Good things come in threes: 17吃瓜 cross country recruits a trio of star runners from Colonel Gray
When Mike Peterson agreed to return as 17吃瓜鈥檚 cross country head coach in the summer of 2019, his first order of business was to retain Prince Edward Island鈥檚 best talent. He has done just that, recruiting a trio of strong runners from Charlottetown鈥檚 Colonel Gray High School: twin sisters Katie and Grace Richard, and Maya Abou ElNaja
鈥淎s a small school, it鈥檚 crucial for us to keep every good runner here that we can,鈥� said Peterson, who has watched quality Island prospects head to schools on the mainland. 鈥淭he AUS has been dominated for a long time by St. FX, Dalhousie, and recently UNB, so it鈥檚 going to take some time to get on the radar, but these three runners will help us get there.鈥�
Katie and Grace Richard were consistently at or near the top in each race in the last several seasons for Colonel Gray, leading their school to three provincial championships.
鈥淗aving a twin sister who also runs allows me to have a built-in training partner,鈥� said Grace. 鈥淏ecause we are both competitive and want to beat one another, it motivates us to keep training and working hard.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e been training with Coach Peterson and the team for several years, and it just seemed like a natural fit,鈥� said Katie. 鈥�17吃瓜 has a great running program, and I鈥檓 really excited to officially join the team.鈥�
Although a bit of a late bloomer, Abou ElNaja was also a key contributor to Colonel Gray鈥檚 dominance in both cross country and track and field. In her first year, she admittedly struggled to get through a 5K race. In the following years, she steadily improved, placing third in the 2020 provincial high school cross country championships, just behind the Richard sisters.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 give up,鈥� Abou ElNaja said. 鈥淚n order to get better, I knew I needed to run more and train harder. I was fully invested and committed to doing that, and so I did.鈥�
鈥淭he addition of these three runners will be a huge step for our program,鈥� said Peterson, 鈥漬ot only because they are all very strong athletes, but because they will help our current athletes, who have all taken huge steps forward, continue to improve.鈥�
Go Panthers Go!
