Three of four returning champions defended their crowns at the 2014 SDSSAA Cross-Country Championships last week, with newcomers making their mark only in the midget age categories.
Despite steady rain from start to finish of the event, the senior boys race played out pretty much as expected according to Lasalle Lancers' Liam Passi, who finished 12 seconds ahead of Tie Pylatuk from Sacré-Coeur.
Pylatuk bested Passi at the SDSSAA meet 12 months ago, though the latter would show a sign of things to come at the OFSAA championships, easily posting the top local result among senior boys last November.
"I was talking to my dad last night about how I wanted to run the race, and that was exactly how I planned the race," said Passi. "He's (Pylatuk) got a little bit of height on me, so I really didn't want to get into a sprint, because he can stride out a little longer.
"I wanted to get him with one kilometre left, so I could get some distance for the track."
The pair had run side by side through much of the seven-km circuit, before Passi crested the final hill coming back to the stadium with some distance between him and Pylatuk.
"I knew that he was definitely going to try and keep with me," Passi said. "I got a little more distance on the soccer field."
While the assembled fans and media might not have been overly appreciative of the weather that Mother Nature threw at the participants, Passi and many of the runners had no issue whatsoever.
"As Northern Ontario boys, we love it, especially when we go down south," smiled Passi. "If it's nice and cold, and raining...even snow. Snow's the best for us Northern Ontario runners. These are awesome racing conditions for me."
Finishing fourth in 2011 and second in 2012, Sarah MacLean of Lockerby broke through by capturing the senior girls title last October, making it two straight with a comfortable win over Alexie Legault of Collège Notre-Dame this time around.
"My strategy was mostly just to try and get ahead from the beginning, just because I like racing like that," said MacLean. "It was pretty much like any other race, just trying to stay strong through the whole thing."
Like Passi, MacLean saw the very wet conditions as a non-issue, preferring this to the 20-plus degree day on which the pre-NOSSA races were hosted in late September.
“I definitely like this weather better," she said. "I really don't like running in the heat. The rain doesn't really bother you that much when you're running."
The most impressive margin of victory, once again this year, came courtesy of Ben Lagadin of Lively.
After winning the midget race in 2013 by 87 seconds, the undersized harrier crossed the finish line almost two full minutes ahead of Dawson Nootchai of St. Benedict after covering the six-km course in 25:07.01.
The top local finisher at OFSAA 2013, which was hosted at Laurentian, Karly Hellstrom of Lasalle, came through with flying colours again this year, posting a time of 14:30.37, well ahead of Allison Caswell of Lo-Ellen (15:18.30).
Easily the closest race of the day was also the ice-breaker, as the midget girls came right down to the wire. Nina Kucheran (Collège Notre-Dame) and Sydney Tarini (Lo-Ellen) have waged some outstanding battles this fall, with both girls head and shoulders beyond the rest of the field.
With SDSSAA bragging rights on the line, it was Kucheran who would break away, holding off a late charge on the track in the final 400 metres from Tarini as the pair were separated by just 16/100th of a second (13:46.40 vs 13:46.56).
"I paced myself a bit off her (Tarini), because she goes really fast at the start," said Kucheran. "So I tried to stay with her at the start. Four minutes into the race, I moved ahead, just by a little bit.
"She closed the gap on the track a lot," added Kucheran. "I was beat, and hoping I could go a little bit slower to finish, but I felt her breathing on my neck."
In addition to her prowess in cross-country, Kucheran is also a top-end swimmer at a national level in her age class, with her priorities not likely to change based on her success last Thursday.
"I get a lot more nervous before swimming, because it's something I'm really serious about," said Kucheran. "The running is something I do because I like it."
The toughest age bracket to call, throughout the entire 2014 cross-country season, has remained the midget boys division, with a handful of different competitors taking turns moving to the front of the pack.
At the city finals, it was Josh Tillson of Lo-Ellen who would establish himself, carving out a 16-second victory over Mathieu Dokis-Dupuis of Macdonald-Cartier.
The entire crew are back at the same site this coming Wednesday for the NOSSA Cross-Country Championships, with OFSAA 2014 slated for Saturday, Nov. 1 in Waterloo.
Following is a listing of the top-five finishers in each division:
Senior Boys
1st - Liam Passi (Lasalle) – 26:08.36
2nd - Tie Pylatuk (Sacré-Coeur) – 26:20.79
3rd - Caleb Beland (Bishop Carter) – 27:00.25
4th - Brendon Costello (Lo-Ellen) – 27:24.06
5th - Sean Anderson (Lockerby) – 29:23.37
Senior Girls
1st - Sarah MacLean (Lockerby) – 24:49.71
2nd - Alexie Legault (Notre-Dame) – 25:37.07
3rd - Natalie Lefebvre (Notre-Dame) – 26:42.27
4th - Delaney Johnson (Lockerby) – 27:23.72
5th - Miranda Boudreau (Lockerby) – 27:31.58
Junior Boys
1st - Ben Lagadin (Lively) – 25:07.01
2nd - Dawson Nootchtai (St Benedict) – 26:59.61
3rd - Stavros Gallant (Lockerby) – 27:03.66
4th - Andrew Rocha (St Benedict) – 28:03.40
5th - Shawn Belanger (Notre-Dame) – 28:05.67
Junior Girls
1st - Karly Hellstrom (Lasalle) – 14:30.37
2nd - Allison Caswell (Lo-Ellen) – 15:18.30
3rd - Kyla Bruni (Lo-Ellen) – 15:51.34
4th - Kara Passi (Lasalle) – 16:10.90
5th - Kennedy Cresswell (Mac-Cartier) – 16:39.18
Midget Boys
1st - Joshua Tillson (Lo-Ellen) – 22:45.86
2nd - Mathieu Dokis-Dupuis (Mac-Cartier) – 23:01.69
3rd - Jacxson Cress (Lively) – 23:18.54
4th - Mark Thom (St Benedict) – 23:37.83
5th - Aiden Martel (St Charles) – 24:25.43
Midget Girls
1st - Nina Kucheran (Notre-Dame) – 13:46.40
2nd - Sydney Tarini (Lo-Ellen) – 13:46.56
3rd - Katie Keenan (Lockerby) – 15:29.70
4th - Eva Laberge (Lockerby) – 15:58.78
5th - Morgan Smith (Lo-Ellen) - 16:01.21
