September 16, 2019
The Fun 2 Run Files - inspired by coach Bern's timeless wheels
Rookie runner Eric Knight of St. John’s, Newfoundland works out with head coach Eric Gillis in an early-season workout
It’s the magical time we all remember: early September. For an incoming varsity athlete, there is nothing quite like the dog days of training camp at St. FX. We amble around campus between runs and spend hours catching up with teammates over a leisurely game of soccer (or spikeball). We quickly tell Diane from Sodexo about our summers as we rush through the gates of meal hall, only to sip on the same glass of chocolate milk until it’s warm.
Faces on the team change, but the excitement, the training load and, seemingly, Diane are constant. It’s a new year at St. FX University and the endurance athletes, still free of scholastic responsibility, are eager to start their season and show their fitness, like we all once were. This year, enthusiasm is at a high, thanks to the incoming of a strong cohort of rookies, a revamped campus, and an Eric Gillis caricature with generous biceps gracing the walls of the coaching office.
This week, we feature:
The new faces on the team, two in particular
Three sisters
A not-too old maid
And a few surprises in between
Here’s to all a great fall,
Hail and Health!
More photos of training camp
The Three Sisters… an old favourite
Watch the team negotiate the timeless three-sisters loop.
Coast to Coast
They come from worlds apart, but X-Men rookies Jacob Benoit and Findlay Day are becoming fast friends.
Jacob Benoit’s first few weeks in Antigonish brought little surprise. The Windsor, Nova Scotia native had visited campus many times before his first run with the X-Men. Before this fall, he already had a Highland Games five-mile race under his belt, he knew the campus cross-country course down to each squiggle, and he had to look no further than on the fingers of family members to find an X-ring.
“There was always a strong culture there for me,” says Benoit. “Choosing St. FX ended up being an easy decision.”
The surroundings are less familiar for Benoit’s teammate Findlay Day, who recently unpacked his suitcase inside Plessis Hall, more than 6,000 km away from his hometown of Victoria, B.C.
“Living far from home is an adjustment, but I’m loving it here so far,” he says.
A visit to St. FX earlier this year had made it clear for Day: Antigonish would be home for the next four years. “Everyone I met here when I visited actually wanted to be here,” says the 17-year-old. “I wanted to be a part of that.”
Both young men have interesting pedigrees. Benoit was the tenth-place finisher at the 2017 national youth cross-country championship, the highest placing at those championships by an X-Man since eventual U-SPORTS 3000m champion Angus Rawling in 2013. Benoit is also a multiple-time Nova Scotia provincial champion in cross-country and track and field events.
Day is the 2017 provincial high-school B.C. provincial champion, and competed for a high school powerhouse team, Oak Bay, coached by former Canadian Olympic marathoner Bruce Deacon. During his four years of high school, he contributed to three team provincial titles. His high school team was so prolific that athletes from other parts of British Columbia would move away from their homes to join their training group.
“Having people come to us made for a strong team,” says Day, who studies Public Policy and Governance. “I trained with 6-7 guys who wanted to be in the top five high school runners in the province. On top of that we became great friends. Running with the guys at X feels like a flashback of those days.”
Head Coach Eric Gillis is confident that Day’s background will make him an asset to the X-Men. “Findlay has come to X ready for a good four years. He brings experience to our group that we are lucky to have.”
Benoit, a human kinetics student who trained in rural Nova Scotia, had no such luxury in high school.
“I’ve had a lot of good training partners for my speed work, but sometimes I found (leading most workouts) was a challenge,” he says.
What Benoit lacks in seasoning, however, he makes up for in skill.
“Jacob brings to the team the ability to step in right away and make us better,” says Gillis. “He has a quiet confidence that is a good fit for any team.”
Benoit (black shirt, leaning at front) and Day (green shirt) prepare for a 400m interval with the lead men’s pack. The workout: 20x400m
As the two prepare to represent the X-Men for the first time in their young careers, they discover that despite hailing from ten provinces apart, they have much in common. Both prefer cross-country over track and field, both are outdoor enthusiasts (Findlay loves fly fishing and rock climbing, while Jacob enjoys hiking), and both are hungry for improvement.
“I’d like to get faster and learn a lot from the guys this year,” says Benoit. “I want to build off them, learn from their wisdom and become a better runner.”
Day’s goals are similar.
“The reason why I wanted to move away as far as possible was to just grow and learn more about myself,” says Day. “In that I want to have great seasons with the guys. I’m excited to get started.”
Benoit and Day begin their careers as X-Men at home at the St. FX Invitational on Saturday Sept. 21 at 12:45 p.m.
First Bernie Chisholm Award recipient announced later this month
The Bernie Chisholm Award was created in 2018, upon coach Bernie’s retirement. It will be awarded yearly to a top current or incoming cross-country runner. Thanks to the generous donations from alumni and supporters, the bursary will be awarded to a current St. FX athlete later this season. We appreciate all your support, and invite you to continue to donate, so that this new funding for student athletes can exist for years to come!
Everything in moderation… except 400s (and donations.)
Donate to Bernie's award!
Let’s welcome… our rookies!
On Sunday, two X-men and two X-women will wear the white and blue singlet for the very first time. Here they are:
Jacob Benoit
Hometown: Windsor, Nova Scotia
Reason for choosing St. FX: The Wheel Pizza Shop
Program: Human Kinetics
Residence: Macdawg from MacIsaac
Favourite race distance: 1500m
Mentor/role model: Ferris Bueller
Fun fact: Lime green is my favourite popsicle flavour
Evan Knight
Hometown: St. John's, Newfoundland
Reason for choosing St.FX: To be a part of the close-knit Xaverian family
Program: Business
Residence: MacIsaac
Favorite race distance: 800m
Mentor/role model: Mark Miller
Fun fact: I played Canada Games soccer in 2017
Tanna Burke
Hometown: Cole Harbour, NS
Reason for choosing St. FX: the close community and speedy team
Program: Nursing
Residence: Mount Saint Bernard
Favorite distance: 3000m
Mentor/Role Model: my grandmother
Fun Fact: drinking Boost after every run is a must for me
Eric Knight
Hometown: St. John's, Newfoundland
Reason for choosing St. FX: The school spirit they have here
Program: Business
Residence: MacIsaac
Favorite distance: 800m
Mentor / role model: Mark Miller
Fun fact: I am 2 minutes older than my brother
Bridget Keedwell
Hometown: Charlottetown, PEI
Reason for choosing StFX: My parents went to StFX and there was a program I was interested in
Program: BASc in Health
Residence: Bishops
Favourite race distance: 5km
Mentor or role model: My high school coach Mike Peterson
Fun fact: I was a competitive swimmer for almost 12 years
Findlay day
Hometown: Victoria BC
Reason for choosing St. FX: I just feel everyone at X actually wants to be here and I love the community.
Program: Public Policy and Governence
Residence: Bishops Hall - Plessis
Favourite race distance: 10km
Mentor/role model: My mom
Fun fact: I like fly fishing
New Facebook Group!
We have upgraded from a Facebook events page to a Facebook group. Make sure to like and follow it for some current team and alumni news.
Remember Them? - Melissa Hardy (20X14)
In 2010, it would have taken a sharp intuition to predict Melissa Hardy’s success on the cross-country course. The then-first year runner from Deer Lake, Newfoundland had placed 10th in the start of year time trial, her fate on the team uncertain. Her difficult first race then set the stage for one of the most successful transformations St. FX cross-country has yet to see. In barely three years, Hardy morphed into a team captain, an AUS champion and a worthy (now U SPORTS) competitor. The long distance specialist won two individual AUS gold medals and one silver in her final year at St. FX, all while balancing her work as a dietary intern with St. FX Athletics.
Now five years removed from her varsity career, Hardy continues to spread her expertise in nutrition and sport, now as a registered dietitian in Moose Factory, Ontario. We caught up with the always-animated Hardy, and found out that she hasn’t lost her sense of humour.
1- Tell me a bit about your line of work, and what got you to choose this career? I am a Registered Dietitian currently working full time at a health centre in rural Southern Ontario seeing people of all ages for all health and performance related concerns. Growing up I knew I wanted to be in the health care field, and I wanted Monday to Friday hours to ensure I could cheer on my future children in weekend sporting events - no joke! Dietetics wasn’t a popular career on the West Coast of Newfoundland because you have to leave the Island to pursue the career, but fortunately for me that’s how I landed at StFX. I obtained my CSSD (Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics) and pursued the 2-year Sport Nutrition Diploma through the International Olympic Committee, and I can now apply this knowledge to everyday dietetics!
2- What is the best part of your current job? What are some of its challenges? The best part of my job is seeing first-hand how individualized nutrition counselling can improve one’s physical and mental health across the lifespan. I am lucky to be a part of the small percentage of people who absolutely loves their work- just ask my friends and family! The biggest challenge is having to waste time and money debunking pseudoscience from all of the nutrition gurus engaged in multi-level marketing, ultimately putting our population at risk!
3- How does Moose Factory differ from Antigonish? We have no paved roads. I never realized how much I valued paved roads (even ones with pot holes) until pushing my shopping cart through a dirt pot-hole filled parking lot this spring and having the cart and its contents tip over into a massive puddle (you could have swam in it.) As well, it didn’t take long for me to give up running outside after moving to Moose Factory. The longest road was 3km from the hospital to the dump (one of my fav places), and anything longer than 5km felt like a chore. When I ran longer, I would breathe so much dust that when I’d blow my nose, the tissue was brown. Plus, the temperatures at minus 40 and polar bear sightings didn’t help the cause. Despite the remote isolated North being under resourced, it was the best years of my life and I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. The friends I met over my 4 years living in Moose Factory have become family, similar to teammates and classmates at StFX. I even managed to leave with a good ol’ Cape Breton man who also happens to be an X grad!
4- Did being a student athlete at St.FX help prepare you for your current career? If so, how? Absolutely. The main skills being time management and worth ethic. Training daily and on the road every other weekend from Sept -March on top of the academic demands of university taught me to prioritize and use my time wisely. Once I started my career, I noticed just how productive I could be, and it continues today! I was able to work full time, study part time, take additional contract jobs here and there, co-chair a national volunteer network and still have time to train, have fun and build outstanding igloos- and I mean OUTSTANDING!
5- When is the last time you visited Antigonish, and why? I stop through Antigonish every couple of years on my way to Cape Breton to visit my partner’s family (also X grads). The last time I visited was for the Father Kehoe golf tournament in 2018 where I was welcomed by many familiar faces! During this trip East I was also lucky enough to get out to Dunvegan in Cape Breton to visit Father Stan at his cottage, and nothing warms the heart more than seeing his smile.
6- What is your favourite memory related to being a student athlete at St. FX? I have many memories that I treasure but oddly enough my favourites are not the ones where we won or competed at national championships. My best memories were the ones spent laughing, training and growing as a team and ultimately a family. If it wasn’t for StFX cross country I would not have my best friend Brittany, and I would never be the athlete or highly productive woman I am today. I’ll never forget how poor my performance was at my first time trial (and my first official 5km race) in 2010, and how I was still met with smiling faces and cheers from the people who would ultimately make my university life complete. That’s a memory I will never forget. Big thanks to Coaches Bern and Kevin for keeping me around!
7- Do you still practice your varsity sport from time to time? Yes! I still run roughly 30km/week on top of swimming and biking. I am now officially considered an amateur triathlete and will be representing team Canada at the Age Group World Championships in Edmonton 2020 in the Olympic Distance Triathlon event. Running is still my best event and I think if given the opportunity I could put up the same times I did in University… but don’t hold me to it!
StFX Athletics X plore the World Draw
Follow this link for a chance to win a dream vacation for two!
Your money will go directly to the St. FX cross-country teams - it's our # 1 fundraiser!
Schedule
The X-Women and X-Men will run their first race of the season** at home. The St.FX Invitational happens Saturday, September 21, in Antigonish, NS. Women 12:00 p.m. / Men 12:45 p.m.
The full 2019-20 cross-country schedule can be found here.
**This year’s Dal/SMU invitational, scheduled for Sunday, September 8 was cancelled due to inclement weather warnings.
A Message from Krista at St. FX Athletics
Hello folks,
Our partners at Kahunaverse Sports have set up an Adidas online store for fans, supporters and alumni to purchase custom StFX Athletics gear, including hoodies, T-shirts, polos, shorts, hats, backpacks and replica hockey jerseys. Fans, alumni, parents, athletes – anyone at all – can go online and place an order on any items and they can choose their favourite X-Men or X-Women team logo with sizing available in men’s, women’s and youth sizes. You need to place the order by Sept. 30th and delivery will be in late October.
Hail and Health,