Veterans, rookies off to strong start in cross country

The second race of the high-school cross-country season locally featured plenty of familiar names, along with a really strong group of fresh faces, with both sectors grabbing the spotlight at various points at Fielding Park.

The annual SDSSAA team relay event sees runners covering a six-kilometre course, with most teams comprised of three athletes, running 1,000-metre single legs in rapid succession, twice through their lineups.

Led by Grade 12 anchor Liam Passi, the Lasalle Lancers team of Mahlon Bast, Nick Crawford and Passi captured first place, followed by Lo-Ellen and Lively.

Passi enters 2014 as arguably a slight favourite to capture the SDSSAA senior boys crown, though he has flip-flopped the No. 1 ranking in his age over the years with both Tie Pylatuk (Sacré-Coeur) and Brendan Costello (Lo-Ellen).

This makes for an intriguing season of racing for the talented trio.

"I think it just pushes you a lot more, especially since we all practise together (with Track North)," said Passi.

"Our workouts are a lot more intense than most people's runs. It's fun, but it definitely pushes you."

In this sport, health is key, even moreso in a short season, with Passi more than a little pleased with the current state of affairs.

"I'm actually feeling really good," he said. "We've upped our mileage, so I'm doing more long runs now. It's really helped me; I'm not hurting as much at the halfway mark."

Still, the course itself threw a wrench into the mix, mostly in a good way.

"It's very flat, so you get out at a much harder pace," Passi noted. "All of our workouts, we have hills in them, so you don't really know how fast you should go here. Costello and I went out too fast at the beginning."

The girls race, meanwhile, was a coming-out party of sorts for the Lo-Ellen Park youngsters. Coach Colin Ward and company nabbed both first and third place in this event (Lockerby was squeezed between the two), with all six runners either in Grade 9 or Grade 10.

The first ladies to cross the line were the trio of Allison Caswell, Kyla Bruni and Sydney Tarini, with Tarini having finished second overall last week at Lockerby, despite entering high school all of two weeks ago.

The winning grouping represents both a rapid development in running, as well as the hope of future potential.

"We all kind of started with other sports, maybe Sydney has been just running," said Caswell.
But like so many with promise on the track, Caswell has hooked up with the Track North Athletic Club, now trying to settle into her ideal race distance.

“In Grade 9, I was better at the 800m, shorter distances," she said.

"I'm not really like a 10-km person."

If the young athletes could be excused for not necessarily knowing, before the race, where they fit into the mix, then the words of the veteran coach should surely be heeded.

"Mr. Ward told us before the race that he wanted us to win, because he thought we could," admitted Caswell.

Next up for the high school running crew is the Laurentian pre-NOSSA challenge, set for Friday, Sept. 26 on the university trails.

Following is a breakdown of the top three teams in both the boys and girls race:

Girls Division
1st - Lo-Ellen (Allison Caswell, Kyla Bruni, Sydney Tarini)
2nd - Lockerby (Sarah MacLean, Ashley Sandre, Emma McDougall)
3rd - Lo-Ellen (Bridget Spoel, Morgan Smith, Sydney Hall)

Boys Division
1st - Lasalle (Liam Passi, Mahlon Bast, Nick Crawford)
2nd - Lo-Ellen (Brendan Costello, Aidan Best, Josh Tillson)
3rd - Lively (Ben Lagadin, Noah Lagadin, Nick Rideout, Jacxsen Cress)