Four from this area running for Team Ontario on the weekend
Competing at Canadian Cross Country Championships
Grace Murphy is what you call an all-around athlete.
The Grade 9 student at St. Peter Secondary School plays soccer for FC Durham in the highest level of rep soccer available at her age. She plays rep hockey for the Peterborough Bantam AA Ice Kats. Her newest sport is cross country running and on Saturday she’ll be part of Team Ontario at the 2019 Canadian Cross Country Championships in Abbotsford, B.C.
She is one of four local runners and a coach named to Team Ontario. Kawartha Lakes Lightning Running Club coach Darl Sutherland was named head coach for Team Ontario by Athletics Ontario. Three of his Lightning runners, Murphy and Charlie Konyer in the women’s U18 division and Marisha Thompson at U20, are on the team. Also named was Peterborough Legion Track Club’s Molly Strain.
Murphy went undefeated in elementary school winning the Catholic school board’s cross country meets, locally and board-wide, from Grade 3 through 8.
In anticipation of entering high school she joined the Lightning to try to take her running to another level. She went undefeated on her way to winning the Kawartha and COSSA midget girls titles and placed 10th at OFSAA. Those results earned her a spot on Team Ontario.
“I had the club recommended by a few of my friends I play different sports with,” Murphy said. “My parents got in touch with the coach and I went out one time and I really liked it. The training was really good. Now that I’m in high school the competition is a lot more intense. I thought I needed to rise to that level in order to compete.”
She is the youngest athlete on Team Ontario at 14 and will be running against girls two to three years older.
“I’m not exactly sure what to expect because this race is going to be so big competing against a whole country. I’m just hoping to do my best. It will give me a good idea of where I fit in,” she said.
Murphy hopes her athletic ability will lead to opportunities beyond high school, but she’s not yet prepared to pick one sport over another.
“I’m still really enjoying all three of the sports and want to keep playing them,” she said.
“Grace is so young,” Sutherland said. “I threw her into what I consider one of the hardest 10K’s in Ontario at the age of 13 and she won the whole thing. She learned the most, I think, when she went to OFSAA and finally got up against competition that had her same ability and still finished 10th.”
There are 36 runners on Team Ontario and Sutherland said it’s impressive to have four from this area. He started his club a year ago with eight runners and now has 53. Thompson was the only one to go to nationals last year. She will attend Florida Atlantic University next fall.
“It’s Marisha’s last year with us,” Sutherland said. “She’ll be going onto bigger things. It’s nice we can have this one last hurrah for cross country to say goodbye the right way.”
Konyer, he says, is perhaps his most improved athlete.
“A year ago Charlie wouldn’t have been close to being in this position,” Sutherland said. “I’ve watched her improve not just physically but psychologically. She is challenging the herself and wants to race. She’s able to give herself criticism in a positive way to know what she has to improve.”
Strain’s selection was a nobrainer, said Sutherland.
“Molly is a fantastic athlete. She’s demonstrated every single year that she’s able to elevate her game especially in championship events,” he said.
Sutherland has tried to subsidize costs by raising funds and sponsorships. He said he didn’t expect to qualify three for nationals and his budget for 2019 is already used. Each athlete will have to pay nearly $1,000 to make the trip unless someone wants to help sponsor them, he said.
If interested call Sutherland at 705-930-4463 or email Darl_Sutherland@hotmail.com.