I would like to congratulate all of the JD athletes who competed at the Alberta Provincial Cross-Country Championships in Wetaskiwin yesterday. Everyone who competed should have received a medal just for surviving the conditions. The gale force winds and cold made running a wee bit of a challenge, but the JD athletes and their younger siblings rose to the occasion and competed very well. It was an excellent way to end the cross-country season.
I would like to congratulate peewees Anika Vogelgesang, Alison Martin (both Cheetahs and younger siblings of Max and Emma), Heather and Mia, whose 5th, 9th, 16th and 19th place finishes earned them enough points to finish 2nd in the peewee girls’ team competition. Well done girls! In that same race, Rhea and Julia Martin, younger sibling of Emma and Alison, also ran very well, finishing 24th and 29th respectively.
Chase ran an outstanding race in the bantam girls competition, finishing 2nd of 21 athletes and winning a provincial silver medal. In that same race, Emma was 6th, despite being a first-year midget and having to run against older athletes. New athlete Emily also looked very strong in her first race and placed 15th.
In the peewees boys’ competition, Ben ran an outstanding race, just missing the medals and finishing 4th of 26 athletes. Dawson O’Brien and Beck Vogelgesang, both Cheetah athletes and younger siblings of Chase andMax, proved that good cross-country genes run in the family by finishing 6th and 11th in that same race.
In the bantam boys’ competition, first year bantams Max and Patrick finished very well considering that, likeEmma, they were up against older athletes. Max finished 7th of 17 athletes while Patrick placed 13th. In that same race, Eric ran a very determined race, finishing 16th.
In the midget women’s race, first-year midget Katie looked very strong and finished 15th of 20 athletes. In the midget men’s race, Brent had an outstanding race, finishing 16th of 27 athletes in a very strong field of midget boys. Charlie and Matthew, who are also first-year midgets, also ran very well, finishing not far behind Brent in 20th and 24th place.
Well done athletes! You have all worked very hard and earned those great results. I was impressed with the maturity of such a young group of athletes. You all warmed up well and didn’t allow the challenging conditions to interfere with your performance. The success of our first-year athletes bodes well for the team competition next year. Congratulations to you all!
-Robin
