St. Thomas, Ont. teen crushes field by 12 seconds to win OFSAA cross country

Nash Okkerse of Parkside Collegiate Institute in St. Thomas, Ont. blew away the field to win the Novice Boys 4k OFSAA Championship by 12 seconds.

Nash Okkerse had never run cross country competitively before this fall high school season. Now, he’s an OFSAA champion.

The Grade nine student at Parkside Collegiate Institute in St. Thomas, Ont. crushed the field of 294 novice runners at the provincial championships this week, winning by nearly 12 seconds.

“I didn’t expect to win,” Okkerse told CTV News. “I was a bit nervous, and it was overwhelming with a lot of kids there and a lot of good competition. I was really excited to win. I didn’t really expect that.”

He completed the 4K race in 13:41 which was nearly 12 seconds better than the second-place finisher.

“I’m pretty strong on the hills and it was a pretty hilly course,” said Okkerse. “I took a lot of positions and I was going really good up the hill. Then with about one kilometer to go, I went down the hill and took the lead, and I kind of just kept going.”

When he made his way through the corral at the finish, there was no one in sight.

Prior to his first high school cross country season, he was a track and field athlete.

He trains with coach Harry Stantsos in St. Thomas, along with his cousin Mason Basson, a USports 800m runner who has competed internationally.

“I’ve always done track but I wasn’t sure about cross country, but I thought I’d do it to stay in shape for track,” said Okkerse. “I’d been training for a while with Harry Stantsos, and it’s been going pretty well. I was doing mostly the 800m and the 1500m and I got a lot of help from Harry and Mason.”

He finished his season with a perfect 7-and-0 record in races and his success still has him in shock.

“I think about it all the time, it’s amazing,” he said.