Balancing academics and varsity training

After the horn sounded to start their season, the Tigers cross-country team has gotten off to a blitzing start. 

Their first competition in Prince Edward Island on Sept. 19 saw a top 5 finish for Mila Souillière, a fifth-year engineering student. She finished with a time of 29:13, while Jon Earle, a fourth-year computer science student, finished with a time of 25:35 and secured seventh place. 

Souilliére then finished third at the Acadia Invitational Cross Country tournament on Oct. 3, with a time of 30:34.

“All the girls are absolutely killing it,” says Souillière. Six Tigers finished in the top ten in the Oct. 3 Acadia race. “It’s the best to finish and then look back, and [see] five of your teammates.”

Both the men’s and women’s teams ranked 10th in U Sports after their first two events.

Dalhousie claimed the women’s team title in their third race of the season in Moncton on Oct. 17, with 27 points. Four Tigers finished in the top ten.

The Tigers’ next event will be the 2026 Bell AUS Cross Country Championships on Oct. 31 in Antigonish, N.S. at StFX.

Souillière credits the team’s early success and confidence to a new off-season schedule. She says in previous years, the team began training in late August to early September. This season, the team was training as early as June. 

“Having that base of threshold work throughout [the summer] has made a big difference, and you can see it through the team,” says Souillière. “One of the guys put it really well … ‘It feels like this is a test that we actually studied for.’”

Success on the track comes with success in the classroom

While balancing training and school can be difficult, Earle says the discipline that comes with being a high-performance athlete has helped him build stronger study habits in the classroom.

“[Training and academics] almost complement each other at times as well,” says Earle. “It really teaches you how to be diligent and how to allocate your time.”

As upper-year students, Earle and Souillière try to help younger athletes develop healthy study habits as they adjust to varsity athletics.

“We’re always doing study sessions together,” says Earle. “If we as a team are going to the library together and are diligent with our schoolwork together, it’ll put an influence on some of the first- and second-years who are starting to learn how to study..”

In an email to the Dalhousie Gazette, Tim Maloney, assistant vice-president of athletics and ancillary services for the Tigers, said that he recognizes the athletes’ talents off the court.

“I’m constantly impressed by the academic and athletic demands our student-athletes manage, which is typically highlighted by over 50 per cent of our student-athletes achieving U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian status over the last number of years,” said Maloney.

Souillière says time management is the most important factor to maintain the student-athlete lifestyle.

“When I’m running, I’m running, and then when I’m studying, I’m studying,” says Souillière. “It’s almost like two separate personalities.”