Thursday, October 27, 2011

NC Championships

Glebe dominated the 2011 National Capital Secondary Schools Cross Country Running Championships winning 5 of 6 races and placing 3rd in the Junior Girls, qualifying all 6 teams for OFSAA at the Hornet's Nest next weekend.

The day started off with the MG showdown between East Champs Canterbury and West Champs Glebe. The upfront battle between Stenman-Fahey / Codrington and Livingstone / Smith looked promising as they reached the 'HILL' but Earl of March's Van Wyk pulled away on the downhill and then powered away from the lead pack coming up and ran unchallenged over the final kilometre to post an 8 second victory over Stenman-Fahey. Smith held off a fast closing Codrington to claim the bronze. The return to form of Tara Robinson gave the Gryphons 3 scorers in the top 10 to help secure the victory, with 51 points. Earl of March packed their remaining scorers within 20 seconds and four places of each other (21st-25th) to narrowly slip past Canterbury for second (71-74) . Franco Ouest (107) picked up the final OFSAA qualifying spot.

Cameron Slupieks (Colonel By) put his lack luster performance from last weeks East Conference Meet behind him. 11th in the East last week, almost 2 minutes behind Kinahan (Lisgar), Slupieks led from the gun and covered the 5220m course almost 3 minutes faster than last week. After Slupieks, things unfolded pretty much as expected, with West Champ Walia (SRB) finishing second, Bernst (Glebe) claiming the bronze and Kinhan (Lisgar) 4th. Slupieks wasn't the only one to improve his placing as a couple of Bernst's teammates had big improvements as well to help Glebe steal the team title from East Champs Beatrice Desloges. Ford moved up to 15th (17th @ West) and Sporell 22nd (28th @ West) and Marshall finished 25th to give Glebe a 20 point victory. Lisgar edged out Louis Riel (98-100) for third.

Illness may have slowed Earl's top runner, Niemi (17th), but her Lion's teammates certainly picked up the slack, including a big run from last weeks #5 Pappas who improved from 35th at the West to 15th at the NC Meet and the LIONS cruised to the largest victory of the day, 43 points (54-97), over West runner up Sir Robert Borden. Glebe and All Saints made it 4 for 4 for the West Conference, finishing 3rd and 4th respectively. The lead pack remained tightly bunched, even up the 'HILL' as all the key players stayed in touch until the final kiolmetre. West Champ Robertson (Brookfield) pulled away slowly to post an 11 second victory over East Champ Scheunert (Garneau), with East runner up Grimes earning the bronze.

What is it with Junior Boys?? At the pre-OFSAA - Haw-X Invite, all runners stayed on course except for the lead juniors, who turned and headed off down the wrong side of the Dome. Despite running the course correctly last week, Howard led his teammate off in the wrong direction at the exact same spot. This time however, the mistake was due to marshall error, as some student spectators, thinking it might be funny to mess up the runners, moved a rope across the course, directing the two AY runners down the wrong path. The marshalls quickly corrected the mistake and the runners corrected the error, but lost some time. Despite losing his lead, Howard reclaimed the lead in the final kilometre and ran to a 7 second victory, while Jarvis, 2nd at the time of the misdirection, finished 5th. Lycee Claudel's Trapeau, claimed the silver ahead of last weeks East Champ McHugh (Hillcrest). Glebe placed all 4 runners within a minute of each other to earn the narrowest margin of victory over East Champs Immaculata (95-99). South Carleton edged Woodroffe for 3rd (109-111).

The Senior Girls race produced the same finish it had a week ago at the West Conference, with Emma Galbraith (Franco Ouest) winning her third consecutive XC gold. Last year's JG Champion Rhead (Glebe) was second while O'Higgins (Bell) won the bronze. East Champ Lindsay Kary (St. Matt) was 4th. Rhead's teammate Derksen improved upon her 8th place finish at the West, placing 7th and Glebe had it's top two in before Colonel By's Weidemann, which proved to be enough to defeat the Cougars for the SG title (66-79). Bell was third with 88, while Ashbury grabbed the fourth and final OFSAA qualifying spot.

The Senior Boys lead pack stayed together through the first couple of kilometres, with 10 - 12 athletes all tightly bunched as they went off down the paths towards the hill. Defending OFSAA Champion Yves Sikubwabo made his move just past the half-way mark, and by the time they came back out of the trails, Yves had a comfortable 15 second lead, which he stretched out to 48 seconds by the end of the race, setting his 5th course record in as many races this season. Alex Behre (Woodroffe) made a strong move through the final 1K loop in the woods to pull away from the chase pack which included Donald (Nepean), Marhsall (Glebe) and Day (Holy Trinity). Only Donald could stay close, while Day, who fell off the group earliest used his powerful finishing kick to mow down Marhsall in the homestretch. Glebe placed all four scorers in the top 17, while west rival Nepean placed 4 in the top 18 to finish 1 - 2 respectively (36-45) and post the two lowest team scores of the day. Colonel By was a close third (56), while Merivale (110) grabbed the final qualifying spot.

NC High School XC would like to thank all the volunteers who put in many long hours to not only put on today's race, but various events throughout the season. Hope to see you all next week at OFSAA!!

Full results are posted on the Glebe XC page

Monday, October 24, 2011

NC Preview

The National Capital Cross Country Championships are set to go this Thursday at the Hornet's Nest; the final race in preparation for the OFSAA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 5th. As hosts, this year 4 teams and 6 individuals will qualify for OFSAA, making for some exciting races to come.

The 4th will figure in HUGE!!

Cross Country is a team sport! While top runners will battle for individual glory, in many cases, it will be the fourth runner who decides the standings in the team competitions. While the top runners are often spread out with large gaps and few points to pick up by gaining a spot, or two, often it is up to runners 3 and 4, who can have a great race and lower their team's score dramatically.

Midget Girls

The top teams are very similar here with a powerful 1-2 punch and #3 and #4 a couple minutes back. Canterbury won the East with Codrington 1st and Stenman-Fahey 2nd, while Glebe went 1 & 3 in the West (Livingstone and Smith). Canterbury's Macdonell and Heath ran 15:18 and 15:23 at the East, while Glebe's Beale and Barrett were both timed in 15:21. Look for a tight finish between these four atheltes. Glebe also has Robinson in reserve (4th at the Gryphon Open, but forced to walk the West due to injury), but it remains questionable whether or not she be healthy enough to contribute. This race could come right down to the wire, as both teams are projected to score about 56 points. It could well be whichever team gets runner #4 across the line first. Earl of March looks to have a solid hold on third, with Franco Ouest, Bell and Ashbury looking for that final OFSAA spot.

The individual race should come down to a tight battle between Livingstone and Codrington with the Earl's Van Wyk also in the mix. Codrington outkicked Livingstone at the Gryphon Open, but both Livingstone and Smith got the better of her at the HawX meet two weeks ago.

NC Bloggers picks:
1. Glebe (56), 2. Canterbury (56), 3. Earl of March (82).
4th OFSAA spot - Franco Ouest, Bell, or Ashbury
1. Livingstone, 2. Codrington, 3. Van Wyk

Midget Boys

Expect a replay of the East Conference Championships as Beatrice Desloges should be able to run to a comfortable victory. The Louis Riel vs. Lisgar battle should tighten up in the larger field for second spot. The Rebelles posted a 7 point margin of victory over the Lords, but with individual contender Kinahan (Lisgar) putting distance between himself and Riels 1 - 2 combo of Plante and Pribaz, there will not be much left to separate these two teams, as three and four for both teams will only be a few places apart. West Champs Glebe will hope to claim the 4th qualifying spot.

West Champ Arjun Walia (SRB) looked comfortable running to a 20 second victory over Glebe's Bernst, who ran the same time as East Champ Kinahan, albeit in much less agreeable conditions. Consistency seems to be the missing ingredient as Kinahan, Bernst, Denham (Beatrice Desloges) and Slupeiks (Colonel By) have all beaten each other, anywhere ranging from 10 - 45 seconds, at some point in time during the season. Ah the unpredictability of midgets!

NC Bloggers picks:
1. Beatrice Desloges (48), 2. Lisgar (78), 3. Louis Riel (79)
4th OFSAA spot - Glebe or Carine Wilson
1. Walia, 2. Kinahan, 3. Bernst

Junior Girls

Nowhere is the importance of the fourth runner more evident that in the Junior Girls race. While West Champs Earl of March have three with top 10 potential (Neimi, Kavalsar and Kaminski), their #4 (Jin or Pappas) will likely be in the 50's. Most of the top contenders will have their fourth runner back in the 50 - 60's where precious seconds can mean a big jump in finishing place. Borden looks to be the Earl's closest challenger as they have the top #4 runner of the contending teams in So, who placed 28th in the West. Glebe will attempt to repeat the 1, 2, 3 finish from the West Conference, with Beatrice Desloges very close on their heels. Whichever team can get the biggest run out of the fourth and final scorer will ensure a place on the OFSAA starting line.

While Robertson (Brookfield) missed most of the season coming back from injury she was back in time to defend her West Conference title and should be able to repeat the effort at the NC meet. East Champion Scheunert (Garneau) held off West runner up Ridley's (Glebe) late charge at the Pirates Invite for a 1 second victory, while Grimes (Hillcrest) and Farrell (John McCrae) will also look to crack the top three. This race should produce the tightest top 5 finishers of the day.

NC Bloggers picks:
1. Earl of March (82), 2. Sir Robert Borden (85), 3. Glebe / Beatrice Desloges (118)
Darkhorses to watch: Nepean and Garneau
1. Robertson, 2. Scheunert, 3. Ridley

Junior Boys

The talent in the Junior Boys is all up front in individual runners without strong supporting casts, so this race should produce the highest score for any winning team. East Champs Immaculata look to be the team to beat. While they lack a top contender, they find themselves evenly placed, well in the top half of the field. Woodroffe and Glebe knotted at 50 in the West meet, with Woodroffe getting the nod based on the higher 4th place finisher, but the larger field may favour the Gryphons, who had 3 ahead of Woodroffes' tightly bunched 2 - 4.

East Champ David McHugh will look to make it three victories in three weeks on the OFSAA course. McHugh won the HawX Invitational and the East meet over the last two weeks. Defending OFSAA silver medalist, Jarvis (AY Jackson) has been out with injury, but returned to run comfortably behind teammate Howard to reverse the order of finish from last years West and NC meet.

NC Bloggers picks:
1. Immaculata (88), 2. Glebe (112), 3. Woodroffe (115)
4th OFSAA spot - South Carleton or Bell
1. Howard, 2. Jarvis, 3. McHugh

Senior Girls

East Champs Colonel By lost the narrowest of battles last year to Nepean for the NC title, but although they will not score as well this year, look to be the class of the field. Only West Champs Glebe will be close and have a chance to unseat the Cougars. Colonel By's 1-2 punch of Morris / Sims will be countered by Bell's O'Higgins / Klus, and Glebe's Rhead / Derksen. The big difference will be the 3 - 4 runners, with CB having their final scorers around 20th, Glebe's close to the 30's and Bell back near the 50's. Beatrice Desloges with only 30 seconds separating their top 3, but #4 in the high 50's should be have a strong enough squad to challenge Bell and earn a ticket to OFSAA.

Emma Galbriath (Franco Ouest) will look to win her 3rd consecutive gold at the National Capital Meet. She was pushed hard to the line by Rhead (Glebe) for her narrowest victory against NC competition. East Champ Kary (St. Matt) ran unchallenged to win the east and should be able to challenge both Rhead and Galbraith for the top spot on the podium.

NC Bloggers picks:
1. Colonel By (54), 2. Glebe (65), 3. Beatrice Desloges / Bell (112)
Darkhorse to watch - Ashbury
1. Galbraith, 2. Rhead, 3. Kary

Senior Boys

Defending Champs Glebe only lost one scoring runner from last years NC Championship team and have the upfront talent and depth to secure a second consecutive NC title. Glebe placed 7 runners in the top 19 at the West and will likely have all 4 scorers in the top 15 at the NC meet. East Champs Colonel By's trio of Richardson, Saville, and Zhu finished 1 - 2 - 3 in the East, but will have to get a big run from their 4th to beat Nepean for second. Nepean has Donald who will contend for a medal and a 2 - 4 separated by less than 15 seconds that should all crack the top 20.

Defending OFSAA gold medalist Sikubwabo (Glebe) is the class of the field, but the intersting battle will be for the remaining medals. Behre (Woodroffe) looked to have second in the West, but found himself cutting the corner too tightly and ending up on the wrong side of the barricades coming down the finishing stretch. Day's (Holy Trinity) finishing speed carried him past Donald just before the line with Behre, after correcting his mistake a few seconds back. Look for another close finish from these boys to bring the 2011 NC Championships to an exciting close.

NC Bloggers picks:
1. Glebe (31), 2. Nepean (52), 3. Colonel By (65)
4th OFSAA spot - Lisgar or Merivale
1. Sikubwabo, 2. Behre, 3. Day

Thursday, October 20, 2011

West Conference Cross Country Championships

Glebe Collegiate was the big winner at the 2011 West Conference Championships, winning the Overall, Boys and Girls Aggregates, while winning, or sharing victory, in 5 of the 6 races. Glebe won the Midget Girls, Midget Boys, Senior Girls and Senior Boys categories to score a perfect 40 points (best 4 of 6) in the Overall Aggregate.

Woodroffe prevented Glebe from sweeping the boys races by eeking out the narrowest of victories in the Junior Boys race. Both Woodroffe and Glebe scored 50 points in the race, but Woodroffe's fourth (Abdi) placed 16th, three spots ahead of Glebe's fourth (Uhthoff).

On the women's side, Earl of March posted a 6 point victory over Sir Robert Borden (49-55) to win the Junior Girls race. Glebe was third with 65 points.

Glebe's Sikubwabo kept his streak alive, setting his fourth course record in as many races this season, covering the 7.3 k of the windy, muddy course in 23:53, 23 seconds faster than the winning time at Haw-X Invitational, the first race held on the OFSAA course.

Results are now posted on the Glebe XC results page.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

East Conference Championships

Colonel By and Beatrice Desloges share the East Conference title with Colonel By taking the Boys Aggregate and Beatrice Delsoges capturing the girls.

Colonel By won the Senior Boys, sweeping the medals, with Richardson, Saville and Zhu finishing 1-2-3 respectively. They also placed 2nd to Immaculata in the Junior Boys race to win the Boys title with 18 points, 4 points ahead of Lisgar (3rd - MB and 2nd - SB). Beatrice Desloges, who won the MB race was third with 11 points.

On the Girls side Beatrice Desloges won the Junior Girls, was second in the Senior race to Colonel By and placed 4th in the Midget Girls race, which was won by Cantebury, for 22 points. Colonel By, Lisgar and Ashbury all tied for 2nd with 14 points.

Results are available on the Glebe XC page

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Haw-X Country Invitational

Small but talented fields toed the line at the Haw-X Country Invitational which served as the first tune up races to be run on the course that will be used for the Conference, NC and ultimately the 2011 OFSAA XC Championships. While teams came from as far as St. Catherine's and Hamilton, very few Ottawa schools attended the meet, likely due to the meet being on a Saturday. One meet official commented, "It's a shame when we have a meet of this calibre here on Ottawa that we can't get more support from our NCSSAA schools." Those who did not attend missed out on some quality races.

Thousand Islands (Brockville) dominated the girls side, winning all three titles and also the Senior Boys title enroute to the Overall Aggregate. Frontenac (Kingston) and Sir Winston Churchill (St. Catherine's) won the Midget Boys and Junior Boys respectively. The top NC performance was turned in by the Glebe MG who placed a close 2nd (32-45) and the Lisgar JG who placed 3rd.

Hillcrest's David McHugh took advantage of the 4 athletes in front of him running off course to post a 4 second victory and brought home the NC's only individual gold medal. Emma Galbraith placed second in the Senior Girls race, while McHugh's teammate, Kelsey Grimes was a bronze medalist in the Junior Girls race along with Lycee Claudel's Alec Trapeau in the Junior Boys race.

Full results are available at www.sportstats.ca

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Louis Riel Invitational

The Louis Riel Invitational wrapped up three back to back days of racing for National Capital Schools. Colonel By was perfect (10 points) in the Senior Girls race, helping the Cougars to the Girls, and Overall Aggregates. Meet Director Seb Lalonde led his Rebelles to the Boy's Aggregate title and a tie for second place overall with Bell.

Full Meet Results can be found on the Glebe XC Results page.

Turkey Trot

All Saints finished second overall, winning the Girl's Aggregate (SG 1st and JG 2nd) at the Turkey Trot in Kemptville on Thursday, Oct 6th. Notre Dame (Carleton Place) was the overall winner.

Kayla Jones (Nepean) was the lone NC Champion of the day, winning the SG race.

Full Results available on the Glebe XC Results page

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Pirates Invitational

Only a few NC schools made the trip to Brockville this year for the Pirates Invitational but though the numbers were few, the performances were outstanding. Glebe placed 3rd overall in the 30 school meet with 25 points, while Beatrice Desologes was 7th with 15 points.

Yves Sikubwabo (Glebe) opened the day with his third victory in as many races this season. Yves ran unchallenged from the gun to a comfortable 54 second victory and claiming his second course record of the season, covering the 7200m course in 22:12. Philip Marshall (Glebe) also cracked the top 5 to help Glebe to a 2nd place finish in the Senior Boys race behind hosts Thousand Islands.

Charlene Rhead made it 2 for 2 for Glebe in the Senior races, winning the Senior Girls race, posting the third fastest time ever run on over the 5K course (18:58).

In the Junior Girls race, Garneau's Maggie Schuenert held off a hard charging Kendra Ridley (Glebe) by 0.2 seconds to claim silver, 24 seconds back of OFSAA MG 800m champion Nicole Armstrong (Sydenham). The Glebe Junior Girls matched their Senior Boys team finish, placing 2nd behind Thousand Islands, while Beatrice Desloges earned the bronze.

Full results are available on the Glebe XC results page.

Several more Ottawa schools will see action tomorrow at the Turkey Trot in Kemptville and Friday at the Louis Riel Invitational.