MELFORT - Students from the Estevan Comprehensive School’s cross-country team set personal bests at the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association’s championship at the Wapiti Valley Ski Hill in the Melfort area on Saturday.
“All improved their time from districts,” said coach Kelly Phillipchuk.
Sarah Kamel recorded a time of 15:21 in intermediate girls, Phillip Gellner had a time of 18:30 in junior boys, Osama Kamel finished in 25:33 in senior boys, Kylie Phillipchuk finished the senior girls’ circuit in 22:12, and Kristen Carlson had a time of 22:19 in senior girls.
Kelly Phillipchuk noted that Kiley Phillipchuk’s time was about four minutes quicker from provincials last year, while Carlson shaved a couple of minutes from her time.
Phillipchuk said the venue was a good course, but he noted the athletes thought the course near Oxbow that hosted districts the previous week was more difficult.
“This was a nice course. It’s beautiful. It was on a ski hill. There were some good hills, some rough terrain, so they had to watch where they were running. The kids liked the park,” said the coach.
There were some flat areas as well, and some areas near the water.
Kelly Phillipchuk was also proud of how the intermediate boys from the South East Cornerstone Public School Division performed, with three top-10 finishes.
“It was just really nice seeing those red and black uniforms flying down the hill. That was a great finish,” said Phillipchuk.
Luke Holman of Moosomin was second with a time of 11 minutes, Camden Husband of Weyburn was fifth in 11:21, and Jordan McFarlane of the Carnduff Education Complex was seventh in 11:27.
