Runner from Beamsville earns top honour at Mohawk College
Ashley Lok did not stop running after the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) cross country season by helping the Mohawk Mountaineers win the bronze medal at the provincial championship.
The daughter of Rick and Jen Lok of Beamsville ran off with several major honours at the Hamilton college's 55th athletic awards banquet. Besides being the co-winner of the Dr. Sam Mitminger Award, which is presented to a graduating student-athlete and is the top athletic award at Mohawk, Lok received an Athlete of Distinction Award and had her running singlet framed.
She shared the individual honours with her teammates.
It sounds like an individual sport but it's honestly more of a team sport than people think," the 22-year-old said. Especially with the girls team this year, we really worked together to get every point possible so that we could medal.
We definitely worked as a team this year and trained as a team, but it is a very independent sport, too."
Lok appreciated how the sport has challenged her, both in competition and in her life.
I love having to be mentally and physically tough, and it's such a mental sport."
She used to run a lot on her own, but running with a team has been really special."
We do everything together," Lok said. We take everyone's race very seriously, and we had to work extra hard to get that bronze medal."
How does a cross country runner in Canada stay in shape during the off-season?
Sometimes, treadmill, elliptical, bike at the gym" she answered with a laugh. But we do run outside, we just bundle up.
Lok recalled racing in Medicine Hat, Alta.
There was snow and it was negative something degrees, so we kind of run in all weather."
The nursing program graduate finished her four years at Mohawk by helping the Mountaineers women's cross country team earn its first OCAA medal since 1996. Lok earned a first-team provincial all-star honour once and a second-team selection three times.
In her final three years at Mohawk, the graduate of Guido des Bres Christian High School in Hamilton earned Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association and OCAA academic all-Canadian honours.
Lok's community involvement as a student-athlete at Mohawk included a training session with the Kiwanis Girls and Boys Club in Hamilton, as well as such mental health initiatives as podcasts.
She led an initiative to raise funds to walk stairs for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Lok intends to continue training under Mohawk cross country coach Dave Hopton. She is trying out running at a longer distance as she prepares for her first half-marathon.
We'll see how it goes. I don't have any expectations going in."
Three other student-athletes from the Niagara region were honoured at Mohawk's athletics banquet: Peter Pilling, St. Catharines, co-winner male freshman athlete of the year, men's soccer; Tia Stys, St. Catharines, Athletic Director Award, women's basketball; Paige Epp, Grimsby, Growing Through Grit Award, men's soccer.
Bernd Franke is a St. Catharines-based journalist and the regional sports editor for the Standard, Tribune and Review. Reach him via email: bernd.franke@niagaradailies.com