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Canora Composite School cross-country team completes successful season with third place

Canora Composite School’s cross-country team closed an amazing season by not only competing in its first district team competition, but by winning third place.
Schayla Kirschman
provincials
The athletes from Canora Composite School who advanced to the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association Provincial Cross-country Championship in Delisle on October 15, from left, were: Leona Kitchen (coach), Kara High, Felicity Mydonick, Nathan Bucsis, Jill Gulka, Abby Gulka and Llewellyn Thomas Lowes (coach).

            Canora Composite School’s cross-country team closed an amazing season by not only competing in its first district team competition, but by winning third place.

            The cross-country team, led by coaches Leona Kitchen and Llewellyn Thomas Lowes, took five students to the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) Provincial Cross-country Championship in Delisle on October 15.

            The five students were Kara High, Jill Gulka, Felicity Mydonick, Abby Gulka and Nathan Bucsis, and due to this being the first year Canora Composite School had five qualifying athletes for the provincial meet, the team competed in the district team competition. The school was placed in the 1A classification category due to population, and each athlete added or took away from the points for his or her school based on placement in races.

            As a school team, Canora Composite School was able to win third place out of 20 teams and finished behind schools from Lake Lenore and Strasbourg.

            “The kids were thrilled,” said Kitchen, discussing the moment the students heard they had placed third. “It was a fantastic season.”

            Despite High, Jill Gulka, and Mydonick all being new to provincials, they, along with the two other students, had their best runs and best times during the provincial meet.

            Nathan Bucsis competed against 81 other participants in the senior boys category and completed the race in 20th place with a time of 23:24. Abby Gulka competed in the senior girls category against 94 other competitors and, with a time of 20:14, earned 51st place. Two students, Jill Gulka and Felicity Mydonick, competed in the junior girls category against 71 other competitors. Jill Gulka completed the race in seventh with a time of 17:26, while Mydonick was awarded 28th place with a time of 19:37. In the midget girls category, Kara High raced against 97 other competitors and was awarded 37th place for her time of 14:01.

            Kitchen said that the entire cross-country team showed consistent improvement over the season’s practices and meets, and commended the students for their efforts.

            “It was thanks to the efforts of our dedicated runners that we had such a successful season,” she said.