National Capital Championship Preview

The National Capital Region has a tradition of sending several strong individuals to the OFSAA Championships, but has very few team medals to show. While hopefully, we'll be able to break the team curse (no NCSSAA team has ever won an OFSAA team title) soon, there are several individuals to watch at the upcoming NC Champs that could contend for a medal.

The top 2 teams and the top 3 individuals (not on a qualifying team) will qualify for the OFSAA XC Championships in Etobicoke, Nov 6th.

Midget Boys
Although AY Jackson dominated all NC competition at the HawX Open, they struggled, missing #3 Matheson-Fitchett at West (injury), placing 2nd to a tight grouped Nepean team. No one can match AY's 1-2 punch of Jarvis and Howard, with Jarvis finishing over a minute ahead of everyone but his teammate at the West and HawX Meets. Nepean has a tight packed top three, but then over 2 minutes back to #4. If Matheson-Fitchett can get back in form AY will be tough to beat.

Individuals to watch: This is Jarvis' race. He has been untouched in both races this season winning by comfortable margins at West and at the NC site. Howard will fight for silver with Abdulkarim (Gloucester) while Thompson (Samuel Genest), Vervolet (St Joe) Horvath (Sacred Heart) and Kyte (All Saints) should fight it out for the remaining individual OFSAA spots.

NC Bloggers picks:

1. AY Jackson, 2. Nepean, 3. Glebe
1. Jarvis (AYJ), 2. Howard (AYJ), 3. Abdulkarim (Gloucester)

Midget Girls

Two very similar teams will battle for supremacy at Green's Creek. Both West Champs Earl of March and East Champs Beatrice Desloges have a few girls with top 10 potential, a closely packed top three and a fourth place runners that could finish very close to each other. All Saints packs all four runners within a minute, but needs to have all four girls move up to upset the Earl or Beatrice Desloges. BD gets the nod based on having run over the NC course twice this year.

Individuals to watch: Individual hopefuls will dominate the lead pack in the Midget Girls race. West Champ Olivia Robertson (Brookfield) and runner up Kyrsten Farrell (John McCrae) have each beaten each other once this season (Farrell winning the showdown between the two a week earlier at the HawX Open over the NC course). Farrell's teammate Viau will have to battle with East Champ Grimes (Hillcrest), Blanchette (Cantebury) and Scheunert (Garneau) for the remaining spot.

NC Blogger's pick:
1. Beatrice-Desloges, 2. Earl of March, 3. All Saints / Hillcrest

1. Farrell (John McCrae), 2. Robertson (Brookfield), 3. Grimes (Hillcrest)

Junior Boys

'09 Midget champs Louis Riel hope to repeat this year in the Junior race and have been in fine form so far, as they are undefeated against NC competition this season, beating runner up Garneau by 78 points (21-99) at the East Conference Champs. South Carleton has bolstered their team by moving up top Midget runners Dysart and Lewis, whom along with McCleery (2nd in West), Olsen and Labelle hope to improve on their 2nd place finish to Louis Riel in '09. Outside of these two teams, only Merivale and Glebe (who only finished 2 points behind Louis down at TISS) have a chance at cracking the top two for one of the 2 OFSAA berths.

Individuals to watch: Defending Champ Day (Holy Trinity) is the heavy favorite and should be followed to the line by McCleery and East Champ Sukunda (Louis Riel). With two of these three likely to qualify on teams, a top 5 finish could book a trip to OFSAA. Look for Maxwell (St. Paul) and Francki (Sir Wil) to round out the top 5.

NC Blogger's pick:
1. South Carleton, 2. Louis Riel, 3. Glebe
1. Day (Holy Trinity), 2. McCleery (South Carleton), 3. Sukunda (Louis Riel)

Junior Girls

Last years Junior champs Glebe keep three of their top 4 (whom had moved up from Midget last year) and return as the favorites to repeat in 2010. Over the first three runners Glebe held the narrowest of margins, only a single point, over 2009 Midget Champs Bell at the West, but had #4 and #5 runners almost a minute ahead of Bell's fourth scorer, and #6 and #7 just behind.

East Champ Louis Riel scored low at the East meet, but will have a tough time unseating either of these two teams and may be challenged for third by South Carleton.

Individual's to watch: Defending champ Klus (Bell) will rely on her sit and kick tactics to try and win her third race of the season. Glebe's Rhead, who has placed 2nd in all 4 of her races this year will look to improve upon that result, as she has been outkicked by Klus in her last two races. Perhaps East Champ Kary will keep the past honest enough to nullify Klus' finishing speed. Kary won easily at the East meet, although she twice had to backtrack and correct errors in running the course. Earlier this season she beat Rhead by a comfortable 20 seconds at the Gryphon Open. Once again, with 2 of these three likely to qualify on teams OFSAA spots will be up for grabs for Hayes (Mother Teresa) and Domitrovits (St. Pius X) with Derksen (Glebe) also with top 5 potential.

NC Blogger's pick:

1. Glebe, 2. Bell, 3. Louis Riel / South Carleton

1. Kary (St. Matt), 2. Klus (Bell), 3. Rhead (Glebe)

Senior Boys

Glebe has strengthened their Senior team with Rwandan Yves Sikubwabo and transfer Phil Marshall, who sat out the '09 season and is now eligible. Both Glebe and Colonel By have a strong 1-2 punch (Saville and Holstead for CB, 1-2 in the East) and the race will be decided by the #3 and #4 runners, Borish, Freda or Carranco for Glebe, Zhu, Ferguson or Bitar for Colonel By. Merivale led by Palamar, have a history of running strong at the BIG meets and could steal a spot should one of these two stumble.

Individuals to watch: Yves Sikubwabo of Glebe burst onto the NC XC scene just a week ago and made a very impressive debut winning the West by 1:29 over defending OFSSA junior silver medallist Palamar. East Champ Saville (Colonel By) should round out the top 3. Smith (SRB), Dysart (South Carleton) and Behre (Woodroffe) will fight for the remaining two qualifying spots with Marshall (Glebe) and Holstead (Colonel By) also capable of cracking the top 5.

NC Blogger's pick
1. Glebe, 2. Colonel By, 3. Merivale

1. Sikubwabo (Glebe), 2. Palamar (Merivale), 3. Saville (Colonel By)

Senior Girls

Nepean was the suprise of the Conference Meets placing all four scorers in the top 8 at the West Meet (2-5-6-8-13), while Colonel By dominated the East, with 3 in the top 6 (2-5-6) and then 3 more tightly packed about a minute back (16-19-21). With both upfront talent and depth, these two teams are a safe bet, although nothing is certain in XC. Franco Ouest and Osgoode will likely battle for third.

Individuals to watch: Emma Galbraith is the heavy favorite, having beaten East Champ Kanz (Garneau) by over 40 seconds over the NC course only a week ago. Kanz has managed to hold off Tuck (Colonel By) two consecutive weeks at the Green's Creek course. Nepean's Burrows, 2nd at West, has top 5 potential and O'Higgins (Bell), Bisson (Lycee Claudel) and Eryuzlu (All Saints) will fight it out for the final OFSAA qualifying spot.

NC Blogger's Picks:

1. Colonel By, 2. Nepean, 3. Franco-Ouest

1. Galbraith (Franco Ouest), 2. Kanz (Garneau), 3. Tuck (Colonel By)

Aggregates:

Glebe swept the West, while Colonel By swept the East, so things could be tight. Glebe gets the nod in the boys with a top ranked senior team and two other teams with top 4 potential. The girls aggregate is wide open with 6 different schools with teams ranked in the top two, but Colonel By gets the edge based on having all 3 teams capable of picking up valuable points.

NC Blogger's pick:

Boys: Glebe

Girls: Colonel By

Overall: Glebe