Jacob Klassen finished the 5km event in 17:12 at the SHSAA provincials. (Submitted photo/Kelly Klassen)
Cross-Country

Carlton athlete places 2nd in provincial cross-country championship

Oct 19, 2022 | 11:35 AM

Jacob Klassen continued a stellar year in track events this past weekend at the Saskatchewan Highschool Athletic Association provincial cross-country championships at Wapiti Valley Ski Resort.

The Grade 11 athlete from Carlton Comprehensive Public High School finished the 5-km event in a time of 17 minutes and 12 seconds– good enough for a silver medal and just 7 seconds shy of the first-place finisher.

“Placing second at provincials was a great accomplishment for me and brought a lot of motivation for next year. Only losing by a very small margin is tough, because you always believe that you can close that time gap. But overall, I am really happy about my performance and will be very motivated for next year,” Klassen said.

A daily routine helps Klassen stay on track. He trains six days a week and said he loves running because it’s something he’s always been good at and is how he’s met the majority of his good friends. He’s also a part of the Global Sports Academy program at Carlton which helps him stay focused on nutrition and mental training.

“He’s been training pretty hard for the last two or three years. He’s really trying to achieve scholarships and his eventual goal is to race in the Olympics. So he’s put in a lot of effort and time in training so any time he has an accomplishment where there is a medal, it’s really awesome to see his hard work is paying off and a parent’s proud moment to see him do well at something that he really loves,” said Jacob’s father, Kelly Klassen.

Jacob Klassen (left) represented Carlton Comprehensive Public High School at the SHSAA cross-country championships. (Submitted photo/Kelly Klassen)

Last season, he set records in the 800, 1500, and 3000 metre races during the districts and won a gold in the 1500-metre event at provincials.

“He does some secondary coaching apart from the school, so he is a very driven athlete who really delegates his time to balance his workout regime and his academics. He’s just a great person overall. He definitely takes it very seriously,” said cross-country coach Melanie Mirasty.

Klassen’s next step is to get back to training and finish off the cross-country season strong with a couple more meets through his club.

“I hope to improve a lot and win cross-country provincial gold in my senior year,” he said.

The provincial cross country championships saw 538 athletes from every corner of the province participating. Carlton’s cross-country coach Celina Risling, along with Mirasty, said all of their students improved their seasons by committing to extra workouts, Risling added some even shaved up to six minutes off of their race times.

Here is where the other Carlton students placed in their categories at provincials:

Senior Girls

Kaley Clarke – 50th

Rayne Cry – 18th

Junior Boys

Kalan Johnson – 14th

Lambert Schwartzenberger- 38th

Jesse Quiring- 40th

Senior Boys

Jacob Klassen – 2nd

Sahas Mittal – 79th

Intermediate Girls

Nea Lanoie – 80th

panews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertNOW

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