Spartans run to first at zones

Times Reporter   

 

The Strathmore High School (SHS) Spartans travelled to the Canmore Nordic Centre on Oct. 9 for cross country zones. Though no Spartan finished first, or even medalled, the team’s collaborative score won them their first cross country pennant in the school’s history.

Almost all 22 runners from SHS had personal best times. Six Spartans are guaranteed spots at provincials in Drayton Valley on Oct. 19; Maria Fanning for junior girls, Tamara Adamschuk and Karly Larson for intermediate girls, Carter Jones for senior girls, and Brendan Roberts and Kyle Foster for intermediate boys.

“We usually take about four or five kids to provincials for as long as I’ve been coaching, so we’ve been consistent,” said Spartans’ coach Paul Sonsteby. “But the thing that’s different this year, in our 23-kids team, we have so many strong runners. We don’t have a weak runner.”

Almost every category had a Spartan qualify for provincials. Sonsteby said that even though some of his team weren’t runners at the start of the season, they became dedicated to improve.

“I saw probably five runners go from fair to on the cusp of provincials. These weren’t just personal bests we were setting. I can’t think of a kid who didn’t improve by at least a minute and a half to two minutes; on a 22-minute run, that’s pretty significant,” Sonsteby said. “You’re throwing a mountain into it too, and a pretty heated competition. It was a vast improvement. It’s an individual sport but we got a fantastic team result.” 

Luke Macdonald, Taylor Keegan and Gabi LeMoine are probable for Drayton Valley as well if another school does not submit their zone qualified runners.

“My gut tells me that we’ll be taking nine runners,” Sonsteby said. “What happens a lot of times is that cross country runners are triple-sport kids; they’re in volleyball, they’re in hockey, they’re in football, they’re in something. Provincials are on a Saturday and some of those sports are getting into playoffs. A volleyball coach may say, well you have to choose one or the other, and that’s sometimes the way it goes.”

Sonsteby noted that he was very proud of team captains Carter Jones and Avery Johnson.

“I was really hoping Carter would make it in. She’s on of our most improved runners. She’s worked so hard to improve her running and she was just on the cusp (of provincials),” he said. “Avery’s one of the only runners who’s been with me through Grade 10. She’s consistent; she’s not a super speedster and she knows it. She’s a swimmer, she’s a triathlete, but she likes to run cross country.”

Each school must have two runners in each category. In the senior girls, without the two team captains racing, SHS would not have participated in zones.

“Because Avery placed where she did, she was the difference between us winning the zone or not. So this consistent, steady, dedicated runner, who improves a little bit every year, she’s what won us the banner. That was a feel good thing,” Sonsteby said.

Brendan Roberts finished highest for the Spartans in eighth, while Maria Fanning finished best for the girls at tenth place.

“Maria is a tremendously strong runner,” Sonsteby said. “She’s going to be one of our elite runners for the next three years.”

Medals go to the top three, ribbons go to the top eight, and the top 18 qualify for provincials.

“We’ve had kids medal before,” Sonsteby said. “It’s been a weird year. I’ve seen kids take home hardware before; we took home no hardware but we took home the zone. To be that kid, who maybe came in 25th or 30th out of 60 runners, and goes well, I’m not going to provincials, but to know that being in that top half, you contributed to the zone. It really boosts them as a team, I think.”