Spartans cross country places second
By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter
Photo Courtesy of Paul Sonsteby
Despite finishing with more points than last year’s provincial champion Strathmore High School Spartan squad, this year’s rendition placed second with 1,318.90 points Oct. 21 in Edmonton.
They lost the provincial title to Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, historically a 4A program that dropped down to the 3A level this year by 186.78 points.
“The kids were disappointed after the run; they really wanted to repeat,” said Spartans Head Coach Paul Sonsteby. “Any other year, a second-place finish would have been wonderful — except this year.
“Once we took a step back and I explained to them that we finished better this year than we did when we actually won the thing, they became okay with themselves.”
Last year, the Spartans captured the school’s first provincial title in the sport with 956.06 points.
The Spartans brought a school record 21 runners to provincials and were feeling pretty good about their chances following a very tough run at the South Central Zone championships, which they won.
“This course was much easier than the zones course,” said Sonsteby. “There was only one hill this time, and its location made it more challenging than the hills at zones.”
The hill was long and gradual. Its placement in the middle of the course forced the runners to decide whether to burn their energy leading up to the hill, or conserve themselves, falling back in the race and attacking the hill with a fuller tank.
Kage Yellowfly continued his dominant fall running season by placing 11th in the junior boys division, with a time of 14:33. Ainsley Olson was the top Spartan in the junior girls, when she finished 45th with a time of 13:45.
In the intermediate grouping, Alex Lewin was the top boy for the Spartans. His time of 21:15 earned him 70th, while Rayanne Laycock placed 35th in the girls run with an 18:45.
Running their last races as seniors, Jared Lausen was the top boy, placing 56th in 25:09 and Kaylin Larson crossed the finish line 56th with a time of 19:42.
Each runner approached the hill differently, appealing to their strengths as an individual runner, and for the most part, according to Sonsteby, the majority of runners improved on their times from the zone meet.
“Our junior runners were thrilled with the results,” said Sonsteby. “More so than our seniors were, who wanted to win provincials again. It’s just ironic that we won the event last year with fewer points.”
For their efforts, they left Edmonton with a plaque, recognizing their second-place finish behind a school that has nearly 10 times the population to draw from.