An individual and team sport

In the Atlantic University Sport conference, cross-country competitors wear their team logo on their chest, but run their own race — Dalhousie University’s Molly Pert has a tough line to run.  

Tigers cross-country and track coach, Richard Lehman, says that in running, you either put in hard work and get the results you want or find out you don’t have the natural ability. 

“It’s an unfair reality of our sport,” Lehman says, “But it happens… Molly Pert is someone that put in the work and got the results.” 

The fifth-year environmental science student tried out for the track and field team in her first year but didn’t crack the roster. She tried out and trained for the middle-distance events, like the 800 and 1,500-metre — which were events she ran for her high school in Ottawa. On the practice squad, Lehman says Pert brought positivity and an exceptional work ethic. Still, she just wasn’t fast enough. 

Pert tried out for the Dal cross-country team at the start of her second year. She made the roster but wasn’t a top runner in the eight-kilometre category; in her third year, she didn’t crack the top seven. Lehman was surprised to see what she accomplished in year four.  

Placing fifth at the AUS championships in 2024, Pert led the female team to a silver medal and earned first team all-star honours for finishing in the top seven. According to Lehman, due to budget constraints, when a plane ride is needed to reach nationals, only select players go. In 2024, Pert was one of two Dalhousie runners picked to travel to Kelowna, B.C., for the race. She placed 29th out of about 200 runners. 

Although she placed sixth in the 2025 AUS championship race — a spot behind her 2024 finish — it was sufficient to earn Pert another first team all-star nod for the second year in a row. The team, however, came in third and failed to repeat as silver medalists. 

“I felt really selfish afterwards,” Pert says. 

If she won the race, Dalhousie would have tied the University of New Brunswick for second — a sixth-place finish for Pert meant a bronze medal for the team. Pert says while the rest of her team eased the intensity of their training leading to the AUS championship to be race-ready, she continued running hard. 

“It may have made my legs a bit more tired…I felt like that could have impacted the way we did as a group,” she says. 

Pert in her community  

Coach Lehman wouldn’t use “selfish” to describe Pert.  

Coaches across the AUS nominate a player from their team for the AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Award. Lehman says many players ask to be nominated. With no one stepping forward in 2025 and having no knowledge of Pert’s efforts in the community, Lehman had to go searching for his nominee. He asked one of Pert’s teammates, Eva Kriebel, who she thought should be chosen.

Kriebel asked Lehman if he was serious. 

Pert frequently volunteered growing up, especially at the Salvation Army. “Growing up, my parents were adamant about helping around the community,” Pert says. Over the winter break, Pert and her parents spent time cleaning and prepping cabins at Ottawa’s Waupoos Family Farm, a country getaway experience for lower-income families, according to its website.  

Now that she’s back in Halifax, Pert goes to St. Joseph’s-Alexander McKay Elementary School on Mondays to help children with their reading and spends Friday afternoons at the YMCA helping with after-school childcare. Molly also organizes shoe drives, makes meals at the Ronald McDonald House and organizes environmental clean-ups. 

“This doesn’t seem like a person who is willing to have a heart attack to be third instead of fourth,” Lehman says. The coach says people in the community might be shocked at how deeply she cares about winning. 

A new approach

Set to graduate this May, Pert isn’t sure if she’s done running at Dalhousie. “I’m thinking about coming back for my master’s to run again,” she says. 

If Pert returns, she says she’ll dial back her training leading up to the AUS championships, hoping to go for gold with her teammates. Pert says her favourite memories at Dalhousie are hugging her teammates at the end of races while waiting for the next Dal runner to cross the finish line. She says this year’s squad was the closest she’s been a part of. 

At the 2025 nationals, Pert finished 32nd — three places back from her 2024 position. In addition to her team goals, Pert says she hopes scoring better in the 2026 AUS championship would give her confidence to perform better at the national level.