Cross-Country Running

Having been part of the Westwood's cross-country team for the past 3 years, I am rather familiar with how it is organized and run for the most part. However, at the same time, the short season (September to mid-October) and unpredictability of the weather always makes for a new and different experience each year. During my JV seasons, for example, my coach had been Ms. Beachell, and I had always been able to easily make 3 practices (or more) a week and all of the meets. However, this year, many changes were abound. With Ms. Beachell leaving Westwood Collegiate, our new coach became Mr. Sdrolias. Everyone who is familiar with him knows that he loves to push students to (and often, past) their limits in order to reach maximum performance. Knowing this, I entered this season tentative yet eager for this new change in pace. What I hadn't counted on was the demanding courseload of IB. Admittedly, in the past I have been a student to miss many classes due to numerous extracurricular events. I always justified that since I maintained good grades as well as had reliable friends to catch me up it would be no problem to miss class time.

Enter a full Grade 11 IB courseload.


2009 Provincials

Suddenly; practices were fighting with valuable homework time,  meets clashed with that one [really] difficult class, and that whole-day provincial meet was just not going to happen. Having never had to deal with this before, I was beyond frustrated. Nevertheless, I worked ridiculously hard to make the minimum three practices a week. When I found I couldn't (especially at the start of October), I ran my own 3 km or a small 20-minute circuit.  I danced around scheduling conflicts and homework and surprisingly, found myself more organized in the end. I was able to make two conference meets; one at Assiniboine Park and the other at Crescent Drive Park. At Assiniboine Park, I found myself running in extreme rain and mud for the first time. It was difficult yet quite the accomplishment! And though I did end up missing provincials for the first time ever, I plan on making it a priority in Grade 12. So, overall, I believe this cross-country season was definitely a learning experience for me in terms of balancing IB and my extra-curriculars. This newly acquired knowledge will most likely help me as indoor track season comes looming over my head...

2008 team picture

2009 Provincials

2009 Provincials

*due to lack of pictures from the 2010 cross-country running season, these pictures are from previous seasons in 2008 and 2009.

CAS Components
Action: Participation on a school's sports team.