NC Preview

The National Capital Region's depth in Cross Country has grown considerably in the past few years as NC teams and individuals have consistently challenged for podium spots at OFSAA.  This year will be no exception.  Several NC individuals will challenge for podium spots, with 4 or 5  teams (Glebe MG, Glebe JG, Glebe JB, Canterbury SG, Glebe SG) all having a chance at a podium finish.  Glebe will look to defend it's OFSAA Overall Girls title and is the heavy favorite to win the Girls, Boys and Overall Aggregates this week at the Hornet's Nest.  

Midget Girls

Glebe looks to be the class of the field heading into the NC Meet.  The Gryphons have won all four meets (Trinity Invite, Gryphon Open, Pirates Invite and West) they have participated in this year.  Glebe has a great 1-2-3 punch in Shepherd, Grimes and Saravanamutto, with another 3 solid potential scorers only a small ways back in Larkin, Welburn and MacKay.  The battle for second should be a repeat of the East showdown between Franco Cite and Colonel By.  Only 6 points separated these two teams at the East, with each Faucon scorer about 10 seconds up on their Cougar counterpart.  Only Earl of March has a chance of upsetting one of these two teams for the second OFSAA spot.  Second in the west, but with a 4th scorer well back, if they can get a good run from #4, they stand a chance of taking the second qualifying spot.

Individually, expect to see a repeat of the West final.  Shona McCulloch (Longfields) is the hands down favorite, having won both the West and Gryphon Open by gaps of 1:04 and 47 seconds respectively.  Second and third should be a battle between Shepherd (Glebe) and Kiana Gibson (Merivale).  Each athlete has taken a turn beating the other this year, with Gibson taking the Gryphon Open and Shepherd the West.  East Champ Marin Scotten (Sir Wil) might have more in the tank to challenge for a podium spot and should book her ticket to the Big Nickel as Shepherd should qualify as a member of the Glebe team.  That will leave the 4th qualifying spot as a tight battle between Gisele's Jenna Rossi and the Earl's Samantha Dickson.

NC Blogger's Pick
1.  Glebe (35)  2.  Franco Cite  (59)  3.  Colonel Boy (61)
1.  McCulloch  2.  Shepherd  3.  Gibson

Junior Girls

We can expect a repeat of the West meet and last years NC Midget Girls race, with some slight changes.  Glebe, Nepean and Earl of March should hold onto their spots from the West meet.  Led by West Champ Marshall, Glebe may place all four scorers in the top 15, with a back up crew of 3 more a few spots back should someone have an off day.  Nepean turned the table on the Earl, who beat them at last years NC meet, and it will be very close again this week on the hills of Green's Creek.

Individually, Marshall (Glebe), Gaudet (Nepean) and Rodenburg (Earl of March) should take the medal spots.  With two of these three likely to qualify on a team, and Pouw (Glebe) and Roziak (Nepean) not far behind, a top 8 finish could be enough for the individuals to qualify.   Brennan (Franco Ouest) will likely earn the second individual qualifier, but Anna Greene (St. Pius) who won on the Haw-X course two weeks ago, Howard (AYJackson), Marina (Woodroffe) and East Champ  Alie (Sir Wil) will fight it out for the final two spots.

NC Blogger's Pick
1.  Glebe (28)  2.  Nepean (48)  3.  Earl of March (50)
1.  Marshall  2.  Gaudet  3.  Rodenburg

Senior Girls

The Canterbury Senior Girls turned in a dazzling performance last week and is favoured to repeat the task this week as NC Champs.  Only Glebe has a chance of unseating the Chargers, but it will take some big runs to do it.  Canterbury's only weakness is that there is a large gap between their 4th scorer and their 5th, so if one runner has an off day, they could be vulnerable, but it's a big IF.  An off day for one of their top 4, might mean a minute and 5 or even 10 places, which they should have to spare.  Glebe can match Canterbury upfront, but has to close a rather large gap with #3 and #4 if they hope to pull off the upset.

Smith (Glebe) has looked impressive all season with big wins (and course records) at the Trinity Invite in Port Hope, the pre-OFSAA Meet in Sudbury and at the Pirates Invite in Brockville. Robertson (Brookfield) hung close for half the race at West before dropping back a bit, but had just run and won a US College race on the weekend, her only other race of the fall.  These two girls should be able to distance themselves from East Champ McGowan (Canterbury), although she has yet to be challenged in her two wins this year so there may be more left in the tank.  With 3 of the next 4 runners likely belonging to the two OFSAA teams (Stenman-Fahey and Codrington from Canterbury and Livingstone from Glebe), a top 9 finish could secure an OFSAA qualifying spot.  Schuenert (Garneau), Adams (St. Joseph), Grimes (Hillcrest) and Gibson (West Carleton) all have a shot at earning three of the final four individual spots.

NC Blogger's Pick
1.  Canterbury  (26)  2.  Glebe  (36)  3.  Earl of March (80)
1.  Smith  2.  Robertson  3.  McGowan

Midget Boys

Despite losing their top runner to their Junior Boys team, Glebe hopes to do exactly what their Midget Girls did last year and win anyway.  With medal favorite Harris moving up to run with the Junior Boys, the Glebe Midget Boys still scored a very low 22 points to win the West.  With all 4 scorers in the top 9 and plenty of back up less than a minute back, Glebe is the team to beat.  The battle for second will be a tight battle between  West runner-up Nepean and East Champ's Osgoode.  Nepean will score a low single digit with their top runner (Martire) and then a minute back have three in a tightly bunched pack (Jande, Burton and Cheney), while Osgoode will counter with Fishwick and Smith, who should place in the top 10, and then teammates Onno and Desroches just over a minute back.  Osgoode's hopes rest on getting their top two, as close to Martire as possible and their back 2 close to Nepean's pack.

Individually this race will be a battle between East Champ McCann (Franco Cite) and West Champ Turcanu (Bell).  McCann was about 30 seconds faster than Turcanu's Haw-X winning time, but Turcanu got the best of McCann in their only head to head battle this year at the Gryphon Open.  Colonel By's Gaudert should claim the bronze, although Glebe's Grall may challenge for the last spot on the podium.  With the top three runners being unattached to a top two team, only one more individual will earn a spot on the NC bus, and that will likely be a battle between Ashbury's Daly and St. Mark's Dennison.

NC Blogger's Pick
1.  Glebe (40)  2.  Nepean (56)  3.  Osgoode  (65)
1.  Turcanu  2.  McCann  3.  Gaudert

Junior Boys

With the addition of Harris, Glebe not only looks to win the NC Championships, but improve upon their 4th place finish at last years OFSAA Championships.  Led by Dillabaugh, Glebe placed 5 runners in the top 10 at the West, demonstrating both upfront talent and depth.  Louis Riel, led by duo Campbell and Robillard, have a strong hold on second place.  So, while nothing in sport is 100% certain (hence the reason we don't hand out the medals until after the race) these two teams have a solid hold on the OFSAA qualifying spots.

Last years OFSAA silver medalist, Day (Holy Trinity) is the clear favorite coming into the race and should win by a healthy margin.  After that things get real interesting.  East Champ Abanto-Enns, East runner up Dionne (Lycee Claudel) and West runner up Dillabaugh should have a tight battle for the other podium spots.  Dillabaugh beat Abanto-Enns at the Trinity Invite, but Abanto-Enns returned the favour the following week at the Gryphon Open.  The exact same thing happened with Dionne as Dionne got the better of Abanto-Enns at the Haw-X race, but their order was reversed at the East Champs.With only Dillabaugh likely to qualify on a team, only one spot remains for those with OFSAA aspirations.  Louis' Robillard or Glebe's Harris and Weston might be next to the line, leaving the final spot as a battle between Saville (Carine Wilson) and Kirkham (Earl of March). 

NC Blogger's Pick
1.  Glebe (32)  2.  Louis Riel  (75)  3.  Lisgar  (105)
1.  Day  2.  Abanto-Enns  3.  Dionne

Senior Boys

Let's save the closest battle for the final race of the day - the old Ottawa Collegiate showdown.  Just as last year, where Nepean and Glebe tied for the team title, with Nepean winning on the tie-breaker (higher finishing 4th scorer), it should be a very tight battle this year between the old Ottawa Collegiate Institute campus' - West Champs Glebe and East Champs Lisgar.  Both teams scored similar scores at their Conference Meets (34 and 29 respectively).  Both team were without there usual fourth (Issac Alexander-Cook for Lisgar and Marshall for Glebe) at the Conference Meets (as both walked just to finish).  That aside, the teams match up very well with tight battles for every spot (Bernst - Kinahan, Rupar - Nussbaum, Zechel - Julian Alexander-Cook).  The race will largely depend on the 4th runner.  If Isaac Alexander-Cook or Patrick Marshall are not on form, the race will likely go to the whichever school can get a big run from Caufield (Lisgar) or Kerzner (Glebe).  Woodroffe is the only team with a chance of upsetting one of these two.  Woodroffe was ahead of Glebe at the halfway point in the West Meet, but faltered over the second half.

Farah Abdulkarim looks strong and is certainly considered the favorite for the individual title having won all four of his races this year (Cookie Run, Pirates, Haw-X, and East).  His only competition might come from his training partner, Colonel By's Richardson, but Richardson had to walk the Conference Meet due to injury and might not be back to form yet.  After these two, look for Glebe's Bernst to battle for the bronze with Kinahan, while Howard (AY Jackson) and Gagnon (Earl of March) look like solid contenders to claim the final two spots, with Morel Banville (Garneau), Venne (Franco Cite) and Motuma (Woodroffe) on the outside, looking to steal a spot.

NC Blogger's Pick
1.  Glebe and Lisgar  (60) - coin toss for the 4th runner and tie-breaker  3.  Woodroffe  (85)
1.  Abdulkarim  2.  Richardson  3.  Bernst

NC Blogger would like to wish all competitors the best of luck, and if you think we've got it wrong, feel free to comment below, or better yet....prove it with your feet!

Results from all previous race and information about the NC Champs can be found on the Glebe XC page