College Park School students took part in the first extracurricular activity for the school year.
Five athletes from the school ran in a virtual cross country meet which had a fixed route around Bud Miller Park. Christine Thiessen, the race organizer and a teacher at College Park, says they’ve been able to set-up an inter school competition while still staying within the guidelines set out by the Saskatchewan High School Athletics Association.
“There’s a select group of kids that really like to run and they got the chance to get going. It’s an easy one to be able to do outside and to be able to physical distance, so it’s a nice start.”
As part of the guidelines, students must spread out at the starting line in order to maintain physical distancing and stay within their cohorts. Schools aren’t able to compete or practice with each other directly which meant splitting the race into two different days.
College Park students ran on October 7th while Bishop Lloyd Middle School students ran on October 8th. Athletes from both schools will run the same track, which has been set up before time, and will then compare times.
“Other than that, cross country was an easy one to adapt.”
Most students in either school will not be able to participate in provincials this year. However, students in Grades 9 to 12 will be able to run with some changes made to ensure the safety of the runners.
“Students from Lloydminster Comprehensive High School and any interested Grade 9s will be able to take part in a provincial race in a given location in and around Lloydminster. They’ll then log their time and compare them to other students of the same age group around Saskatchewan.”
Thiessen says participation in the cross country running program is still in line with previous years.