A former runner for the University of New Brunswick’s cross country and track and field teams has switched campuses to coach the St. Thomas University cross country and track teams.
Nicholas Larade, 33, has helped coach many athletes and has competed in a variety of races.
“My plans for cross country and track and field this year are to focus on building our numbers and long-term development,” said Larade.
The coach was hired during the summer after the previous coach, Greg Allan, left after the 2017-18 season ended.
Larade said there are a lot of new athletes this year and he’s hoping the more experienced runners will help him instil a strong work ethic for the team.
Athletics director Mike Eagles said that while the team is mostly walk-on athletes, he believes this will be a successful year for the cross country team.
“We have a few recruited athletes including one of the best on the men’s side, out of high school and coming to St. Thomas this year,” said Eagles about Lars Schwarz, a Fredericton native.
“So obviously we are excited to see him compete at the [Atlantic University Sport] level.”
Larade said he wants to see the Tommies represented at the AUS stage and to be consistent as a team, constantly improving on their previous running times.
“I want to see teams score for both our men and women’s cross country teams at the championship in October,” he said.
This will require five runners to finish in each event. He wants to do this so that other teams know they are there and working to continue to build on for next year.
“Cross country and track are sports that are dependent on consistency and building on the results of previous years,” said Larade.
“Helping our new athletes understand this principle, with the guiding experiences from our returning athletes, will set our teams up for future success.”
He has goals for the track team as well.
“I want to focus on helping each athlete find the discipline where they can excel,” said Larade.
“As for the overall team, I hope we can all help each other with consistency, persistence and a drive to improve.”
