Matthijs Wenning, Brendan Campbell, Jaden Porte, Brandey Blahut and Braunty Pelchat rounded out the placings for the Yorkton Regional High School (YRHS) at the SHSAA provincial cross country championships held in Middle Lake, Sk., over the weekend.
The YRHS finished tied for fourth place in the school standings with 47 points. Holy Cross of Saskatoon and Leboldus of Regina finished tied for first place.
Wenning finished ninth in the senior boys category. Campbell finished 16th in the same category and newcomer Porte finished seventh in midget boys.
On the girls' side, Blahut finished in the top 15 and Pelchat came in in the top 30, said Mike Haczkewicz, coach of the YRHS squad.
"We expected a medal," admits Haczkewicz. "It was good experience for our midgets", he noted, adding that one of them in particular, Porte, is already an early favourite to bring home a medal at some point in his high school career.
"They (he) know what they have to do for next year," he added of the rookies.
According to Porte, he will more than likely be back for at least another year, and he agrees with his coach's prediction.
The 14-year-old Gr. 9 student had a first-place finish at SHSAA district competition held recently in Melville. It gave him good positioning for provincials, he said.
Blahut had a 13th place finish and she competed against "a lot of older runner", she said.
She said she went into it just hoping to have some fun, adding that next year, her Gr. 12 year, she will place much higher expectations upon herself.
"I just wanted to have fun with it."
Next year, she will be shooting higher, she said.
"It was fun," she said of this year's event. "It made it interesting."
