The Gabrielle Roy varsity girls cross country team brought home the A, AA, AAA championship banner from the Provincials last week at Roseisle.

"I think they were very emotional and I think it's normal to be emotional just because of all the hard work they put in," said Les Roys coach Colin Tetrault. "Cross country is a tough sport especially in Roseisle where you have these huge hills. It takes a lot of mental toughness and physical toughness in order to place well."

Alexis Bartlett, Elena Chammartin, Katérine Aminot, Émilie Dornez, Brynna Gumieny and Tara Boulanger won the Zone 13 cross country championship in Powerview-Pine Falls earlier this month and then added the provincial banner two weeks later.

"That was the objective all along," said Tetrault. "Ever since we had our first practice in early September we had the goal of winning provincials. The girls did because they were kind of upset that they finished second last year. They really wanted to work hard this year. They were committed and it paid off. Practices are easy to miss because it's not an easy sport to train for. They had a lot of effort and they found a balance between soccer, volleyball, and ringette and they found a way to come to practice. I had help this year from a parent. Joe Chammartin showed me a few drills and it paid dividends at the provincials."

Émilie Dornez (18:37) finished in third place, Alexis Bartlett (19:19) was fifth, Elena Chammartin (19:55) was ninth, Katérine Aminot (20:30) finished in 11th place and Tara Boulanger (20:54) was 16th.

"Every runner has to set a personal best," said Tetrault. "Our best runner needs to place well but our fifth runner has to place well also because it is team points and you're only as good as your last runner. Our last runner finished 52nd out of more than 100 runners. We needed everyone and that's what I like about cross country - everyone is important and I think they all felt that when they received the banner."

The Gabrielle Roy junior varsity boys cross country team of Cabrel Labossiere, Mathieu Senecal, Nicolas Dubois, Kaleb Bourgoin and Dominic Balcaen won the Zone 13 championship banner but did not compete at the provincials because of a hockey conflict.