantelpiece, the cross country Island championship has become an annual catch-22 for athletes. While it may seem a prestigious award to win the Island title, the reality is club provincials are three days later on Oct. 28, and thatB次元官网网址檚 the focus for the top cross country athletes. Follow that with the B.C. high school provincials on Nov. 4.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 just one too many races in a 10-day period,B次元官网网址� said coach Bruce Deacon, who mentors most of the top middle distance youth athletes in Greater Victoria with the Prairie Inn Harriers club.
While Stecko, for example, barely lost her breath, others hit the deck after the finish line because theyB次元官网网址檇 gone deep into the red.
B次元官网网址淚f you have kids who can medal at Islands, high school provincials and club provincials, itB次元官网网址檚 too demanding to race for the win in all three [in 10 days],B次元官网网址� Deacon said.
Stecko ran in the senior womenB次元官网网址檚 at club provincials on Saturday and finished 20th in the 6km run.
B次元官网网址淪tecko went out too fast and blew up a bit, she didnB次元官网网址檛 run a tactically smart race and it cost her, glad she learned the lesson here and not at nationals,B次元官网网址� Deacon said.
Nationals are in Kingston, Ont., at the end of November.
Deacon noted that Liam Dwyer of Mount Douglas, who was eighth at Islands, Alisa Lyesina of Oak Bay (the 2017 B.C. 800-metre champ), who was ninth, could both have competed a lot harder but obeyed instructions to run a tempered Island championship. Dwyer finished 15th at 17-and-under club provincials on Saturday, Lyesina was 14th.
Same went for Kalem Delaney, who was fifth at Islands. The Reynolds Grade 12 has been on the watch list since he showed up as a Grade 9 soccer player who could run all day. Bad luck saw Delaney suffer four different bone fractures in 2017, the latest coming in July.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 been an incredible string of bad luck this year,B次元官网网址� Deacon said. B次元官网网址淒elaney dove across the finish line at an indoor race in Seattle in February and he broke his collar bone. Since then it was one after another.B次元官网网址�
Delaney was 16th at club provincials in the 17-and-under, with Reynolds teammate in 13th. Both ran under the Prairie Inn Harriers team name as are Dwyer and Lyesina.
The first five finishers at the club provincials this weekend make the B.C. team for nationals. Two spots are open to athletes who do well at the B.C. High School Provincial Cross Country championships, Jericho Beach, Nov. 4.
