Beattie, MacLeod secure cross-country banners

With more than 700 young runners gathered in near perfect conditions, it was time for R.L. Beattie Public School and MacLeod Public School to assert their dominance in the Rainbow Board cross-country circuit last Thursday.

The schools secured two championship banners apiece at the 2014 Rainbow Board Elementary Cross-Country Championships, with Beattie sweeping the junior and senior girls divisions, while MacLeod duplicated that accomplishment on the boys side of the draw.

The tone for the MacLeod lads was set in the junior race when 11-yea- old Austin Mashinter broke through for his first win on the series of events, previously finishing third at Laurentian and second at one other race.

"When I went up the sand hill, I was actually fourth or fifth," Mashinter said.

Overtaking the leaders at the halfway mark, the Grade 6 student knew that neighbourhood friends Mitchell Martin and Oliver Taillefer, both from Beattie, would be hot on his heels.

"I was actually kind of scared at the end, because I thought they would catch up to me," he said.

Of course, the success of the MacLeod team does not come without a great deal of hard work in the weeks leading up to the city championships.

"MacLeod did a great job today," said Mashinter. "These guys (his teammates) have all been pushing me. We have after-school practices, and during school second-break practices. We do it three times a week."

For Lily Hayden of Lively, the practice sessions with the Hawks are augmented by the dryland workouts that she undertakes as a member of the Sudbury Bantam AA Lady Wolves. In the end, it was enough to lift the 13-year-old to a gold medal in the senior girls race.

While a good majority of the race winners over the past few years have indicated a clear preference to run with the lead, right from the opening gun, Hayden admits to being a tad more patient.

"I try and stay behind somebody until the right moment, and then I pass them," she explained. "There's girls who are sprinters, and I'm not a sprinter, so I got caught up with a bundle of girls, but then I broke through and got to the front."

Once in the lead, Hayden notes it's not always clear sailing.

"Sometimes I don't know where to go, and the marshals don't always say where to go, so I kind of get confused."

Closing out the festivities, Ethan Sheppard of MacLeod duplicated his win at the Laurentian XC Challenge back at the end of September, finishing ahead of classmate Kendyn Mashinter (older brother of Austin).

"I usually just try and get top eight at the start, and then make my way up," said Sheppard. "This time, I started off first. The whole time, I thought Kendyn was going to come and pass me.

"Last year, he was a little bit faster than me, and this year, I'm just a little bit faster than him."

The races concluded the elementary cross-country season, as the high-schoolers prep for OFSAA in Waterloo this coming Saturday.

Following are the top 10 finishers in each of the four age divisions:
Junior Girls

1st - Brianna Fazekas (Princess Anne)
2nd - Blaze Cucksey (Princess Anne)
3rd - Aleigh Moxam (Walden)
4th - Tessa Favero (Beattie)
5th - Brooke Vrbanic (Beattie)
6th - Catherine Caverson (Alexander)
7th - Aiofe Mahaffy (Beattie)
8th - Abby Lanteigne (Alexander)
9th - Fiona Simser (Nesbitt)
10th - Cydney Tincum (Beattie)

Junior Boys
1st - Austin Mashinter (MacLeod)
2nd - Mitchell Martin (Beattie)
3rd - Oilver Taillefer (Beattie)
4th - Nolan Moxam (Walden)
5th - Ian Mackenzie (Redwood)
6th - Carter Will (Algonquin)
7th - Justin Lubian (Beattie)
8th - Calum Passi (Cyril Varney)
9th - Billy McIntyre (MacLeod)
10th - Liam Conlin (Copper Cliff)

Senior Girls
1st - Lily Hayden (Lively)
2nd - Katie Chomiak (Lively)
3rd - Devin Mantle (Beattie)
4th - Eden Santi (Beattie)
5th - Hannah Nykilchuk (Valleyview)
6th - Victoria Adams (Beattie)
7th - Natalie Marks de Chabris (Beattie)
8th - Delaney Bourget (Beattie)
9th - Taylor Buchkowski (Copper Cliff)
10th - Jenna Hinton (Algonquin)

Senior Boys
1st - Ethan Sheppard (MacLeod)
2nd - Kendyn Mashinter (MacLeod)
3rd - Augustine Marks de Chabris (Beattie)
4th - Dario Beljo (MacLeod)
5th - Emmett Taillefer (Beattie)
6th - Lucas Mrozewski (Beattie)
7th - Brodie Erwin (Beattie)
8th - Ryder Johnston (MacLeod)
9th - Adam Bertrand (Northeastern)
10th - Joe Mazur (Levack)