Cross-Country

School-St Mary's CSS First 3 Sports

Swim Team
In 1984, St. Mary’s Secondary School (SMCSS) began.  The building located at 760 Burnham St., Cobourg, housed students from Grade 1 – 9.  There were 14 Grade 9 students in the first year.  It was difficult to run any sport teams for the Grade 9’s.   

In 1985, St. Mary’s swim team started.  We practiced every week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7 am during the Fall at the local YMCA.  We had all levels of swimmers on the team.  The only requirement was attendance.  

There were students from Campbellford that were interested in joining but had no way of getting to the practices that early.   After speaking to the Director of Education, Don Folz, he agreed to provide a bus for the interested students on Mondays and Wednesdays.  

The swim team had many successful years and fortunately is still thriving today.  We have attended OFSAA every year since the team’s inception.   

Cross-Country Team
St. Mary’s Cross-Country team began in 1987.  As we didn’t have a track or any running facilities, training consisted of running through the local neighbourhood.  We practiced Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after school.  We only had a handful of students interested in competing on the Cross-Country team.  

We were always at a disadvantage in terms of competition with other Secondary Schools given our lack of facilities.  Our “creative” practices didn’t always glean the results we were hoping for.  However, our students never gave up and always worked hard and gave it their all. 

There was one student, however, who was a natural long-distance runner.  Sarah Johnston worked diligently and qualified at Kawartha to move on to COSSA.  The highlight for Sarah was being able to compete at OFSAA in Cambridge, Ontario. 

Track and Field Team
St. Mary’s Track and Field team started in 1987.  Facing the same disadvantages as the Cross-Country team, we made do with the facilities that we had.  We were able to practice the field events, such as javelin, disc, high jump and long jump on our driveway and small outfield.  The long-distance running athletes ran through the neighbourhood while the short distance runners, hurdlers and relay teams practiced on the small paved area around the school.  Wind sprints up the small hill at the side of the school helped with the cardio portion of the practice.   Practices were held 4 nights a week, with all students being welcomed as long as there was a commitment to attend all practices.   

We were fortunate to have a sprinter, Tony Raymond, qualify at Kawartha and then win gold medals at COSSA in both the 100 and 200 metre races.  Those wins allowed him to compete at OFSAA at York University.

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School-St Mary's CSS Athletic Firsts

St. Mary’s CSS Thunder - Firsts during 35 Yr Growth of Athletic Department

1984      St. Mary’s Catholic Secondary School (SMCSS) opens its doors.
1985/86 The first athletes compete for the school in Swimming, Cross-Country and Track & Field.  A small handful of students.
1986      The first year of organized sports teams competing in Kawartha Athletics as the St. Mary’s Marauders.
1988      The beginnings of Track, Basketball, Badminton, Soccer, Tennis, Weightlifting and Girls Softball
1989      The beginnings of Wrestling, Weightlifting, J/S Boys Soccer, J/S Girls Basketball, M/J Boys Basketball, M/J Girls Volleyball, M Boys Volleyball, Cross-country, Badminton, Boys Hockey, Girls Softball, Girls Soccer, Tennis, Swimming 
1990      Name changed from Marauders to THUNDER
1990      The beginnings of Track, M/S Boys Basketball, M/J Girls Basketball, J/S Badminton, Tennis, Weightlifting, M/J/S Girls Volleyball, M/J Boys Volleyball, Mixed Softball, Swimming, J Girls Soccer, J Boys Soccer
1991      The beginnings of Cross-country, Track, M/J Boys Basketball, M/S Girls Basketball, M/J/S Girls Volleyball, M/J Boys Volleyball, Mixed Softball, Tennis, Badminton, Weight Training, Boys Rugby, J/S Girls Soccer, J/S Boys Soccer, Swimming, Boys Hockey
1991      The first Kawartha Championship.  Midget Boys Basketball.
1992      The first sports tour at St. Mary’s.  Boys Hockey competed in the Irish Rover Tournament at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
The beginnings of J/S Girls Soccer, J/S Boys Soccer, Boys Hockey, Mixed Softball, M/J/S Girls Basketball, M/J Boys Basketball (KAWARTHA CHAMPS), S Boys Volleyball (KAWARTHA CHAMPS), M/J/S Girls Volleyball, Tennis, Badminton, Boys Rugby, Swimming
1995      Girls Rugby begins.
1997      Golf begins.
1999      Girls Hockey begins.
1999      The First COSSA Championships are won.  Junior Girls Soccer AND Senior Girls Rugby
2002      The first OFSAA Medal is won.  Brian Hamilton wins Silver in the 400m Hurdles in Track & Field.
2004      Boys Football begins.
2007      The First OFSAA Individual Champion – James Nearing wins Tennis Singles.
2010      Ultimate Frisbee begins.
2011       Floorball begins.
2012      The First Repeat OFSAA Individual Champion – Kristina Steins wins the 100m Backstroke.  She won the same event in 2010.  She also became the first athlete to win multiple OFSAA medals.
2012      St. Mary’s hosts its first OFSAA Championships – Boys A/AA Rugby.
2015      Boys Baseball begins.
2016      The First OFSAA Team Medal – Boys Golf win Bronze.
2018      The First OFSAA Team Champion – Boys Rugby.
2019      The First OFSAA Repeat Team Champion – Boys Rugby.

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School-St. Mary’s CSS Early Athletics

The Turning Point of Early Success

I began my teaching/coaching career at St Mary’s Catholic Secondary School (SMCSS) in 1989. It was a small populated school of about 200 students. We were trying to establish publicly funded Catholic education. Prior to that my philosophies were forged in an environment of very competitive and successful athletic endeavors. In spite of the successes the common theme were values driven programs.

So, when I came to SMCSS that is what I attempted to offer. It was not easy in the beginning, where my philosophy was a bit in conflict with the current situation. I demanded a strong commitment to excellence through 'Education through Sport". I perpetuated a motto of, 'No School, No Sports, No Practice, No Play."

This demand was not readily accepted and only a few student/athletes could commit to the dedication that was required. The first sports that I developed using these demands were Basketball and Volleyball. Among the core student athletes that forged the legacy of "It's a Thunder Thing" for the next five years of arduous pursuits in these two core sports were Jason Craig, Eric O'Rourke, Mike Bons, Gary Collins, Bryan Brady, Andrew Ross and Michael Smith.

What became pivotal to our successes was when we were able to convert the small 60 foot by 30 foot gym (volleyball court dimensions) from a cafeteria at lunch to a practice facility. The core athletes practiced every lunch hour the various pursuits for five years. Practices were all closed because I felt that practice was not a spectator sport. Student/athletes need to be in a learning environment free to make mistakes and learn.

Of course, there was some resistance from the administration because of the optics of an elite program. However, with the incorporation of a House System for inter mural sports that was more inclusive, the administration softened and we proceeded.

I also coached a group of female/student athletes for 3 years with the same tenacity demands. They were highly committed and wanted to emulate what the boys were doing.  These athletes included Cynthia Jurchison, Amy O’Rourke, Rachel King, Melissa Bonner, Jennifer Burleigh, Denise McDonald and Lola Teelucksingh.  I tried to develop programs instead of just having teams.

We were fortunate at SMCSS, because we had a stable of teacher/coaches who committed themselves to kids and spent many hours away from their families to spend time with other people's families. Even during the 'Strike Year' I was able to conduct coaching courses where similar perspectives to inter school sports were formulated.

Our teachers did not want to sanction no coaching and we were prepared to start up our own "Catholic League" so we could continue to participate and compete at an inter school level. Some of the trail blazers who led many fine programs at SMCSS during the early years were, Steve Egan, Stan Muldoon, Donna Conway, Jane Anne Egan, Rick Seggie, Jim Blainey, Ray Heffernan, John McDougall, Mike Desjardins and Mike Killoran.

By Rob Majdell
Former Teacher, Coach, Athletic Director, Principal

Emerging in 2014 as the newly amalgamated public high school in Cobourg, Cobourg Collegiate Institute (CCI) has brought together the rich athletic histories of the former Cobourg District Collegiate Institute East and Cobourg District Collegiate Institute West schools.  Moving from medium sized “AA” schools (between 500-900 students) to a larger AAA school (1150 students in 2020), C.C.I. offers its students an extensive selection of sports teams, with the continued pride and success that was enjoyed by the former East and West schools.  

Since its inaugural year in September of 2014, C.C.I. sports teams have won many Kawartha (local) and COSSA (regional) championships.  This has led to many trips to the Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association (OFSAA) provincial championships with its sports teams, including Girls Hockey, Boys Hockey, Boys Volleyball, Girls Volleyball, Boys Soccer, Girls Soccer, Wrestling, Cross Country, Badminton, Tennis, Track and Field, and Swimming.  

A trip to CCI’s Dillon-Lawless Gym (named after renowned local high school physical education teachers Del Dillon and Jerry Lawless) will also allow you to see the growing number of team and individual OFSAA honours, including medal performances for finishing in the top 4 in the province.  

As of the winter of 2020, OFSAA Honours include the Girls Hockey team with a 4th place finish, and the following individuals: Wrestlers-Amara Hill (4th place), and Jayden Sparks (3rd place), Track Athletes- Cameron Bruce (4th place, 300m Hurdles) and Kate Current (2nd place, 800m), and Swimmers- Lauren Burleigh (2x 1st place 50m Para Backstroke, and 1st place 100m Para backstroke), and Carlie Bilodeau (1st place, JR 50m Backstroke).  Some of these athletes, and many others have enjoyed success at the college and university sports level following their years of competing for Cobourg Collegiate Institute.

In addition to an impressive C.C.I. OFSAA presence to date, they also consistently have demonstrated exceptional character through sport. Two teams were awarded with the OFSAA Sportsmanship Award during their OFSAA debuts – the varsity girls’ hockey team in 2016, in Stratford, and the senior boys’ soccer team in 2018, in Thunder Bay.

Beyond the successes of sports teams to date, dedicated coaches have planned a variety of trips to enrich the students’ experiences, and to provide lasting memories.  One of the highlighted trips include rugby teams taking part in tournaments in New York City and New Brunswick (Rothesay Netherwood Private School in Rothesay, NB).  As well, basketball teams have annually made trips to prestigious American Colleges and Universities to play games, tour the facilities and watch high-level teams train and compete.  Recent trips have been to Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, Washington D.C., Virginia, West Virginia and New Hampshire.

Building on the excellent athletic facilities on the C.D.C.I. East school site, one major facility upgrade enjoyed by C.C.I. students was the installation of a 6-lane rubberized track.  This has attracted athletes and visitors, including the likes of Canadian Olympic medalist Andre De Grasse, for a training session before his trip to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.  Highlights on our track to date include running our school’s annual Relay for Life event, and a Board-Wide “Inclusive Track and Field Day”.  

The Inclusive track and field day is open to all Learning and Life Skills high school students around the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, and includes running, wheel-chair and field events, along with a barbeque lunch.  We are also happy to be able to accommodate local and regional elementary schools, housing our future C.C.I. athletes, who need a venue to run their annual track and field meets.

C.C.I has also been a support to many community members and visiting schools looking to access our gym facilities.  This has included a close relationship with the Lakeshore Minor Basketball Association, who has been a partner in helping us to invest in new glass backboards, adjustable nets and a padded score table.  The local Badminton Club, along with the Northumberland Sports Council, used our gym for the Ontario 55+ Winter Games in 2017, which was a unique opportunity to open our school to athletes from all age groups.  Our gyms are rented most nights, and weekends, throughout the year to service local sports clubs for training and competition, including volleyball, badminton, basketball, soccer, rugby, softball, baseball, lacrosse, rowing and more.

As Cobourg Collegiate Institute continues to grow its history, they are proud to be an important and vital part of the Cobourg community.

Updated August 2020