The St. Timothy Thunder cross country team contested the ASAA High School Cross Country Championships in Vermilion on Oct. 20. The team narrowly missed out on their first provincial Championship title, placing second to Strathcona Tweedsmuir High School with a separation of a mere 10 points. Strathcona posted 844 team points to St. Timothy's 834 points, a victory by the absolute slimmest of margins in XC running. This is the fourth time in the last five years St. Tim's has been runner-up to Strathcona Tweedsmuir, who has a 10-year streak of provincial titles after Saturday's efforts. The powerhouse Tweedsmuir running program remains the standard at the 2A level the Thunder cross country and track teams strive to match at the high school level. St. Tim's has continued to close the gap on Strathcona as the Thunder running program has matured over the past few years. The athletes and the coaches at St. Timothy's have a lot of respect for the tradition of excellence their rivals have built over the last decade while the Thunder are eager to take another shot at a provincial title in 2019 when the South Zone hosts the provincials. St. Timothy runners achieved their strong team placing on the momentum of extremely strong efforts from runners in their respective divisions. Darci Petersen again led the way for the Thunder, continuing the school trend of elite female performers by earning a bronze medal in the junior girls race. Peterson overcame some considerable adversity at the start of the race, she got pushed off course at the start and fell into a knee-deep mud hole; then had to work her way back up to medal position throughout the four-km contest showing that she truly has the heart of a lion. Emily Carvalho had the best race of her life in Vermilion, placing 18th overall in a strong junior girls field. Peterson and Carvalho were by their teammate Miranda Hobbs with a 76th place finish. Liam McCullough also had a banner day, placing 14th overall in the junior boys race, a breakout performance much like Carvalho's results while rookie Jack Bentley placed 66th in the intermediate boys race. Last but not least, our senior athletes capped off their high school XC careers with their best performances. Maggie Brolsma worked her way to a 36th place finish in senior girls while Scott Delsing and Eric Swedlo ran very strong races in a deep boys field; Swedlo finishing in 23rd, and Delsing 26th, both significant improvements from their previous efforts at the ASAA Championships. Delsing said he's very proud at what he and his teammates achieved while also talking about the improvements he made over the years. "Overall, the team had a fantastic performance in Vermillion. Personally, I am delighted with my performance this weekend. I improved my placement from last year and I believe it is a reflection of the hard work I put in this season as well as my overall commitment to the team throughout junior and senior high school," Delsing said. "For the team wide performance, it was bittersweet. It was unsatisfying that the team missed out on a provincial title by 10 points but the team is still thrilled to have done so well. The whole group had an excellent day with Darcie (Peterson) winning bronze, Liam (McCullough) achieving a fantastic fourteenth place finish and tremendous races from other members on the team." "We are very proud of what we achieved this season and bringing home a second place plaque goes to show the work put in by the team and more importantly by coach (Travis) Cummings. Most of our success can be attributed to his (Cummings) leadership and dedication to the St. Timothy running team. As a graduating senior, it's awesome to end my high school cross country experience on such a high note and I know the team will do extraordinary things for years to come." Overall, this is the best weekend of racing at ASAA XC Provincials the Thunder program has seen, the school and the coaching staff are extremely proud of the hard work, time, and dedication their student-athletes have put in over the course of the season to earn such high accolades.
