A bonus competition, of sorts, has created quite the breakthrough for a pair of Laurentian Voyageur freshman cross-country runners, as LU representatives put a bow on an outstanding fall season in 2019.
Roughly three weeks after the U Sport Championships, both Keon Wallingford (North Bay) and Chase Canty (Windsor) cracked the top 10 at the Athletics Canada National Cross-Country Running Championships in Abbotsford, B.C., late last month.
As a result, the Voyageur tandem have both been named to a six-man contingent that will don the Team Canada singlets at the Pan-American Cross Country Cup in Victoria, B.C., on Feb. 29, 2020.
Racing over the picturesque eight kilometre course at Clearbrook Park, Wallingford clocked a time of 25:10, finishing seventh overall, with Canty just two slots back, crossing the line in 25:13.
"The guys on our team were saying that I was good enough, that I should try and make the team, but I had my doubts," Wallingford said. "I was confident that I could do well, but I wasn't 100 per cent sure that I could make it."
And then there was the challenge of determining positioning in a race that was not limited only to athletes eligible to qualify for the Pan Am team.
"It was kind of difficult, a little bit more complicated, when you don't know who you have to beat, and who you don't," said Wallingford. "Based on previous years, the average was usually top ten, so looking around, during the last lap, I was about 12th or 11th, so I knew I had to pass at least three or four guys if I was going to make it."
The uncertainty might have proven even more beneficial to Chase Canty, whose sole focus was on the group efforts of he and his Windsor Legion Track and Field Club teammates.
"My only goal was to get my team a medal," he said. "It hadn't occured to me until the last 200 metres or so of the race that I was in a position to make the national team."
Coming off a season in which the Laurentian men performed very well on both a provincial and national level, this latest showing is a little bit of icing on the cake.
"To have two of our team members make a national team is truly remarkable," said Darren Jermyn, Laurentian's men's coach. "Despite being just 18 years old and rookies on our squad, both Keon and Chase were key to our team's strong performances this season."
"To see them extend their season by a further three weeks following the U Sports championships, in less-than-ideal training conditions, really demonstrates the calibre of their talent."
"Because there are three weeks between the two races, it was hard to stay motivated and go out for runs on my own, especially because it was only me and Chase from the university that were going," Wallingford said.
"It made the training a little more difficult."
Add to that the fact the Abbotsford event stretched out over eight kilometres, versus the 10km distance that both runners had grown accustomed to at both the OUA and national university level, and it was clear that circumstances for a signature race were not ideal.
"The club nats (Athletics Canada National X-C Championships) felt the best," said Wallingford. "In the other races, I wasn't in the top group, I wasn't running to win the race or anything - I was running for placement," added the graduate of Widdifield Secondary, quite realistically.
"In this race, I was in the lead group for a lot of the race, so the atmosphere just felt better, being in the race instead of in the middle of the pack."
