A Grade 3 Olds Koinonia Christian School (OKCS) student has taken first place in cross-country running for the second year in a row.
Marielle Padiernos received a ribbon and certificate after finishing first in a cross-country race Oct. 6, beating 120 Grade 3 girls from across the Chinook's Edge School Division in the 1.5-kilometre race in the division's Cross Country Fun Run in Innisfail.
Last year in Grade 2, she took first place in the same race.
Padiernos, 8, concedes prepping for the race, then running up and down hills can be hard.
“You have to run three laps and then when it's time to do it you have to run a bunch of long ones,” she said during an interview with the Albertan.
But she loves it.
“You go down the hill and then you go up,” she says with a grin.
Padiernos also likes to play basketball.
When asked which sport she prefers, she diplomatically says, “I like both of them.”
Marielle says her sister, Mikaela, 16, also an OKCS student -- who participates in track and field, basketball, badminton and volleyball -- is her role model.
"You have to run three laps and then when it's time to do it you have to run a bunch of long ones."MARIELLE PADIERNOSGRADE 3 STUDENT OLDS KOINONIA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
