By Myranda Shepherd
Despite a season of cross country competitions that had them running in hard rain, cold wind, mud and snow, three athletes from Bashaw School, Nathan Reelie, Addison Vallet and Catharina Brosinsky, advanced and competed at the 2018 XC Provincials in Vermillion on Saturday, Oct. 20th.
In Cross Country, the top 18 athletes in zones move onto provincials. Catharina had finished 10th in Junior Girls Zones, Addison was 12th in Junior Boys Zones and Nathan finished 15th in Intermediate Boys Zones, earning them the provincial invite.
Provincial competition is an incredible achievement and honour. Provincials showcase the top athletes from across the province, some of them who become national champions and future Olympic athletes.
The messages during the provincial opening ceremonies were around sportsmanship and trying; our Bashaw School athletes delivered on both. Not only did each athlete represent our school as a respectful ambassador, but each gave it their all and came through with personal best times on a difficult course.
Nathan ran the Intermediate Boys 5 km race with a finish time of 21:44. Catharina ran Junior Girls 4 km race finishing at 19:34. Addison ran Junior Boys 4 km race finishing at 17:00. All times were personal bests.
While Nathan, Addison and Catharina are distinctly different, the commonality in their runs this weekend was that they left everything they had on the trail and that is the true sign of an athlete.
As a coach, it was a great honour for me to attend provincials with Nathan, Addison, Catharina, and their mothers, to share in their accomplishments. While it may be the first provincial competition for each of them, I have a feeling it won’t be their last and look forward to start training for 2019 XC Provincials in Eagle Butte next year!