Julien Luoma has a protege — well, sort of.

Luoma, a talented junior star of the Lo-Ellen Park Knights cross-country team, took top spot in his category at the 2025 SDSSAA championships at Kivi Park on Wednesday — albeit by just a two-second margin as Maxime Belzile of Macdonald-Cartier gave him quite a run for his money.

Beyond that, however, Luoma could take perhaps a little extra credit in helping Lo-Ellen novice sensation Dax Hester to victory, the latter earning more than an 80-second victory over teammate Lincoln Elliott in the novice boys race.

“(Luoma) keeps me pushing it, gives me a lot of advice; when I should warm up and what pace I should maintain throughout the race,” Hester said post-race.

And if he is lucky, the 14-year-old Grade 9 talent might even squeeze in a workout

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