Former St. Peter High School runner Katie Newlove recently won the women’s cross country crown at the Canadian university cross country championships in Guelph, known more commonly as the USport championships.

Newlove, who is in her third year at the University of British Columbia, lived up to her pre-meet ranking as the top female university cross country athlete in the country, winning the eight kilometre long race by 12 seconds over Catherine Beauchemin from the University of Laval.

The win capped an remarkable season for Newlove, who went into the final race of the season having won the Canada West cross country championships and placed third at the British Columbia provincial champion-ships in October.

Her win is a huge improvement over last year’s national championships when she placed 32nd at the event in Halifax.

Newlove’s win at the this year’s national championships also helped propel UBC to the women’s team title.

While a Grade 12 senior at St. Peter High School in 2019, Newlove finished 15th at the provincial high school cross country championships. That same year she came in second at the National Capital high school track and field championships in the 3,000 metres and 12th at provincials.