ST. PAUL – The St. Paul Regional High School Saints have won their first ever cross-country Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association (ASAA) championship.
Sasha Levasseur, co-coach of the high school’s cross-country running team, said winning was not even in her mind leading up to the 2024 ASAA Cross Country Provincials held in Grand Prairie, earlier this month.
“I mean, you would always hope . . . but it’s probably the furthest thing from my mind,” she admits.
Levasseur said she and coach Tim Penner were more worried about encouraging students to join the team – to promote running as part of healthy living in their lives. They also wanted to encourage students who participated in cross-country running when they were in junior high school to continue to do so.
But cross-country running is a tough sport, Levasseur acknowledges. “It’s grueling to watch.”
Some previous cross-country participants were “not interested anymore,” she said. And, it is not rare for students to quick running once they have to run a farther distsance at the high school level.
“It’s just hard.”
Penner agreed. “Not many people want to run four, five, or six kilometres through muddy conditions, low temperatures, rain on you, while you’re running up and down the hills,” he said.
Levasseur understands that students could be doing much more fun things other than cross-country running, such as hockey, football, or volleyball. But over 30 students showed interest this season.
Many of the participants were multi-sport athletes. And despite being worried about missing games in other sports they compete in, coaches said students did not want to miss out on the provincial experience.
The runners began training the first week of September, with some battling through injuries like rolled ankles, but they persevered, and their efforts were not in vain.
While driving to Grand Prairie with the 25 athletes who qualified after competing at the zone competition, Levasseur had a very brief thought. Maybe – they could win it all.
But she was more concerned about taking care of her athletes.
She hoped it wouldn’t rain, and she just wanted the athletes to have a good race and have some fun. But contrary to her hopes – the provincial race proved to be challenging, grueling, rainy, muddy, and difficult.
Levasseur’s son, Ethan Loughran, was one of the senior boys who qualified to compete at provincials, and he agreed it was a tough race.
According to ASAA, the course was moderately difficult. It involved a subalpine forest trail with various inclines, descents, and flat areas winding through the Wapiti Nordic Centre.
Loughran recalled runners falling and slipping right at the very beginning of the course. “It was really muddy right off the bat,” he said. “It was brutal, and you had to keep your balance,” which he said hurt the runners’ pace.
“The conditions were really challenging.”
Pacing is extremely important in running. If you run too fast, you risk collapsing early on and not completing the race. If you run too slow, you risk ending up in last place or finding yourself in a cramped spot with other runners.
Loughran ran the fastest in the senior male category of all the Regional High School Saints, finishing in 25 minutes, and placing 43rd among over 100 runners. He scored 87 points for the Saints.
In the intermediate category, Matthew Zarowny and David Looy ran their 5-km course the fastest of the Saints, running 18 and 19 minutes respectively and placing 19th and 32nd overall. Zarowny accrued 122.03 points for the team, and Looy earned 106.17.
In the girls’ intermediate category, Natalie Leroux ranked 52nd overall, and contributed 77.84 points for the team, finishing her course in 24 minutes.
Ryder Lee ran his race the fastest in the junior male course, giving Regional 68.21 points – and completing his race in 15 minutes.
Hannah Burton completed the junior female course in 18 minutes, ranking 62nd overall, and contributing 62 points.
Overall, the Saints’ 25 athletes accrued a total of 1,132.89 points.
When the top ranked schools in the 3A category were being announced, the coaches wondered how the Saints did.
First, Raymond High School was called – they ranked third. Cochrane High School, a top cross-country school, ranked second.
Then SPRHS was announced – winning the championship in the 3A category.
“In the past, we’ve got a few second places. We got third place last year – but never won first place,” said Penner. He said every athlete contributed.
“Each runner still earns points towards the team.”
And every runner had to qualify for the provincials, he added. For 25 athletes to qualify is a “tough thing to do,” he said. Basically, the more qualified runners you have on a team, the more points you get.
“That’s what allows you to win a championship . . . that’s the very impressive part.”
Beaming with pride, Levasseur said she finds it an emotional experience to watch students compete.
“The grit . . . and the mental [and] physical toughness they have is just something you’ve never seen,” she said. It was not rare to see athletes throw up and collapse at the finish line for pushing their bodies to the limit.
Seeing the students complete their race is what the coaches want most for them, said Levasseur.
“They’re going to go on in life and not be afraid to choose to do hard things . . . Learn to do hard things [and] you’re going to be successful in life.”
