David ran away from Goliath . . . and won the battle.
Not content for the participant’s medal, St. Timothy High School’s junior boys cross-country running team went into Calgary and brought home the city championship. The seven-man team from the Cochrane institute with a high-school population of 170 ran faster than mighty Western Canada (student pop. 2,000+) and EP Scarlett (1,700+) to win the Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association junior boys city title.
The combined 600-point effort from Isaac Amsing, Duncan Swedlo, Alex Howells, Rory O’Donnell, Charles Cook, Kain Simmer and Noah Arteaga was 10 better than Western Canada (590 points, second place) and 120 higher than EP Scarlett’s third-place total of 480.
“The boys became men and stepped up. The fellas battled through injury throughout the season, and although we had no star performances, the yeoman’s effort was truly a team one,” said ecstatic St. Tim’s cross-country running coach Travis Cummings. “The boys’ win is an inspiring story of how a collective effort and a commitment to a team mentality helped them all reap great benefits. The young men have now solidified their spot in St. Timothy’s Thunder sports history as having pulled off one of the most significant athletic victories our school has witnessed.”
The individual finishes of 24th, 25th, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 42nd and 46th were enough to claim the city team championship in Calgary.
“Against all odds, the little school on the hill that thought it could, did,” Cummings added. “It has been four years of hard work from these athletes since Grade 7 in order to get to this point.
“Lots of early mornings, sweat, sore muscles, blood, and struggle have gone into getting them to this point.”
