Whitehorse's Logan Roots ended his running season as arguably the best junior runner on Vancouver Island.

The 18-year-old capped his Shawnigan Lake School career by taking first in the 16-19-year-old division of the Annual Chemainus Legion Twilight Shuffle five-kilometre event last week with a time of 16 minutes, 52 seconds.

That time was good enough for second place overall and $50 in prize money, not to mention accolades from race directors, who acknowledged Roots among the race's elites, including Sean Chester of the University of Victoria and Canadian 5,000 metre champion Lucy Smith.

"Logan is probably the best junior runner on the Island,” race directors said after reciting his statistics over the season.

The young runner is known for his consistency and top finishes on any type of race course, from half marathons and trail races to cross-country events and triathlons.

This season alone, Roots earned first-place rankings in the junior category (16-19 years) in five Island Series races: the Times Colonist 10 kilometre, the Oak Bay half marathon, the Stewart Mountain 10 mile, the Victoria half marathon and the Mount Tzouhalem Gutbuster.

He also regularly places in the top five positions overall, sometimes competing against hundreds of other runners in the men's division.

Roots was ranked first overall in the Island Series, a sequence of eight races ranging from five kilometers to a half marathon (21 kilometres).

He competed in seven of the eight races (missing only his specialty, the half marathon, due to school holidays), with his top standing based on five first-place and two second-place finishes.

He attributes his success this season to a sharper focus.

"Throughout high school I've kind have been trying to do more than one sport at a time. Last year I tried to row and run at the same time and this year I basically just ran all year, so I think that's part of the reason. I just had more focus,” he said.

His love of long-distance competition began at an early age while growing up in the Yukon.

"I cross-country skied before I could walk, and running followed pretty quickly,” he said. "My dad loves it, so I come by it naturally.

While living in Whitehorse, Roots was also inspired by his coach Don White, coach and director of Athletics Yukon, who has overseen Roots' development since 2008.

In 2010, Roots enrolled at Shawnigan near Victoria to help him focus on his studies.

"My dad went to a private school and encouraged me to have a similar experience,” Roots said. "So far, it's been a great experience. I find the structure makes it a lot easier to focus because there are fewer distractions when everyone is doing homework at the same time.”

Besides, he said, the Island is the place for running.

"I can get involved with bigger running teams from Victoria and then compete against people from all over the Island and B.C., whereas the Yukon doesn't have so much competition close to home,” Roots said.

The full day academic schedule with a fine art and sports component adds benefits and challenges to his training.

"The up side is that I am able to develop consistency in my training every week, but I also have less influence on my pre-race meals when I am eating with 450 other kids at the same time,” he said.

Whatever he's doing seems to be working.

Shawnigan cross-country coach James Kingstone has been impressed with Roots' running

achievements this season, which included a notable fourth overall finish in the Oak Bay Half Marathon with a time of 1:16:13.

"Not many kids under the age of 20 are running the times Logan has produced this season,” Kingstone said. "Many of these races aren't typically high school events and he continually performed with results that rank up with some of the best competitors.”

As his graduation day approaches Roots is looking forward to the Western Canadians in August and the Canada Games in two years.

In the meantime, he's hoping to earn money in Whitehorse to travel through Europe.

"I would really like to do some of the major races overseas,” he said.

He also has plans to apply to Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ont., with hopes of becoming a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force.