'Redemption season' has a golden ending for MUN Sea-Hawks runner

Jade Roberts went into this season with the MUN Sea-Hawks with her eye on redemption and got it this weekend, when she was the first past the finish line at the Atlantic University Sport women's cross-country championship in Fredericton.

Roberts, who is from Twillingate, ran the eight-kilometre course in 30 minutes and 23 seconds, 20 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. She was also named the AUS female cross-country athlete of the year.

She hoped to finish in the top seven in order to qualify for the nationals, Roberts told TheSt. John's Morning Show, and felt good after coming in fourth in another competition at the beginning of October.

"But running, you never really know, and just a few seconds makes a big difference," she said.

On top of that, she was bouncing back this seasonafter a disappointing finish in 2015.

"I wanted to make it a redemption season," she said.

'Really got to enjoy the last lap'

During the Saturday race, Roberts ledfrom the start but said she didn't know how far ahead she really was until the end.

"I wasn't looking behind me because Ididn't want to have any anxiety from that," she said.

But as she was going into her final lap, her coach told her that she was more than 20 seconds in front of her next closest competitor. Then she knew it was her race to win, Roberts said.

"I really got to enjoy the last lap," she said.

But it wasn't long after her win and the awards banquet that Roberts was back at work both in training and at her day job. She worked a night shift as a nurse as soon as she was back in Newfoundland, and was back out for a run afterward in order to stay ready for the nationals in Kingston on Nov. 9.

In the same race, Nicole Hollohan finished eighthfor Memorial. Also at the championship, Sea-Hawks runner Levi Moulton was named a men's all-star after finishing fifth with a time of 25 minutes and 58 seconds over eight kilometres.

The MUN men's runners finished fifth in the team standings, and the women's runners finished third.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador