When he crossed the line at Saturday’s Canadian Cross Country Championships in Abbotsford, BC, Kevin Robertson put a great end to a phenomenal year of running. The 18 year old Robertson was third across the line in the U20 men’s race, completing the eight kilometre course in 25 minutes and 0.88 seconds in his one and only cross country race of 2019. The Syracuse University freshman has had a breakout out year that has included steeplechase titles at both the OFSAA and Canadian Championships, an athletic scholarship to a major NCAA program and now a spot on his first national team.
With only a two mile trial on the track under his belt this fall, Kevin Robertson pushed hard to the front of the pack over the opening 400 metres, choosing to hang in with that lead back for the bulk of the race. When eventual winner Andrew Davies of the Windsor Legion made his break on the third of four loops of the Clearbrook Park Course, a number of runners went with him, but Roberston stayed the course.
“I kept running my own pace and eventually people kept coming back to me and then in the last lap coming down the hill, I really went for it down the hill and ended up right in the perfect position to go for a medal,” said the Bell High School graduate. “I got out kicked at the end, but still good enough for a third and I’m really happy with it.”
Competing in his first Canadian Championships Callum Saravanamuttoo compared the event to OFSAA, noting the fields were smaller, but certainly faster. The early speed may have gotten to Saravanamutoo as noted he may have gone out a little too hard, but the Glebe Collegiate student still managed a 26th place finish in a time of 25:55.81.
Despite a bit of a niggle heading into Saturday’s race, Joe Fast laid it all out on the course, placing 30th in a time of 26:17.52. “I tried my best, tried my hardest. I left it all out there and I was happy with it,” said Fast of the effort.
Fellow Glebe student Adam Sanger took a slightly different path to nationals than the rest of the Lions having come straight from Nepal where he had spent to previous three weeks. While his teammates may have joked he was getting in some altitude training, Sanger managed to finish 52nd overall in a time of 27:13.64. He was a one place and 12 seconds ahead of teammate Colby Frost.
As a team, the quintet placed fifth overall in a tightly bunched group. Amassing 111 points, the Lions were just 15 points off the podium and 21 from gold. Noteworthy was the fact all but Robertson were still eligible to run in the U18 category, but the boys said they wanted to race as a team. With everyone scheduled to return in a years time, look for these gentlemen to bring home some shiny hardware in 2020.