Skylar Arpin has best RR showing at cross country meet

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Riverview School

On Saturday, Riverview runners took part in the 36th Mid Canada Elementary School Cross Country Run in Thunder Bay. This run is organized and sponsored by the Royal Canadian Legion. Riverview School sent 16 runners to the meet where over 400 runners from all over Northern and Northwestern Ontario would converge for our final run this year. The runners had their goals set and looked forward to the competition, knowing it would be an exciting event. Goals ranged from finishing in the top 3 by last year’s 9th place finisher, Saragh Fraser to placing in the top half by some of the younger runners. Some of the runners were looking at beating a certain time based on last year’s run and others set their goals to do the best they could. All 16 runners should be proud of their accomplishments at the Meet.
Several major stories emerged as the day progressed. The girl’s division which included 228 runners from gr. 4 to 8 was where Riverview was able to put a full team together.
Our top finisher was Skylar Arpin, gr. 6, who finished a strong 8th place which not only surprised the Rainy River fans, but she also was ecstatic about. Skylar definitely had her best run of the year in Thunder Bay.
Saragh Fraser, who placed 9th last year, managed to place 16th this year. For someone who had come down with a serious case of the flu earlier Saturday morning, this was an amazing accomplishment. Not knowing just how bad it would be, Saragh chose to run the race. She showed a lot of courage and fortitude by not only finishing the run, but managing to do as well as she did considering her condition.
Our girl’s team of Skylar Arpin (8th), Saragh Fraser (16th), Emily Fraser (32nd), Kathryn Clifford (39th), Lindsey Westover (57th), Jenna Jarvis (111th), Cassie Westover (113th), Shelby Tympkin (114th), Haley Arpin (115th), Elizabeth Fraser (116th), and Carmen Drackert (191st) did a fantastic job of representing our school and town. Out of 30 teams, Riverview girls placed 4th, only 3 points behind the third place team.
The Riverview boy’s team also had some excellent efforts put forth by the runners. Unfortunately, they only had 5 participants which means they could not compete as a full team. Although being a young team (two gr. 4s, 2 gr. 6s, and one gr. 7) the future does look bright for them. All five boys can be proud of their performances on Saturday. Our top finisher was by one of our hardest workers, Nolan Short, who managed to finish 50th among 188 runners. Nolan had set his goal based on last year’s time and was able to achieve that. Nolan is only in grade six, as is his classmate, Zack Tolen, who also had an excellent race finishing a strong 72nd. Landon Westover (85th), Jayson Rencher (103rd), and Aaron Short (104th) were all first time runners at this event.
All sixteen runners definitely came back with an appreciation of how competitive this run can be. Some came back disappointed, others came back pleased with their results, but all runners can be proud of their efforts and accomplishments. This group of runners have surely set the standards high for next year’s team.