Wadena Runner, Three Lakes School Capture Gold                                                                                       Wadena’s Brynn Achtymichuk was crowned the SHSAA Junior Boys Provincial Champion, and Three Lakes School in Middle Lake was crowned the 1A Schools Provincial Champions at the 2008 SHSAA Provincial Cross Country Running Championships held Oct. 11 in Outlook. Achtymichuk edged out the second place runner from Balgonie by less than half a second to clinch his second medal in as many years (last year was silver), and led a very strong HCAA Junior Boys contingent who placed three runners in the top ten (Kurt Hauser, Middle Lake, placed 5th and Ryan Bernhard, Muenster, placed 9th).  The HCAA captured first in the junior boys category (for which no official award is given). Middle Lake’s Three Lakes School was the top team in the 1A category, scoring 30 points on the basis of a fifth, sixth, eighth, and eleventh place finish (the top four finishers’ placings from each school are added together, with the lowest total claiming gold). In fact, HCAA schools captured six of the top 11 spots in the 1A category, led by Middle Lake, and followed by Muenster (5th, 100 pts.), Englefeld (6th 108 pts.), Lake Lenore (7th, 116 points), McLellan School in Young (10th, 215 pts.), and Annaheim (11th, 224 pts.). Wynyard Comp finished 8th in the 2A category, scoring 252 pts. As a team, the HCAA fared very well across the board. As mentioned, HCAA was the top District (of 14 Districts) in Junior Boys, and was third best in Midget Boys, fourth best in Midget Girls and Senior Girls, sixth in Senior Boys, and eighth in Junior Girls. Overall, the HCAA had a total of six runners placing in the top ten in their categories: Brynn Achtymichuk, Wadena Comp (1st Junior Boys), Kurt Hauser, Middle Lake (5th Juunior Boys), Kelly Zimmerman, Englefeld (6th Midget Girls), Taryn Heidecker, Middle Lake (6th Midget Boys), Evan Olynuk, Middle Lake (8th Senior Boys), and Ryan Bernhard, Muenster (9th Junior Boys). Complete SHSAA Provincial Cross Country Championship results can be found at www.shsaa.ca (choose "SHSAA Results" from the left side). Complete HCAA Pre-District and District Championship Cross Country results can be found on (or linked through) the HCAA Cross Country Page.