The St. Timothy Thunder cross country team is gearing up for another season, and are looking to defend their third straight 2A school sliver medals at the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association Provincials.
Cross country team coach Travis Cummings says they have a number of students join this year’s team.
“We have a number of male and female athletes, who have put in a solid summer of training,” Cummings said.
“We’re looking to defend our silver medals at Provincials.”
Graduating athlete Josh Novak, who is looking for a high finish in the single digits at provincials in order to make his case to potentially land a spot on a cross-country roster at a post-secondary institution, leads the senior high team.
Grade 11s Scott Delsing and Eric Swedlo should also make a major impact on this year’s team, while rookie Brenek Spademan put in a good summer of training and is ready to surprise at the high school level. Maggie Brolsma and Mikenna Spademan will lead the senior high girls.
The junior high girls team will be looking to repeat a strong performance from last season, as they are led by eighth grader Holly Moores and ninth grader Darci Peterson. The pair will look to repeat as the Junior High City Champions in the respective grades. Peterson has won City Championships in both Grade 7 and Grade 8, while Moores narrowly defeated her teammate, Sofia Preece, for the win in the Grade 7 girls race last year. Preece, as well as Grace Boston, could also potentially medal for St. Timothy, while Emily Carvalho, Makenna Myatt and Miranda Hobbs will be looking to leave their mark.
On the junior high boys side, the Grade 9 trio of Liam McCullough, Lucas Rott and Alex Aguilar are expected to impress this season. McCullough is looking to build on his City Championship performance from last year, while Rott and Aguilar look to gain their first berth into the junior high City Championships.
Cummings says his team may have some potential talent from a pair of grade 7 students.
“Allison Bentley and Ethan Horb look like early surprises, we will see how the season plays out,” Cummings said.
“There are always a few darkhorses that come out of the woodworking unexpectedly.”
The high school season started on Sept. 20, while races will also be taking place Sept. 27 and Oct. 4. City Championships are in Cochrane on Oct. 11, while Provincial Championships are Oct. 21 in Edmonton.
As for the junior high season, the Divisional Championships take place on Sept. 26 at Optimist Park in Calgary with the Meet of Champions happening on Oct. 5. Provincial Championships will take place at the end of October, where the girls will look to defend their silver medal from last year.
