Former Viking runs against the country's best
Posted By JEFF GARD
Posted 2 months ago
With family and friends from Cobourg cheering him on, Josh Coyle competed at the recent Canadian Interuniversity Sport national cross-country championships in Kingston.
Running amongst the country's best university cross-country athletes capped off an impressive season for Coyle, a first-year member of the Dalhousie University varsity team in Halifax.
"It was kind of humbling because everyone is so much faster ... you're racing guys four and five years older that have been training that much longer than you," Coyle, who placed 118th at the CIS meet, said over the phone.
Coyle completed the 10-kilometre course in 35 minutes and 34 seconds. He likened the atmosphere of the national championship to that of the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations provincial high school championships.
As a member of the Cobourg District Collegiate Institute West Vikings, Coyle competed at two OFSAA meets during his high school tenure.
Coyle was glad to see some familiar faces at the CIS meet in Kingston.
"Every loop there was so many people cheering for me," Coyle said. "It was just nice to visit with people I haven't seen in a couple months."
Life at Dalhousie University has been busy for Coyle, balancing his engineering studies and athletics training.
Following his trip to Kingston, he got a week off before resuming light running. He'll also compete in track in the spring, but training begins immediately following Christmas break.
Coyle, though, can't get enough training. When the cross-country season began, he didn't initially make Dalhousie's varsity team.
However, he kept training anyway and by posting some impressive times in practice, Coyle accompanied the squad to a meet in Maine.
By placing in the top seven amongst his teammates, Coyle earned himself a spot on the club.
"It was kind of a surprise to make the varsity team in my first year," he said.
There was no disappointment, though, when he initially didn't make the team. He loves the sport, a trait shared by all of his teammates. He noted that all 20 guys who tried out for the team train whether they were on the roster or not.
"We're a pretty good group," Coyle remarked. "It doesn't make a difference (with who is on the roster)."
Coyle said the Dalhousie University team will benefit from this year's experience at the national championship.
"We've got a pretty young team and just want to keep improving our ranking at CIS," he said.
