Lauren Pineau (17th – SG – Lockerby), Shiloh Sauve (22nd – JB – Lo-Ellen) and Misaki Diavolitsis (34th – NG – Lockerby) highlighted a grouping of 15 SDSSAA runners who would crack the top fifty in the traditional OFSSA categories, Riley Cornthwaite reached the Para podium for a second straight year and the Lo-Ellen Park Knights senior boys posted the best result by Sudbury runners in that division in likely three decades or more at provincials as Uxbridge played host to the Ontario high-school cross-country championships on Saturday.

As is so often the case at OFSAA, the order of finish of the locals at both city and NOSSA races did not necessarily hold true as the field increased generally five-fold, across the board, in each and every race.

Shiloh Sauve, Lucia Salmaso (58th – JG – Marymount), Lauren Pineau and Owen Dobson (45th – SB – Lo-Ellen) all stayed true to form from the northern meet in North Bay, while both Isaac Longston (74th – NB – Lockerby) and Misaki Diavolitsis enjoyed breakthrough runs.

“I think this was one of the best races that I have ever ran,” said Diavolitsis, a 14 year old athlete who also competes with the GSSC Impact U15 soccer team. “It was a pretty challenging course. I had a lot of support from Lauren (Pineau) and all of the senior girls, and also my sister (Alissa), so I kind of knew what to expect.”

“But at the same time, it was really different because there were so many people. It was kind of overwhelming at first.”

While Diavolitsis was quick to attest that soccer still ranks ahead of running, the truth is that a very hilly course seemingly played to the strength of a young lady who missed a good majority of the Vikings' workouts, given that they over-lapped with the Lockerby flag football practice sessions.

But while the up and down terrain may have benefitted Diavolitsis, it's certainly not her preference.

"For me, I don't like the hills," she said. "But it's still good to have hills or else it would be really easy for everyone else too. If you're a strong runner and you can run up these hills and not get as tired, then that's what separates the really good ones from the good ones."

Sounds like the Knights' senior boys fall into the "really good" classification.

With Owen Dobson leading way, the south-end powerhouse placed all five runners in the top 110 (in a field of 245), with Nolan Kuhlberg (56th), Kaeden Ward (78th), Jacob Barney (95th) and Liam Lacroix (110th) all playing a role in the team that finished fourth overall.

In fact, the Knights aggregate total of 274 points (top four runners count - goal is to have fewest points) was truthfully a matter of five seconds here or there behind the quartets from silver medal winning Neil McNeil High School (266) in Scarborough and Trinity College School (269), the bronze medal winners from Port Hope.

"I think it all starts with your preparation the night before, having a good meal and making sure that you're in bed early, electronics off early so that you can really focus on what you have to do the next day," said Kuhlberg, a 16 year-old grade 11 student.

For teams like the senior Knights and other top-end contenders, the likelihood is that training towards that goal commences well before the start of the school year in September. "Training during the summer with Mr Ward (Lo-Ellen coach Colin Ward) really made a difference," added Kuhlberg.

"The endurance we built up in the summer and in September really made a difference."

With Kuhlberg, Dobson, Barney and (hopefully) Sam Rice expected to return to the team, along with a strong crop of juniors, the expectation is already set that Lo-Ellen could have a medal contending squad come the fall of 2023.

"We were talking about that on the bus and it's pretty exciting to think about," said Kuhlberg. "I think it's a great motivator, especially for the summer when you're not running with the team."

The Lockerby Composite senior boys also fared quite well, placing 9th with a scoring quartet of Liam Binks, Owen Roney, James Bertrim and Callum Baron/Brandon Roney (separated by a 10th of a second).

Cornthwaite, meanwhile, match his bronze medal performance from one year ago, trailing only Anthony Cigan (St Joseph's Catholic H-S - Windsor) and Matthew Heldsinger (Archbishop Denis O'Connor Catholic H-S - Ajax) as the trio led the way in a grouping of 38 runners.

Following is a complete listing of the results of SDSSAA representatives who managed to crack the top-100 in their division, putting themselves in the top 40% of their classification:

Senior Girls
8th - Maren Kasunich* - Manitoulin Secondary - 23:49.00
17th - Lauren Pineau - Lockerby Composite - 24:47.60
50th - Georgia Lepage - St Benedict CSS - 26:09.29
* though Kasunich is not a SDSSAA rep, she is a very familiar face at local meets and races

Senior Boys
45th - Owen Dobson - Lo-Ellen Park - 21:36.37
50th - Liam Binks - Lockerby Composite - 21:40.93
56th - Nolan Kuhlberg - Lo-Ellen Park - 21:44.21
64th - Owen Roney - Lockerby Composite - 21:53.07
78th - Kaeden Ward - Lo-Ellen Park - 22:22.73
95th - Jacob Barney - Lo-Ellen Park - 22:39.39

Junior Girls
58th - Lucia Salmaso - Marymount - 20:56.36

Junior Boys
22nd - Shiloh Sauve - Lo-Ellen Park - 17:22.69

Novice Girls
34th - Misaki Diavolitsis - Lockerby Composite - 17:36.94
71st - Tyla McLeod - Bishop A. Carter - 18:28.59
92nd - Lily Bignucolo - Lo-Ellen Park - 18:55.63

Novice Boys
74th - Isaac Longston - Lockerby Composite - 15:52.83
84th - Sullivan Smith - St Benedict CSS - 15:59.02