The NWT Track and Field Championships made its triumphant return last week after a five-year absence and it was obviously missed.

But there was still the matter of winners being crowned and the biggest prize of them all went to St. Pat's as the Irish came out on top as the gand aggregate champions of the 2024 meet. The grand aggregate score is determined by taking the number of points earned by a team based on all top-six finishes and dividing that by the number of team members to come up with an average.

The result was a pleasant surprise to Irish coach Tobi Taylor-Dusome.

"We had some fantastic results," she said. "Some surprises in there, but you're never sure how you're going to do. It was the first one in five years and you never know how the kids will perform."

Most teams travelled lighter than usual this year and it was no different for St. Pat's. Taylor-Dusome said the team size for her school was about half of what it's normally been over the years.

"Some of our kids have never been a part of it and we also had some who hadn't done it for a while because of the gap in years," she said. "It's going to take a couple of years to build things back up because it's new to so many kids."

The conditions over the course of the three days of competition weren't exactly conducive to great results and the job for Taylor-Dusome was to make sure the athletes were staying dry and warm as often as possible.

"We were a bit worried that the rain and wind would affect us," she said. "We told the kids to dress in layers, make sure they were moving before their events to prevent injuries and when they were done, get inside and stay warm. We felt like we were hounding them, but we just wanted them to stay healthy."

Joseph Burr Tyrrell School of Fort Smith won the school grand aggregate banner, which uses the same formula as the grand aggregate except it's just the students' points that are counted toward the total. The school also won the total points banner, while Harry Camsell School of Hay River was named the most sportsmanlike team.

But Taylor-Dusome is just proud that her team came away with something.

"It's luck of the Irish," she said.