OSWEGO, NY – Last year, Trinity Catholic School sixth graders had their winning streak snapped. Wednesday, they got back on track.
Each year, the students take part in an obstacle course race as part of their annual Sports Day events.
Participants have to dash under a barricade, through hoops, over a hurdle, and around several orange cones to complete the course.
Over the years, they defeated a former Syracuse TV sports reporter for three consecutive years. In 2008, the former SUNY Oswego men’s basketball coach fell by the wayside.
Last year, Principal David Friedlander urged the students to be on their best behavior, show good sportsmanship and cheer for Mr. Tim Anal, who stepped up to meet the students’ challenge.
He sprinted across the finish line in 6.78 seconds; a new course record. The best the fastest student could muster was 7.12 seconds.
Maureen “Mo” Donovan, the 2010 challenger said she wasn’t interested in breaking the record.
“All I want to do is beat my sister,” she said as she warmed up for the main event. “I haven’t trained for this at all. My little sister roped me into this. I will never hear the end of this if she wins. Thirty years from now she’ll come up to me somewhere and say, ‘Remember back in 2010 when I beat you in that obstacle course challenge?'”
The course was one of the events the student body participated in throughout the day.
For the special event, they picked the two fastest boys and the two fastest girls to represent Trinity.
To make things interesting, if any of the four students’ times were better than their competition’s, the entire school would get a dress out day.
“I started this at St. Mary’s (school) first. And then I stated it over here about a year after,” explained phys ed instructor Ron Lagoe. “When we consolidated, we kept it going. This is our 21st year. It’s an on-going tradition, a lot of fun.”
When the Lagoe introduced the challenger to the student body, he noted she was a 2003 graduate of Trinity and currently a sophomore at LeMoyne College.
“That’s before I was born,” exclaimed one of the elementary students.
Friedlander encouraged the youngsters to cheer for the challenger “and especially for our sixth graders.”
The four sixth graders representing Trinity were Claire Donovan, Morh’ese Oben, Liam Moran and Matthew Bornheimer.
Claire finished in 7.56 seconds, followed by Matthew in 7.32 seconds. Liam crossed the finish line in 7.09 seconds and Morh’ese dashed home in just 6.90 seconds.
Mo finished in the middle of the pack with a time of 7.12 seconds.
Once again, thanks to the sixth graders’ efforts, all the students earned a dress out day.
The students took part in various other events throughout the day, including a long jump and a Frisbee toss.
They had a break for a big picnic lunch, in which hundreds of hot dogs were devoured.
Trinity is the sole Catholic school remaining in Oswego County.
For more information, call 343-6700.
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