Number four on our list of the top OFSAA XC performers in Club history is an athlete, who by his own admission was not a runner when his high school career starter, but he certainly graduated as one – Allan Brett. The Hillcrest High School graduate may have started slow, but he certainly finished with a bang, running away with bronze and gold medals in his final two years of school.
Brett’s freshman year of high school was not what one would typically associate with a future senior boys OFSAA champion. He didn’t make it to the finish line of his first race in high school – pulling out with abdominal cramps. However, that moment gave him a desire to never pull out of another race again. Running solely on the fitness gained from playing competitive soccer, Brett managed a second place finish at the city meet and would go on to a 42nd place finish at the OFSAA Championships. It would be the worst finish of his high school career and mark the start of his ascension to the podium.
A year later, the influence of Hillcrest upperclassman, and number six on our list, Mike Woods took hold. “It’s what you want to be. It’s what you want to attain,” Brett told The Citizen of Woods’ words on running. Those words worked. Brett’s sky-rocketed up 37 spots on the final leader board at OFSAA that year to finish fifth in the junior boys race, 22 seconds off the podium.
The 22 second deficit would turn into a 5 second surplus the following year in the senior boys race as Brett would capture his first OFSAA cross country medal. “I was really happy. It was a perfect race,” the Hillcrest student said of his bronze medal.
By the time Brett toed the start line in Odessa for his fourth and final OFSAA cross country run in grade 12 he had finally become the favourite. Coming off a summer that saw him finish 12th at the World Youth Championships at 1500 metres behind two eventual Olympic finalists and winning the pre-OFSAA race on the same course, he was well positioned for victory and did not disappoint. An eight second victory over Brantford Collegiate’s Cory Currie was a fitting end to a well peaked high school career.
After graduation Brett accepted a scholarship to Villanova University to study electrical engineering and run for the Wildcats. After a year in Philadelphia, Brett transferred to the University of Guelph where he would go on to earn a master’s degree in biomedical engineering. Running for the Gryphons, Brett was a two time OUA champion in cross country, a four time first team All-Canadian and helped lead his school to four consecutive CIS team titles. Brett works as a research technician at the Running Injury Clinic in Calgary.