Dupuis, Woods, Sampaio top boys field
Dominic Dupuis of Notre Dame topped the senior boys field at the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association cross country meet at Firemen’s Park Wednesday. Photo: BILL POTRECZ
No beginner’s luck was needed for Dominic Dupuis.
The 17-year-old, Grade 12 student from Notre Dame topped the senior boys field at the Niagara Catholic Athletic Association cross country meet at Firemen’s Park Wednesday despite being a newcomer to the sport.
“I just play soccer,” Dupuis said moments after his win. “I’m just a dog.”
Dupuis, who plays soccer at Club Roma, began training for the sport this year.
“Just felt like it. Just wanted to give it a shot in my last year of high school,” he said.
Despite his inexperience, Dupuis is clearly not short on confidence.
“I came in here knowing I was getting first,” he said. “I came in with that mentality. I just knew it.”
Dupuis finished the course in a time of 23:25.5. Keenan Therrian-Tomas of Saint Paul was second at 23:33.6.
“There was no difficult part,” he said. “I was off for a week of concussion, came back in strong.”
Dupuis made his move to the front of the pack late in the race.
“I was following the first-place guy. I was waiting for him to slow down and took advantage of him. I knew he wasn’t going anywhere,” Dupuis said.
Notre Dame coach Amanda Lamb is thrilled Dupuis gave cross country a shot.
“It’s amazing that he would want to come out and try it and be part of something new and here he is,” Lamb said. “I’ve been coaching cross country for quite awhile so I know a lot of kids who play competitive soccer tend to be strong runners and tend to do well. I felt he would do pretty well, but not this well.”
Dupuis has high hopes for the Southern Ontario Secondary School Associations (SOSSA) meet next week.
“We’re just coming in with that first-place mentality.”
JUNIOR BOYS
TJ Woods has set the bar high this season.
The 14-year-old, Grade 10 student at Denis Morris won a silver medal in novice boys cross country at Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSSA) last year and this time around would love to bring home a medal of a different colour.
“I definitely have a lot of big goals,” Woods said after placing first in the junior boys division with a time of 15:41. “I want to medal at OFSAA, medal at nationals. They introduced U16 nationals this year so that makes it pretty fun for all the guys my age.”
Woods said winning a silver last year was a huge boost to his confidence.
“It (silver) makes you want it even more. It showed me that I could really do it,” he said.
Woods said the competition at OFSAA is not be taken lightly.
“There’s a lot of kids just coming out of nowhere and they all do really good,” he said. “It’s competition is like nothing you’ve ever seen.”
Woods, who also captured a provincial gold medal in the novice boys 1,500 metres and a bronze in the 800 metres in track and field, won Wednesday without being pushed, but said it was anything but a walk in the park.
“No, definitely not easy,” he said. “It takes a while lot of hard work, gotta push through the pain.”
Woods said his race strategy paid off.
“I’m going back to last season, I like going out hard,” he said. “That’s just my thing, I guess. So I just wanted to get back into that, go out hard today, get the early lead and lead this whole day and that’s what I did.”
Woods, who hails from Thorold and is a member of the Thorold Elite Track Club, was thrilled for his Denis Morris teammates who combined to place first in the junior boys team standings.
“We’re definitely hoping to have a good season here. I’m so proud of the boys. They all did really well.”
NOVICE BOYS
Levi Sampaio cruised to victory in the novice boys division.
The 13-year-old, Grade 9 Notre Dame student finished first in a time of 15:03.6, well ahead of Finnley Thornton of Saint Paul, who placed second with a time of 15:59.8.
“I feel like at the start I could have gone harder, I just lost my breath because at the end I sprinted,” Sampaio said. “I feel like if I went harder at the start I could have got a better time.”
Sampaio feels winning by such a large margin is a double-edged sword.
“I feel more calm but I might run faster with people in front of me so I can pace myself, but I also prefer to be in front because I can be more calm and it helps,” he said.
Sampaio, who is a member of Thorold Elite Track Club, wanted to run as fast as possible to help his school to qualify for SOSSA.
“I wanted to be the best I could be.”
Sampaio has shown exceptional potential, helping his U14 relay team with Thorold Elite to a provincial record. He also went to Florida last November for an AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) where he placed 10th in his age category and 31st overall.
“He’s a great kid, hard working and really determined,” Lamb said, “He’s acting as a bit of a leader with the rest of the boys. He goes out of his way to help the other boys. Works really hard at school and comes from a supportive family and is really focused.”
Sampaoi is a native of Brazil who came to Canada in 2020 one day before the borders were shutdown due to the COVID pandemic.
“I prefer running in the hot,” he smiled. “I don’t feel that comfortable but it’s also not that bad.”
RESULTS
Senior boys individual top five 6K: 1. Dominic Dupuis, Notre Dame 23:25.5; 2. Keenan Therrian-Tomas, Saint Paul; 3. Aden Hendriks, Blessed Trinity; 4. Ayden Pidsadny, Blessed Trinity; 5. Matteo Pesut, Blessed Trinity.
Senior teams advancing to SOSSA: 1. Blessed Trinity (Hendricks, Pidsadny, Pesut, Rome Gabriel, Callum Black); 2. Denis Morris (Jiasheng Zhou, Cody Rudderham, Tristian Snopkowski, Ostin Kaiser); 3. Saint Francis (Adam Kotrec, Kaelin Smith, Adam Gamboa-Pasha, Kieran Edgar, Owen Sissmore-Green).
Junior boys individual top five 5K: 1. TJ Woods, Denis Morris 15:41.1; 2. Jose Gras, Denis Morris; 3. Evan Blake, Saint Paul; 4. Owen Corman, Denis Morris; 5. Jacob O’Donnell, Saint Paul.
Junior teams advancing to SOSSA: 1. Denis Morris (Woods, Gras, Corman, Bentley Mahler, Michael DeGasperis; 2. Saint Paul (Blake, O’Donnell, Tomas Boscacci, Luigi Lorenzo, Ansh Cyriac); 3. Notre Dame (Mason Pasma, Owyn Fewkes, Sada Zeremariam, Rayce Rusling).
Novice boys individual top five 4K: 1. Levi Sampaio, Notre Dame 15:03.6; 2. Finnley Thornton, Saint Paul; Oscar Serravalle, Saint Paul; 4. Ethan Cayouette, Saint Paul; 5. Oskar Hamilton, Saint Paul.
Novice team advancing to SOSSA: Team: 1. Saint Paul (Thornton, Serravalle, Cayouette, Hamilton, Mueez Haider); 2. Notre Dame (Dupuis, Dominic Keski, Carter Chambers, Oliver Szymanski).
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