Embedded Files
Written by: Drew Ramsay
Edited by: Kate Puhlmann
Photos by: Mr. Rochus, Drew Ramsay
Ethan Deveaux during the race.
Heart Lake in Brampton offered a beautiful location for the OFSAA cross country this year, where talented cross country runners from high schools across Ontario competed in seven different races: the Novice Girls 4k, Para 4k, Novice Boys 4k, Junior Girls 5k, Junior Boys 5k, Senior Girls 6k, and Senior Boys 6k. Two Blakelock runners qualified - Ethan Deveaux and Harrison Crowe. Ethan and Harrison finished the senior boys 6K race in 28th place, the Junior Boys 5k race in 182nd place.
“This is the third year in a row that we’ve had cross country runners make it to OFSAA,” said Blakelock teacher and coach, Mr. Rochus. “At GHAC we tied with the second place team, and the top two teams to make it on to OFSAA, but we lost on the tie breaker. So it was a little bit of a bittersweet sort of experience.”
Not only did Blakelock have two runners make it to OFSAA, but with the help of Blakelock Comm-Tech students, the event was broadcast live for thousands of people. When Mr. Rochus, the primary staff member involved with the broadcast was asked about the opportunity for these students, he said, “It’s so hard to replicate an actual broadcast within the school, and that’s something that we've tried at different times as well, but this was an actual real opportunity for people to try out broadcasting and really get that bug for it.”
This year's cross country OFSAA commentators were Professional Canadian Runner and Former Olympian Reid Coolsaet, along with Blakelock Student, Jordyn Kogon. When asked about getting a hold of Reid Coolsaet for announcing in the broadcast, Mr. Rochus commented, “he's a good friend, he’s very good at what he does, and so we got him on that no problem.”
The broadcast was quite successful, gaining over twenty thousand views since the event. “It was a little bit bigger than I thought it would be, but not a lot bigger than what I thought it would be. I knew it was going to be a very popular broadcast, so I wasn’t super surprised by that,” said Rochus.
Mr. Rochus donning stabilization gear and camera equipment.
Jordyn Kogon and Reid Coolsaet announcing the event at the broadcasting trailer.
The event was held on Saturday, November 1st. The weather was mostly clear, but the course conditions were extreme. When asked about the course, Mr. Rochus replied, “Heart Lake is a brutal, brutal course. It is known as a brutal course all around the province. There’s all sorts of hills, there was rocks, there was roots, there was leaves, and it’s just, I think ‘undulating’ was the word that was most commonly thrown around.” Nevertheless, the runners persevered through these challenging aspects and made it across the finish line.
Congratulations to Ethan and Harrison for making it to OFSAA. Regardless of where Blakelock’s runners placed, this year’s OFSAA at Heart Lake was an amazing day to show Blakelock pride and skill. Go Tigers!
Junior Girls 5k Runners Crossing the Starting Line.
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