CARSTAIRS - Aiden Good, a Grade 11 student from Hugh Sutherland School (HSS), recently won a provincial title in cross-country.
With a time of 14.07 in the junior men's race, Good placed first out of more than 120 racers from throughout the province at the Alberta High School Cross Country Championships in Vermilion on Oct. 20.
Teacher sponsor and assistant coach Jenny Johnson said the result was historic for the Carstairs school.
"We've never had an athlete place in the top three," said Johnson. "We've had athletes place fourth and sixth but it was definitely one for the history books."
Johnson had high praise for Good, who finished 12th at last year's provincial cross-country championships in the junior men's race.
"He's a club track and field and cross-country athlete who trains out of Airdrie," she said. "He is an extremely dedicated and hard-working individual and he executed the race with an impeccable plan. He was flawless in his execution of the race. He ran very well."
Also competing at the meet from HSS were Grade 11 athlete Sophie Porter, who finished 92nd out of 123 in the intermediate girls' category, and Grade 10 athlete Tareq Casely, who ran a personal best of 18.22 and finished 113th out of 129 in the junior men's category.
Good told the Gazette he was thrilled to pick up the gold medal on the podium at provincials.
"It felt great," said Good. "Physically, I was pretty tired but yeah, I had a big smile on my face. The atmosphere was great. Everyone was giving me high-fives."
Good said he was familiar with many of the racers he competed against and knew he had a chance going in.
"I knew lots of the guys going into the race from the club circuit," he said. "I was a little surprised when I came across the line first but I knew a lot of the competition and thought I had a good chance at a medal."
Good qualified for provincials by finishing first at the South Central Zone Championships on Oct. 10 at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School in Okotoks.
At the provincials race, which was four kilometres long, Good said he started out strong and was around seventh when he made his move.
"At the first hill, I moved myself into the front pack with the first three guys," he said. "Me and one athlete I knew from Calgary went back and forth with the lead from kilometre 1 to kilometre 3. With a kilometre to go I decided to put the jets on and left him behind."
Good started running cross-country in Grade 3 with Mrs. Gardner.
"When I moved to Hugh Sutherland in Grade 5 I joined with the Kodiak team and raced with the Grade 7s," he said. "I just stuck with it ever since."
Good also competes in high school track and field with the HSS Kodiaks. He's had great success in both the 400-metre and 800-metre races. Last year he qualified for the national championships in the 800-metre and finished 16th in the country.
Good trains with the Airdrie Aces club program a couple of times a week. He trains on his own as well.
"I'll practise on my own on Monday," he said. "Usually a long run. We'll have practice in Airdrie on Tuesdays and Thursdays. During the cross-country season we'll head into Calgary on Saturdays; they have big hills there by the river. I'll also do training runs with the school team when they have practices. I try to make it there once a week."
Good was very thankful for the work of his coaches, Sharon Styles, Willie Vass and Jenny Johnson at HSS.
"The provincial medal wouldn't have been possible without my coaches," he said.
