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Elecs post personal bests at provincials

The five members of the Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs cross-country team that competed at provincials Saturday in Prince Albert all came away with personal best times. One of them had a top-10 finish in Saskatchewan.
Aden Haywood
Aden Haywood finished seventh at the provincial high school cross-country meet in Prince Albert. Photo submitted

The five members of the Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs cross-country team that competed at provincials Saturday in Prince Albert all came away with personal best times.

One of them had a top-10 finish in Saskatchewan.

Aden Haywood was seventh in the senior boys division. He completed the circuit in a time of 16 minutes and 36 seconds.

Coach Kelly Phillipchuk said it was a very tough level of competition, as two students completed the race in under 16 minutes, and 12 did it in under 17 minutes.

“The top 10 overall had amazing times. So Aden picked up a personal best and had a great race,” said Phillipchuk.

Four other students also competed. Jonathan Swirski was also entered in senior boys, and finished with a time of 22:27. Hunter Siever was in midget boys and finished with a time of 13:28.

In midget girls, Kristen Carlson had a time of 15:30 and Kylie Phillipchuk finished the race in 17:30.

“The course was very flat, so there were very fast times. Everyone ran a lot faster than they ever have,” said Phillipchuk.

The flat terrain was beneficial for the Elecs, because they don’t have a lot of places in Estevan to train with hills. It means they run and practice on flat courses.

“In the past there have been some courses with some huge, huge hills on them, and so times were a little bit slower and a little bit tougher. This one was just a hard, fast run.”

He’s not sure if they will see times like what the Elecs were able to post at provincials for a while, as it was not only a flat course, but the course conditions were good and the weather co-operated. It was the first time in a few years they haven’t run in snow at provincials.

Members of the cross-country team ran four days a week to get ready for provincials, and were also encouraged to run on weekends. They competed at a couple of mini meets and districts.

Phillipchuk referred to the cross-country season as a fast month, as they only have about a few weeks to get ready for provincials each year.