Cadence Laplante

One More Season, Everyone Along

In her final year, the finish lines matter—and so do the people between them.

Cadence Laplante knows what three-thousandths of a second can mean. She won 1000-metre provincial gold by that margin, a photo finish small enough to make a blink feel leisurely. One of her 11 medals. Including St Mary’s only Cross Country gold, won on our home course in 2024.

Ask about her proudest memories now, though, and she starts with a team.

The women’s cross country group qualified for nationals together in 2023–24. Their trip to Nova Scotia remains unforgettable. Running had taken her somewhere, and the people beside her made the destination better.

Entering her fifth and final year of eligibility in cross country and indoor track, the Okotoks athlete wants her strongest season yet, physically and mentally. There’s urgency in that goal, but also perspective earned over years of training.

Her story began on a soccer field, where speed endurance made her a strong striker. Joining the Okotoks Track and Cross Country Club in Grade 9 initially supported school running and soccer fitness. Work with coach Mark Toombs eventually changed her plans. By late high school, university running had become the future she wanted.

She had been preparing for one sport and discovered another life inside the preparation. The ability to keep moving quickly, useful when chasing a ball, became something worth developing on its own. Hours with Toombs helped make the change feel practical: there was training to do, a Grade 12 season to prepare for, and a different university goal taking shape.

Now that university chapter is nearing its last competitive year. She wants to compete at her best while enjoying the season she still has in front of her. The people and the ordinary pleasures still belong in it. There is running to enjoy while she is still getting to do it.

The progress has included difficult stretches. In 2025, a slower start through the Grand Prix races gave way to a provincial performance where everything came together: third place.

Her teammates understand those stretches because they live them, too. Their support is a major reason she keeps going.

“Success to me is not necessarily about always being in first place,” she says.

She wants confidence that carries beyond sport, and to become a better person through competing.

Away from training, there’s cross-stitching—a surprise addition to her 2026—plenty of sleep, and walks spent identifying plants in other people’s gardens. One Direction remains dependable pre-race fuel. Some traditions deserve renewal.

Cross-stitching offers a different pace from a close finish. Garden walks give her a reason to look carefully at something without needing to move through it faster. Together, those interests give her plenty to enjoy between the races and training sessions that shape her season.

At practice, she hopes teammates feel her support and positive energy. At home, she can settle into a quiet game or try something she never expected to enjoy. Confidence, for Cadence, should travel across those settings. She wants sport to help her become someone who feels sure of herself in the rest of her life, too.

There’s another season ahead, and Cadence intends to bring her usual positive energy to it. She has learned how much a fraction of a second can hold. She also knows how much of a running career lives outside the clock.