Lo-Ellen Park Knights' track & field head coach Colin Ward was extremely diplomatic with his answer - but there remains little doubt that a perfect meet (sweeping all 16 races) remains the Holy Grail for his team at the annual SDSSAA Track Relay Championships.
Still, a meet in which you finish first in 14 of the 16 events and settle for silver in the two remaining ones, combined with a team effort that produces no less than seven new records established in the process is nothing to sneeze at.
"We always hope to be dominant," said Ward, acknowledging some surprise at just how successful a meet his team contested last week. "We've had a few years where we have been dominant and often wondered just how dominant we could be."
To that end, Ward suggested there is nothing truly special in the recipe for success that is brewed at the south end powerhouse - at least nothing that could not conceivably be duplicated at other schools.
"We've got a good experienced coaching crew working with these kids," he said, citing the efforts of Neil Phipps, Serena San Cartier and Lucas Mrozewski, among others. "We do work with them over the course of the year and that's pretty tough to compete with."
"If you only start track in the month or two leading up to it, you're giving the kids an opportunity to do track but there's not a lot that you can do to build up their speed. That takes a much longer time."
And, as noted earlier, speedy times were indeed the essence of the 2024 SDSSAA Relays for the Purple and Black, most noticeably in the Senior Boys division where four separate records fell.
Corey Lacroix, Shiloh Sauve, Russell Joiner and Nolan Kuhlberg covered the 4 X 400m distance in a time of 3:33.02, more than three seconds faster than the Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes standard that had stood since 2006.
Sauve and Kuhlberg were also on board (with Sam Rice and Jacob Paille) as the Knights shaved nearly ten seconds off the 4 X 800m mark (8:21.90), also set by an Alouettes quartet well over a decade ago (2007).
The bar was also raised for the Senior Boys 4 X 100m race as Ethan Oliver, Jacob Barney, Max Arnold and Carson Huzij circled the track in 44.80 seconds (versus 45.40 - Lasalle Secondary - 2006).
Finally, at least in terms of senior dominance, the Open Boys 4 X 200m foursome (Carson Huzij, Corey Lacroix, Russell Joiner, Darren Joiner) also entered the record books with a clocking of 1:33.94, well ahead of the old mark of 1:37.06 (Lo-Ellen - 2019).
Showing signs that there is simply no slowing down the Knights' juggernaut program, the Novice Boys also walked off with a pair of new marks, besting the previous best times in the 4 X 100m (Francis Mallory, Jansen Fransen, Narayan Shukla, Ty Dubreuil - 46.70) and the 4 X 400m (Narayan Shukla, Sam Piette, Grady Dale, Ty Dubreuil - 3:47.46).
The last of the new standards would come courtesy of the Lo-Ellen Open Girls 4 X 200m team as Claire Schmidt, Melina Doiron, Maija Potvin and Milena Kulik crossed the line in 1:49.48, just a tad quicker than the 1:49.64 time posted by the 2023 Knights.
Tactically speaking, the Knights clearly are providing solid guidance to their young runners.
"We try and give them good advice, tell them the right things to do in the simplest possible way," explained coach Ward. "It really is understanding that the batons are racing around the track. You don't want them (the batons) slowing down."
Following are the first place finishers for all remaining events:
Novice Girls4 X 100m - Lo-Ellen Park - 54.60
Isabella Perry/Zayda Paris/Jacqueline Tissot/Joanne Ajueze
4 X 400m - Lo-Ellen Park - 4:43.33
Jacqueline Tissot/Nadia MacDonald/Megan Pineau/Alessandra Melo
Junior Girls 4 X 100m - Lo-Ellen Park - 52.30
Amanda Syncox/Michaela Tripp/Melina Doiron/Madison Veevers
4 X 400m - Lo-Ellen Park - 4:35.36
Amanda Syncox/Lily Bignucolo/Madison Veevers/McKenna Mende
Junior Boys
4 X 100m - St Charles College - 47.30
Karson Gouchie/Mason Walker/Grady Jalbert/Ashton Pitawanakwat
4 X 400m - Lo-Ellen Park - 3:58.05
Callum Wiss/Jacob Paille/Darren Joiner/Hector Loiselle
Senior Girls
4 X 100m - Lo-Ellen Park - 51.00
Milena Kulik/Maija Potvin/Emma Chateauvert/Claire Schmidt
4 X 400m - Marymount Academy - 4:29.80
Tara Guse/Mya Massimiliano/Katie Polischuk/Lucia Salmaso
Open Girls
4 X 800m - Lo-Ellen Park - 10:53.00
Gracie Dale/Lily Bignucolo/Megan Pineau/McKenna Mende