Airdrie Aces runners battled not just their opponents, but plenty of lactic acid at the 2019 Alberta Schools Athletic Association (ASAA) cross-country championships, Oct. 19 at Eagle Butte High School, near Medicine Hat.
According to Aces middle-distance coach Jodie Matsuba-Szucs, four of the club’s athletes represented their respective high schools at the provincial meet – Aiden Good, Willem Grant, Mikayla Cashato and Donte Cashato.
Just like last year, Good – a senior at Hugh Sutherland School, in Carstairs – was the club’s top performer. As defending provincial champion from 2018, Good was unable to re-claim his title, ending the five-kilometre race in 18:30 (3:42 per kilometer) to finish third in the intermediate boys’ category.
Despite not retaining the ASAA crown, Matsuba-Szucs said the Aces captain – a middle-distance specialist – put in a solid performance to end up on the podium.
“He’s an 800-metre (m) runner, and it’s not too much of a stretch for an 800-m runner to run 4,000-m, but it’s a little bit bigger of a stretch to run 5,000-m, when you’re racing against guys who specialize in the 3,000-m or 5,000-m during the track season,” she said.
“To finish in the top three is awesome. He told me he took it a little hard, but it was a challenging course.”
Matsuba-Szucs said an additional challenge for the athletes was the timing of the provincial meet, which came just two days after they had competed at the South Central Zones cross-country championships. The zones meet had been pushed back a few weeks due to poor weather in early October, according to Matsuba-Szucs.
“You have these guys in Edmonton, like the winner, who was fresh – he hadn’t raced in 10 days,” she said. “[Good] and all of our guys still had lactic acid in their legs, and they had to race again two days later. For him to run and finish third, against guys who were fresh – it says a lot.
“He’s so on course for another spectacular season, and same with Willem Grant.”
Grant, a Grade-10 student at Bert Church High School, crossed the finish line in his four-km race in 16:49. With an average pace of 4:13 per kilometer, the 15-year-old finished in 34th place in the junior boys’ category.
“It was good, but it was a challenging course and maybe a little too [soon] since his previous race,” Matsuba-Szucs said.
Donte Cashato, of George McDougall High School, competed against Grant, finishing 93rd with a time of 18:46. Another Airdrie runner who ran in the junior boys’ race was Bert Church student Chayson Gikas, who finished 68th with a time of 17:35.
Mikayla Cashato, of W.H. Croxford High School, raced in the intermediate girls’ five-km race, and completed the course in 26:45. Her average pace of 5:21 per kilometer was good enough for a top-50 finish, placing her 48th.
Also representing Croxford, Kennedy Rice was the Cavaliers’ fastest runner, crossing the finish line in the intermediate girls’ race in 23:32 to crack the top 10.
Aleah Luciw, of St. Martin de Porres High School, also competed in that race, completing the course in 37:17 to claim 60th place.
While the school cross-country season is over for another year, Matsuba-Szucs said Good and Grant will compete at the 2019 Athletics Canada cross-country championships, Nov. 30 in Abbotsford, B.C.
