'Redemption season' has a golden ending for MUN Sea-Hawks runner
Jade Roberts came in first and won female athlete of the year at the Atlantic University Sport championship
Jade Roberts went into this season with the MUN Sea-Hawks with her eye on redemption — and got it this weekend, where she was the first past the finish line at the Atlantic University Sport women's cross-country championship in Fredericton.
Roberts, who is from Twillingate, ran the eight-kilometre course in 30 minutes and 23 seconds, 20 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. She was also named the AUS female cross-country athlete of the year.
She hoped to finish in the top seven in order to qualify for the nationals, Roberts told the St. John's Morning Show, and felt good after coming in fourth in another competition at the beginning of October.
"But running, you never really know, and just a few seconds makes a big difference," she said.
On top of that, she was bouncing back this season after a disappointing finish in 2015.
"I wanted to make it a redemption season," she said.
'Really got to enjoy the last lap'
During the Saturday race, Roberts was in the lead from the start but said she didn't know how far ahead she really was until the end.
"I wasn't looking behind me because I didn't want to have any anxiety from that," she said.
But as she was going into her final lap, her coach told her that she was more than 20 seconds in front of her next closest competitor. Then she knew it was her race to win, Roberts said.
"I really got to enjoy the last lap," she said.
But it wasn't long after her win and the awards banquet that Roberts was back at work — both in training and at her day job. She worked a night shift as a nurse as soon as she was back in Newfoundland and Labrador, and was back out for a run afterward in order to stay ready for the nationals in Kingston on November 9.
In the same race, Nicole Hollohan finished eights for Memorial. Also at the AUS, Sea-Hawks runner Levi Moulton was named a men's all-star after finishing fifth with a time of 25 minutes and 58 seconds over eight kilometres.
The MUN men's runners finished fifth in the team standings, and the women's runners finished third.
With files from the St. John's Morning Show
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