LCS Hosts the 2022 CISAA Cross Country Championship
Written by: Rory Gilfillan
“Pre[fontaine] was troubled, you see, by knowing that a mediocre effort can win a race and a magnificent effort can lose one.” ~ Donald Sutherland, Without Limits
Ben ’23’s performance in this week’s CISSA Championships was nothing short of magnificent but it wasn’t enough. If there was any kind of justice, it would have been. It's the kind of performance that leads to coaches launching into expletive-laden surprise and then silent awe. For those of us who witnessed Ben's race, this is what greatness looks like.
Ben doesn’t look the part. He’s sturdy. He smiles. He’s centred and balanced. He’s hopeful. He’s the antithesis of a sport inhabited by furtive and haunted waifs. At the startline he’s easy to discount, dismiss and misunderstand. Competitors shifting from foot to foot, nervously waiting for the gun to fire, measuring their competition, often look past him to their detriment. In the early going, he hangs back in that top third, biding his time. He’s invisible until he’s not. Then he attacks. And then it’s over.
At this point in the season, racing becomes completely objective. The spoils don’t go to the committed or the dedicated or the noble. The spoils go to the fastest. And with the very notable exception of Junior Girls, Jana ’25 and Sophia ’25 (who is ineligible to race OFSAA this year), who both qualified for OFSAA, the LCS team was unable to repeat last year’s breakout success. There is an inevitability to falling short in sophomore campaigns and sport is filled with stories of successful seasons followed by steps back, reflection, and in some cases, reinvention.
Last week’s results are not an indictment of a good season but the results are an objective measure of where we succeeded and more importantly, where we fell short. It is these latter specifics that will drive what we do the rest of this school year in Nordic and track, the long miles over the summer and of course how we train and compete next fall.
Running is simple.
Practice is never cancelled
The season is never over.
Run faster than the person in front of you.
Next week, Jana ’25 will be representing LCS at OFSAA but next fall begins today.
School Information
4391 County Road 29, Lakefield Ontario K0L 2H0 705.652.3324 admissions@lcs.on.ca
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Lakefield College School is a private, coeducational boarding and day school for students in grades 9 through 12, located in Lakefield, Ontario, Canada.
We respectfully acknowledge that Lakefield College School is located on the Treaty 20 Michi Saagiig territory and in the traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig and Chippewa Nations, collectively known as the Williams Treaties First Nations, which include: Curve Lake, Hiawatha, Alderville, Scugog Island, Rama, Beausoleil, and Georgina Island First Nations. Lakefield College School respectfully acknowledges that the Williams Treaties First Nations are the stewards and caretakers of these lands and waters in perpetuity and that they continue to maintain this responsibility to ensure their health and integrity for generations to come.
We respectfully acknowledge that Lakefield College School is located on the Treaty 20 Michi Saagiig territory and in the traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig and Chippewa Nations, collectively known as the Williams Treaties First Nations, which include: Curve Lake, Hiawatha, Alderville, Scugog Island, Rama, Beausoleil, and Georgina Island First Nations. Lakefield College School respectfully acknowledges that the Williams Treaties First Nations are the stewards and caretakers of these lands and waters in perpetuity and that they continue to maintain this responsibility to ensure their health and integrity for generations to come.
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