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www.insidehalton.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER |Friday, December 15, 2017 |22 Kevin Nagel, O a k ville B ea ve r S p o rts E ditor, k n a g e l@ b u rlin g to n p o s t.c o m Sports G R E Y C U P T O U R S T "Connected to your Community" O P Oakville's Declan Cross (left photo), a member of the 2017 Canadian Football League champi on Toronto Argonauts, paraded the Grey Cup through a number of stops in and around Oakville on Wednesday, his day to have the iconic trophy for personal appearances. In the above photo, one of his destinations was his alma mater, Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School, where he joins junior and senior football team members for a picture with the Grey Cup. | Nikki Wesley/Metroland Argos' Cross on th e move during his day w ith th e Grey Cup By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff Declan Cross was scheduled to pick up the Grey Cup Wednesday morning, but when the Toronto Argos fullback found out the tro phy was going to be sitting in the team office overnight, he made his way into the city. W hen team president and CEO Michael Copeland brought the Grey Cup out of a meeting, Cross was there waiting. He had a full day's worth of activities planned with the Grey Cup Wednesday, and he wasn't about to pass up a minute with the century-old tro phy So Tuesday afternoon he rode home to Oakville on the GO Train with the Grey Cup in tow. It sat on the table as he ate dinner and it was perched next to him as he watched a movie -- fittingly, Friday Night Lights. The next morning, after listen ing to him speak to students at Holy Trinity, where he was a two way force on the football team as well as the class valedictorian, it became clear that Cross's fore thought to check on the Cup' s availability wasn't just a one-time thing. "You always have to be pre pared," he told the students. "The worst thing you can do is not pre pare. You never know when an op portunity is going to come your way, and when it does you have to be prepared." His extended time with the Grey Cup allowed Cross to take it to Tiercon, an auto parts manufactur er in Stoney Creek where his dad works, before visit ing Holy Trinity. "They're all die hard Ticat fans," Paul Cross said. "I'm sure it killed them to see an Argo with the Grey C up." Maybe, but not enough to tempo rarily halt produc tion while they took pictures. Cross also stopped by a local vet clinic and visited Santa at Oakville Place before wrap ping up the day with a celebration with family and friends at Jack Astor' s. T hough Cross didn't decide on pursuing a pro football career until his third year at M cM aster University, he had been prepar ing for it since he arrived at Holy Trinity as a scraw ny 105-p ou nd Grade 9 student. W h en he got pushed around in his first year I I Y never know when an opportunity is going to com e your wa way. of football, he sought ou t advice on w hat he needed to do to get better. W hatever tips he got, he took them to heart. W hen he was told hydration was important, he start ed carrying around a three-litre wa ter jug wherever he went. He started an off-season training group with friends before coaches even required them. By his final year of ou high school, Cross tipped the scales at 2 1 0 and was the one pushing people around on the field. He was the team's top rusher on of fence and led the team in sacks on de fence. "He' s one of the Declan Cross Toronto Argonauts hardest workers I've ever coached," said Holy Trinity coach Joe Moscato. "Coming here and sharing his suc cess and some great words of wis dom, he can inspire these kids to do something great." "It' s good to see our school sending people to the C F L ," said Kristian Milford, a linebacker on Trinity's senior football team. "I'm still not sure what I want to do af ter high school, but hearing him it gives me hope that I can do it, too." T hough Cross w asn't planning on being a pro football player, he said his preparation allowed him to play in his first season with M cM aster. He was also ready w hen the opportunity arrived to play in the E ast-W est Bowl and to show his skills at the C FL com bine. He made enough of an impres sion that the Argos selected him in the fourth round of the 2 0 1 6 draft. Again, his training helped him earn a spot on the Argos' roster right away. "In high school, I didn't know (if) I wanted to be a professional football player, but I prepared as if I was. I just wanted to be the best at whatever I did," Cross told the students. "The habits you need to build, you start them here. It doesn't matter if you're going to be a doctor or play football. This is the training ground for what's n ext." Although the Argos faced long odds against the Calgary Stampeders in the Grey Cup, their prepa ration paid off with a 2 7 -2 4 win. Wednesday, Cross got to savour every minute of the reward for al ways being ready for the next chal lenge. Oakville Speed Skating Club dom inates London regional m eet with fou r golds Members of the Oakville Speed Skating Club (OSSC) supplied 25 per cent of the skaters but won 3 7 .5 per cent of the medals at the Western Regional Meet No. 2 last weekend in London. The dom inance extended to the podium , where OSSC m em bers picked up nine medals, in cluding golds by Ian Craig, Mi chael Borca, Tiffany Huang and Rian Pullen. Marcelo Giansante won a silver medal and bronze medals went to Javan Mayran, Daniel Kim, Aveline DeSousa and Hyunwoo Change. Five more competitors from OSSC had top-six placements -- Cyprien Petiteville, Cameron Massel, Alicia Chang, Lee Deluca and Noah Waters. Massel took three seconds off his provincial series qualifying time and Pullen earned her gold medal in her first meet.