Five Carlton Comprehensive runners competed at the 2025 SHSAA Provincial Cross-Country Championships in Yorkton on Oct. 11.
Matthew Quiring led the way, finishing second in the Junior Boys category, while Braden Bennington finished fourth in the Senior Boys. Aurora Isbister (27th – Junior Girls), Sophia Walter (22nd Intermediate Girls) and Jillian Bennington (40th – Intermediate Girls) also posted strong showings.
“Overall I was very impressed,” Carlton Cross Country Coach Chris Bennington said. “When we had districts a couple weeks back here at Little Red, all those athletes who were part of the Carlton team ended up coming out on top in terms of their North Central District Championships, so going into provincials I knew that they were going to do quite well.”
The Carlton team’s showing was good enough to place ninth among all 5A schools. Saskatoon’s Walter Murray Collegiate finished first, with two Regina schools, Miller and Campbell, coming in second and third respectively.
“Heading into the race, I knew that they’d had strong performances,” Bennington said of the Carlton team. “They’d been training well … but being it’s provincials, you never know what you’re going to get coming across the entire province, so I was pleased with the results.”
Quiring had the best finish out of any Carlton runner, posting a time of 13 minutes and 56 seconds in the Junior Boys. Bennington said Quiring had a strong season, and continued that form into the provincial championships.
“Going into cross country provincials I knew that he would have the potential to be a medal contender, and his race, overall, was excellent,” Bennington said. “He led for about three quarters of that race and then had a good battle at the end there with somebody from Saskatoon and came out in second at the end, so quite pleased with that (showing).”
Braden Bennington just missed the medal podium, finishing two seconds behind Lumsden’s Brody McDonald in the battle for third. Swift Current’s Colter Folk took top spot in the Senior Boys category, followed by Martin’s Luke Holman in second.
Chris said it was a great showing for Brayden, who is in Grade 11 and will likely be back competing again in Grade 12.
“Going into the race he was a strong runner, he had very, very good training behind him, and he knew that he could be in contention for those top positions,” Chris said.
“The race went out well. For that first half he was comfortably in 10th place and then he worked his way up in the second lap passing six other runners and battling hard to get up to third in the end.”
Stonechild leads the way for St. Mary
St. Mary High School sent eight runners to Cross Country Provincials, with seven finishing their races.
Mila Stonechild led the way, finishing 13th in the Junior Girls category with a time of 17 minutes and 51 seconds. Lily Homan of Luseland won the Junior Girls, with Emma Harder of Maymont coming in second and Stella Janzen of O’Neill coming in third.
Other St. Mary runners included Aren Painter (Junior Boys) Tymoor Mckay (Senior Boys), Sawyer Murphy (Intermediate Girls), Jacoby Fosseneuve (Intermediate Boys), Tyberius Mckay (Intermediate Boys), Colton Deperry-Kendall (Intermediate Boys), and Emmanuel Perrault (Intermediate Boys).
