Local runner Alysha Hooper competed at the Ontario Federation of Secondary School Athletics (OFSSA) provincial cross country championships in Niagara Falls on Sat., Nov. 3.

She was competing with not only the best high school distance runners in Ontario, but many were among the elite runners in Canada.

Hooper was representing both St. Mary's High School and also the region of CWOSSA (Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools) for the 3rd time in her high school career.

At OFSSA the starting line was sectioned off into the 20 regions in Ontario.  CWOSSA was in starting shoot number 13 of 20 and on the inside of the first slight turn.  Alysha was posted 3rd in line in the CWOSSA section.  Basically, her starting position was probably the worst spot she could have been placed in the starting line.

The gun went off and the herd of elite runners sprinted down the fairway.  Alysha got totally swallowed up at the start, while the girls at the front on the line had amazing starts.  As some of the girls stumbled and fell around her, she kept her elbows high and dodged the fallen warriors. 

With her racing experience, Alysha didn't panic.  She realized she had to make the best of a bad situation and slowly pass one girl at a time to make her way closer to the girls she should be racing with.

There were two 1km loops and then a 3km loop.  After 2km, Alysha was still a long 30 seconds back of where she should have been.  As they entered the 3km loop, it had a nasty long hill - not really steep - just really long.  She continued to make up ground and when the hill came down, Alysha literally flew at full speed and must have passed another 10 girls. 

At the bottom of the hill with 1.5km to go, Alysha was running very strong and still making up ground.  As they approached the final 600m, it was an out and back loop and the finish line was in full view as she began her final 600m.  At the 300m turn-around, Alysha made one final sprint to the finish.  Girls around her were fading and Alysha was getting stronger and must have passed another 10 girls in the last 200m. 

At the end, she placed 39th of 234 senior girls with a 5km time of 19:00.  What was also exciting was that the girls that were 30 seconds ahead of her after 2km were only 6 seconds ahead of her at the end.  An example of how close this race was, in a span of 10 second from 18:58.5 minutes to 19:08.2, there were 13 girls who finished. Full race results can be found at www.sportstats.ca

With the starting conditions that she had, Alysha ran the smartest and toughest race she could have run.   Her final race of the year is the Canadian Junior Cross Country Championships in Guelph on Dec. 1.