A trio of St. Mary School students claimed hardware at the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association’s junior and senior high zone meets in Edson Oct. 11.
Ashley Tymkow finished second in the senior girls category, while Jaiden Romanuik ran to silver in the junior boys category. Both will go on to represent SMS at the provincial championship at Rundle Park in Edmonton Oct. 21.
Meanwhile wrapping up her running season, Janelle Romanuik placed second in the junior high girls U12 category. In total, seven SMS runners took to the trails at zones.
“Other kids finished all over the place,” said head coach Darcy Romanuik. “Twenty-first was my lowest one, right up to a seventh place and an 11th place finish.”
This is the first time Romanuik has coached students who have made it all the way to provincials — an important milestone for a program that is still in development.
“I’m trying to revitalize our cross-country program at the school,” he said. “So these are baby steps. Hopefully next year we can take three kids to provincials and progress from there.”
While reaching the championship is a good measuring stick, Romanuik said he was more interested in seeing runners push themselves and train hard.
“With training comes success,” he said. “If you put in the time and effort, not only in athletics but anything you do, you’re going to be successful.”
That being said, he was quick to add that he was very proud of all his runners.
“I think this is a case of kids wanting to do it, having a great attitude and putting in the effort and time,” said Romanuik. “Good things happen when you do that.”
While the snow around Westlock that morning was a bit of a damper for the runners, the weather around Edson was a lot nicer.
Romanuik said that this was one of the wetter seasons he’s coached in, though he noted that his runners were good to go, rain or shine.
“The weather wasn’t as bad as when I woke up in the morning, but you battle through it like everything,” he said.
“There were flurries, but nothing like what we had in Westlock that day.”
He added that the course was surrounded by trees and hills, which cut down on wind and helped keep his runners a bit warmer. Any extra heat was provided by the runners pushing themselves.
“Some people were wiping out in the later heats after the tracks were worn down,” he said. “But if you watched where you stepped and wore the proper footwear, that was the best way to combat it.”
