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Yorkton runner competes at nationals

Kelsey Haczkewicz, a grade twelve student at Yorkton Regional High School, took part in the Canadian Cross Country Championships in Kingston, Ont. last weekend. The event brought together the best cross-country runners from all across the country.
Kelsey Haczkewicz
Kelsey Haczkewicz is the first runner from YRHS to compete at the national cross-country meet since 2010.

Kelsey Haczkewicz, a grade twelve student at Yorkton Regional High School, took part in the Canadian Cross Country Championships in Kingston, Ont. last weekend.

The event brought together the best cross-country runners from all across the country. The top four athletes in each province at age-class provincials qualified for the national meet. Each province receives funding to help get those kids there.

Haczkewicz was the only athlete from Yorkton to make it there, and the only student from YRHS to attend the event in six years.

She competed in the female U18 division, in which the race distance was four kilometers. There were 197 other runners in the division, and Haczkewicz placed 35th.

“It was a cool experience to travel pretty far, especially in the last year of high school,” said Haczkewicz. “I’ve been training for so many months leading up to it.”

The conditions in Kingston on the day of the race weren’t ideal. The course was muddy and snowy after a snowfall in Kingston just a few days prior.

“During the race it was a lot different from normal, just because the conditions were sloppy and muddy. And having a whole crowd of girls around was different. But it was a good experience,” said Haczkewicz.

Mike Haczkewicz is the cross-country coach at YRHS.

“One thing for Kelsey that she would tell you, is that she’s actually an 800-meter runner, not a 4000 meter runner,” he said. “So it was a huge accomplishment for her to finish 35th.”

“It was a cool experience to be there, and to see the competition,” he said. “It was a neat experience to race against the best of the best and to see where you’re truly at.”

Next up for Kelsey is track and field season with YRHS. And as for next year, she said she hopes to be running cross-country with a university team.