Members of the Canora Composite School cross-country team continue their twice-weekly practices as the focus turns to districts and, maybe, provincials.
The team has competed in two major cross-country meets thus far and the third will be on September 25 in Saltcoats, said Leona Kitchen, who coaches the grades 5 to 12 runners with Thomas Lowes. All the runners have represented Canora well, but after the Saltcoats meet, all the attention will be on the shoulders of the runners in the midget, junior and senior categories.
All runners in these three categories, who recorded finishes in the top 10 at the district competition, will be invited to participate in the provincial competition in Saskatoon on October 10, Kitchen said. It won鈥檛 be until later this week when the details for the district competition are to be finalized.
The three area cross-country meets have provided competition for all age levels, she said. For the younger runners, they provide good competition experiences, and for the older runners, they are good practice for the Districts and Provincials.
The running program began in Canora on September 2, which was the second day of the new school year, Kitchen said. Students from grades 5 to 12 are invited to train after school and at noon hour. On average, about 25 runners participate.
During the two training days each week, the focus of one day is to run about seven kilometres, she said. For the second training day, the program is moved east, from the oval track at the school grounds to the 鈥淐anora Hill鈥� which is used for sledding in the winter.
The Hill is a great asset for cross-country training, Kitchen said. When competing at the district or provincial levels, runners must cope with various elevations that have been incorporated into the course. Using the Canora Hill for conditioning training is a wonderful advantage available to the Canora runners.
Having attended the two cross-country meets so far, several Canora runners have established reputations already, she said. How each runner placed was provided to each participating school. Most runners established similar times at each meet, except for Aaliyah Herceg, who recorded a fourminute improvement in her time for the three-kilometre weepee girls event.
Cherrydale
The first competition of the season was the Cherrydale CrossCountry Meet in Yorkton on September 9, said Kitchen. Results posted by Canora runners follow. In the beginner boys category, there were 39 runners participating in the two-kilometre run. Canora runners were: Cole Marcinkoski who placed third with a time of 8:20; and Logan Wolkowski who placed 29th with a time of 10:38.
In the sneaker boys category, there were 43 runners participating in the two-kilometre race. Canora runners were: Joey Palagian who placed 12th with a time of 8:37; Toby Olynyk, who placed 20th in a time of 9:33; and Daniel Howell who placed 21st in a time of 9:36.
In the weepee boys category, there were 36 runners participating in the three-kilometre race. Canora runners were: Clay Sleeva who placed first with a time of 11:09; Hudson Bailey who placed second with a time of 11:20 ; Jake Statchuk who placed third with a time of 11:23; Dawson Zuravloff who placed fourth with a time of 11:30; Brendon Landstad who placed 15th with a time of 12:16; Carter Dereniwsky who placed 17th with a time of 12:50; and Lane Zuravloff who placed 21st with a time of 13:13.
In the weepee girls category which also covers three kilometres, Aaliyah Herceg of Canora placed 20th with a time of 28:00.
The peewee boys and girls events were run over three kilometres with 41 runners in the boys event and 23 in the girls event. Jacob Gulka was the only male runner from Canora. He placed fourth with a time of 11:08. The three Canora peewee girls were: Cassandra Danyluk who placed fourth in a time of 12:03; Emily Owchar, who placed ninth in a time of 13:27; and Larissa Makowsky who placed 22nd with a time of 16:18.
In the midget boys category (four kilometres), Canora runner Logan Statchuk did not record a time. In the junior boys category (five kilometres), Nathan Bucsis of Canora placed second in a time of 19:38.
Deer Park
The second competition of the season was the Deer Park CrossCountry Meet in Yorkton on September 14, said Kitchen. Results posted by Canora runners follow. In the beginner boys two-kilometre event, there were 79 competitors. From Canora, Cole Marcinkoski placed second with a time of 8:21; and Nicholas Medvid placed 39th with a time of 11:24.
In the sneaker boys category which had 50 participants run the two-kilometre course, Canora runners were: Daniel Howell who placed 28th with a time of 10:23; Toby Olynyk who placed 26th with a time of 10:02; and Joey Palagian who placed 25th with a time of 9:50.
In the sneaker girls category, which had 37 participants in the two-kilometre run, Canora runners were: Hannah KeinickWallis, who placed 16th with a time of 10:33; and Latifah Severight who placed 36th with a time of 14:48.
Canora participants in the weepee boys race which had 51 participants, were: Clay Sleeva, who placed second with a time of 12:52; Jake Stachuk who placed fourth with a time of 13:01; Hudson Bailey who placed fifth with a time of 13:14; Dawson Zuravloff, who placed 10th with a time of 13:36; Brendon Landstad, who placed 19th with a time of 14:42; Carter Dereniwsky who placed 21st with a time of 14:45; and Lane Zuravloff, who placed 25th with a time of 15:22.
In the peewee boys event in which there were 30 participants running three kilometres, from Canora Jacob Gulka placed fifth with a time of 12:40.
In the peewee girls event in which there were 24 participants running three kilometres, the two Canora participants were Emily Owchar who placed 10th with a time of 15:09 and Megan Scherban, who placed eighth with a time of 14:53.
