Brendan Costello had a strategy for beating Reuben DuRand from North Bay's Widdifield Secondary School.
The cross-country runner from Lo-Ellen Park in Sudbury had been studying DuRand.
On the track, Costello is fast. He runs 800 metres.
Durand is more of a distance runner.
So at Wednesday’s NOSSA cross-country running championships in Sault Ste. Marie, Costello was planning to hold back until the final 400 metres, then turn on the afterburners.
“I have the speed for it,” he told BayToday. “I know from watching Reuben previously that he wasn't as strong an 800-metre runner."
Most of Wednesday’s senior boys seven-kilometre race was a cat-and-mouse affair between DuRand and Costello, the two runners continuously trading the lead position.
"I'd take a lead, probably a metre or two. And he'd catch up and then he'd try to do that," DuRand told BayToday.
"That went on pretty much the whole race. We were one and two," said Costello.
"He had a decent gap on me for the first kilometre. But once I got into range with him, my plan was to sit until about the last 400 metres and then take off."
And that's where Costello went wrong.
The scenery at the Sault’s Hiawatha Highlands is pretty repetitive, a lot of trees followed by a lot more trees.
And Costello got confused.
"I was going around one turn and I thought there was a straightaway and then the finish."
So he started to kick, but he was actually a full kilometre from the finish line.
"I realized I was way too far back to do this. That just killed me. Mentally, it crushed me. And he took off. I really misjudged that one." Costello lamented.
DuRand started to kick about 500 metres from the finish line. "That's where we separated," he said.
At the end, the Widdifield runner beat Costello by more than 30 seconds to win NOSSA senior boys gold.
"I thought it was really flat. It was a really fast course," Durand said.
Megan Cruickshank from École Secondaire Catholique Algonquin in North Bay finished 16 seconds ahead of West Ferris's Erin Hansel to win the senior girls five-kilometre run.
"This is my first year of running cross country." Cruickshank said.
She played three years of basketball at her school, placing fourth at OFSAA in her Grade 11 year,
She's also been training recently with North Bay Legion Track Club, adding track workouts to her road work.
"There's not too much bush in North Bay but we have a few short trails," she said.
The Sault’s Korah Collegiate won the overall NOSSA co-ed cross-country team championship at Pinder Trails, followed by Lo-Ellen, Espanola, Widdifield, Lockerby (Sudbury) and Algonquin.
The 2015 OFSAA cross-country championships take place on Saturday, November 7 in Duntroon, Ontario.
The following are yesterday's top individual finishers in each division.
Girls 3k Run Midget
1 Ariane Saumure Macdonald-Cartie 13:34.25
2 Catherine Héroux ESC Algonquin 13:42.29
3 Katie Bethune ESC Algonquin 13:43.96
4 Jade Hurley Lively DSS 13:51.49
5 Mackenzie Rains Korah CVS 14:06.97
6 Emma Ringette Widdifield SS 14:34.62
7 Jillian Gleason Joseph-Scollard 14:44.55
8 Jenna Faulkner West Ferris SS 14:45.24
9 Natalie Marks De Chabris Lo-Ellen Park SS 14:49.55
10 Maya Lortie Korah CVS 15:00.14
Boys 5k Run Midget
1 Ethan Sheppard Lockerby Comp Sc 18:09.21
2 Augustin Marks de Chabri Lo-Ellen Park SS 18:09.85
3 Connor Jermyn Lo-Ellen Park SS 18:21.48
4 Keon Wallingford Widdifield SS 18:40.51
5 Colin Withers Espanola HS 18:56.14
6 Noah Gallant Espanola HS 19:00.99
7 Lucas Mrozeerski Lo-Ellen Park SS 19:10.26
8 Justin Watson Notre-Dame -Sudb 19:11.12
9 Luca Nardi Notre-Dame -Sudb 19:17.40
10 Declan MacDougal Korah CVS 19:18.53
Girls 4k Run Junior
1 Nina Kucheran Notre-Dame -Sudb 15:45.78
2 Robynne L'Ami West Ferris SS 15:54.85
3 Hannah Jodoin Korah CVS 15:58.54
4 Sydney Tarini Lo-Ellen Park SS 16:04.20
5 Leah Ritacco Korah CVS 16:20.00
6 Jadyn Pettenuzzo Korah CVS 16:41.02
7 Sophie Laperrière ESC Algonquin 16:44.94
8 Hillary Clark Elliot Lake SS 16:46.89
9 Hannah Irwin Widdifield SS 16:58.90
10 Shilo Rousseau Central Algoma 17:05.99
Boys 6k Run Junior
1 Nicholas Lambert Elliot Lake SS 20:48.19
2 Andrew Budau Korah CVS 21:28.47
3 Connor Tait Korah CVS 21:30.49
4 James Scott Manitoulin SS 21:46.50
5 Josh Tillson Lo-Ellen Park SS 21:47.36
6 Ryan Venditti Joseph-Scollard 22:04.72
7 Jacob Verslype Superior Hts CVS 22:11.64
8 Kelly Thompson Lo-Ellen Park SS 23:36.24
9 Noah Dickinson Elliot Lake SS 23:37.13
10 Mathew McDonald St Benedict -Sud 23:38.70
Girls 5k Run Senior
1 Megan Cruickshank ESC Algonquin 20:38.00
2 Erin Hansel West Ferris SS 20:54.32
3 Alyssa Randall Widdifield SS 20:58.37
4 Kennedy Parks Espanola HS 21:05.46
5 Allison Caswell Lo-Ellen Park SS 21:06.80
6 Miranda Boudreau Lockerby Comp Sc 21:25.37
7 Elaine D'Agostino Joseph-Scollard 21:29.49
8 Sophie Pereira ES du Sacre-Coeu 21:34.83
9 Meaghan Kelly Joseph-Scollard 21:46.07
10 Ann-Marie Fredette Widdifield SS 21:52.54
Boys 7k Run Senior
1 Reuben DuRand Widdifield SS 22:54.60
2 Brendan Costello Lo-Ellen Park SS 23:26.11
3 Jerryd McLeod-Maenpaa White Pines CVS 23:47.85
4 Caleb Beland Bish Alex Carter 24:04.00
5 Adriaan Vandermeer Chippewa SS 24:40.33
6 Nick Keenan Superior Hts CVS 24:55.21
7 Stavros Gallant Lockerby Comp Sc 25:00.75
8 Justin Leale Espanola HS 25:07.39
9 Logan Emiry Espanola HS 25:14.54
10 Colton Lafrance Espanola HS 25:26.93
Mixed 3k Run Para Race
1 Jordan Burke M Lo-Ellen Park SS 28:53.64
