“Race as one; compete as a team.” At some point over the course of the recent OFSAA experience or before, the Lo-Ellen Park Knights senior boys crew came across this poster.
For the record, “the group” would include three-timers Owen Dobson, Nolan Kuhlberg and Jacob Barney, double-entry Sam Rice, as well as Shiloh Sauvé, Russell Joiner, Kaeden Ward and Liam Lacroix. With varying editions of a five-man roster, these Knights exploded onto the scene as juniors, earning a bronze medal as a team by placing no less than four runners in the top 31 juniors in the province two years ago.
“I think we have a lot of depth as a team,” said Dobson. “It’s sort of a perfect collection of people that are really dedicated and committed.” “The training is always fun because we are always pushing each other, trying to become our best,” said Sauvé. “Within that, there is a level of competition to see who can be faster, but there’s the team aspect, knowing that we are all going to race hard for each other.”
“I always ran elementary cross-country, but not really focused on the running, more just to have fun with my friends,” he said. “I started running more seriously in high school. Even last year, I kind of went to OFSAA just for myself because I knew that my team didn’t have much of a chance. But this year, knowing that my team had a chance, it’s a completely different environment.While basketball was not the side sport of choice for Dobson, neither was running an automatic source of excellence.