The cross-country culture runs deep at St. Timothy High School.

Yet another banner has been added to the walls of their school gymnasium for their latest achievement in cross-county running. In addition, seven of these athletes will be advancing to the provincials being hosted by Medicine Hat on Oct. 19.

On Oct. 9, St. Tim's intermediate girls team of 13 athletes handily dominated all Calgary high schools to capture their first City Championship banner. They accumulated 682 points, well ahead of second-place Western Canada High School, who finished with 405 points.

Because of their performance, six of the intermediate girls are off to the provincials. They'll be joined by senior boys' competitor Koover Schmidt.

Leading the Thunder charge at the City Championships was Darci Petersen, with a bronze medal performance in a very competitive race. Grade 10 rookie Holly Moores stepped up an age group and place fifth overall, close on the tail of her teammate. Emily Carvalho placed eighth, Makenna Myatt (also grade 10) placed ninth, and a highly improved Miranda Hobbs placed 10th. Charlotte Trainor placed 14th, rounding out our six girls placing in the top 20 and advancing to the provincials..

Clare Hurley was 30th, Catherine Swedlo 51st, Carling Bremner 55th, Bria Michalski 65th, Carmela Kare 76th, Isabelle Goosney 88th, and Kyla Jardine 94th.

"The girls championship was a result of an extremely impressive team running effort, with girls of all ability levels stepping up throughout the season to help the team score points," says Travis Cummings, one of the team's five coaches. "What they have accomplished is a truly exceptional feat."

The Thunder cross-country team also fielded four athletes in the junior boys, senior girls and senior boys categories. 

In senior boys, Koover Schmidt and Jack Bentley ran strong races, but admittedly didn’t have their best days. Koover placed 18th to advance to the provincials. Bentley was right behind in 19th to become first alternate for Calgary Zone. Unfortunately, all 18 ahead of him have confirmed they will be competing.

In Junior Boys, rookie Ben Walker placed 65th. In the senior girls, Lauren McCullough was 72nd.

Throughout the season, the cross-country team showed incredible perseverance, says Coach Cummings.

"The cross-county season has been rife with cold weather and snowy conditions," says Cummings. "This year’s edition of the City Championships reflected the overall theme this season has thrown at our athletes."

This is the school's fourth cross-country City Championship banner.