Thursday, October 27, 2016

NCSSA Championships

Glebe Collegiate captured their 7th consecutive Overall Aggregate, sweeping both the Boys and Girls Aggregates at the NCSSA Championships at Mooney's Bay on Thursday.

There were no surprises in the team competition as all of the favorites delivered on race day, although the individual races for qualifying saw some surprising results.

Nepean claimed the Midget Girls race (66 points) with South Carleton (104) finishing in the runner up position.  Unfortunately, South had a runner unable to commit to OFSAA and so, with only three runners able to attend, graciously gave up their qualifying position to Lisgar, who finished only 2 points behind in the team standings.

Lauren Reid (All Saints) went out strong and led wire to wire, with only Newlove (St. Peter) able to stay close.  The gap stayed consistent most of the race with Reid holding on for a 6 second victory.  Katherine Chadwick was patient in the chase pack, but pulled away over the final back loop to earn bronze.

The Midget Boys race saw individual champ (and the most appropriately named athlete of the meet) Joe Fast lead his teammates to a 12 point victory over Louis Riel.  Louis ran a brilliant team race, packing all four scoring runners within 22 seconds to claim the second qualifying spot over West Champs Longfields Davidson.

Joe Fast (Ridgemont) showed he could win races not only by relying on his great finishing speed as he has done his past few races.  He surged early in the race and ran unchallenged to post a 25 second victory over Meredith (De La Salle)

The Glebe Junior Girls packed a 1 - 2 finish (Shapansky, Barrett) to tally the lowest team score of the day (21), placing all four scorers in the top 10.  All Saints, led by bronze medallist Shields, secured their second consecutive OFSAA birth behind the Gryphons with a comfortable 19 point margin over Sir Robert Borden (62-81).

Glebe captured the Junior Boys race with another impressive score (25) led by individual champ Pensom.  Unfortunately, the Gryphons will be without Pensom next Saturday in Port Hope due to a provincial championship soccer match.  The same holds true for runner up Colonel By who will be missing their #4 man Zhu, a teammate of Pensom's.  Even without these two scoring, both teams finished well ahead of third place Bell.

The Junior Boys packed stayed rather tightly bunched through the first 2K loop before it started to break up the second time up Mooney's Bay hill.  The final K saw a few gaps develop and Pensom prevailed over Cox (Colonel By) in a repeat of the East final.  West Champ Johnston-Nielsen (Sir Robert Borden) claimed the bronze.

The Glebe Senior Girls, lead by Weston and Shepherd's 2 - 3 finish posted 26 to score the largest victory of the day over runner up Canterbury (90), a repeat of last years NC Senior Girls final.  Nepean claimed the bronze.

By the time they hit the top of the first hill, only 200m into the race, very little changed in the Senior Girls race.  McCulloch (Longfields) went out hard, established a big early lead, and continued to press to the end, with Weston and Shepherd cleaning up the remaining medals.

The Glebe Senior Boys made it four in a row to end the day for the Gryphons with a comfortable 14 point victory over rival Franco Ouest (57-71), while Louis Riel captured the bronze.

Michael Mather (Franco Ouest) established a comfortable early lead and maintained the gap for the entirety of the race.  Pedersen (Merivale) made it 5 for 5, finishing second for the 5th consecutive race this fall.  He plans to do the same next week at OFSAA!  The Mooney's Bay course must have been to McCann's (Franco Cite) liking as the Gryphon Open champ returned with a great run, bettering all three runners who beat him at last week's East Championships to claim the bronze medal.

NC Blogger would like to thank all NC harriers and their coaches for a great season and wish the best of luck to all NC athletes competing at OFSAA next weekend in Port Hope.

Full Results available on the Glebe XC page.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

NC Preview

On Thursday, Oct 27th athletes from across the city will descend on Mooney's Bay for the NCSSA Cross Country Running Championships.  Some will be there for the thrill of the competition, some for intrinsic reasons, while others will be vying to punch their ticket to OFSAA.

Midget Girls

West Champs Nepean are undefeated this year winning the Gryphon Open and the Rebelles Invite along with the West, almost doubling up on East Champs Lisgar at the Gryphon Open.  Lisgar adds East Champ Betty to their roster to improve their odds against the Knights.  West runner up South Carleton was the top NC school at the Turkey Trot, second only to OFSAA medal favorites Kingston CVI and have the tightest 1 - 4 spread at just over 1:30.  Both Lisgar and Colonel By will need big runs from their back end if they hope to qualify over either of the two West schools.

Individually, All Saints Lauren Reid has won both her races this fall, including a big win at the Turkey Trot in Kemptville, and Skye Pellerin (St. FX) has been her closest NC pursuer in her lone race of the season so far.  Katie Newlove (St. Peter) missed a corner only 150m from the finish line to get outkicked by Emma Betty, but Betty, Bolduc (Beatrice Desloges),  Veldcamp (AY Jackson) and Chadwick (Nepean) have all taken turns beating one or more of each other this season.

NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1.  Nepean  (75), 2.  South Carleton  (90), Lisgar (120)
Individuals - 1.  Reid (All Saints), 2. Newlove (St. Peter), 3. Pellerin (St. Fx)

Midget Boys

Ridgemont has a great front 3 in Fast, Omar Ali and Anvari, going 1 - 2 - 3 at the Rebelles Invitational and 1 - 4 - 5 in the East.  There is a big gap back to #4, but their front three should keep the score low enough to secure victory.  The battle for the second OFSAA spot should be between Louis Riel and West Champ Longfields Davidson.  While Longfields is led by a low single digit threat in Roy, it's over a minute and a half back to their second scorer, while Louis Riel packed 5 runners in just over a minute at East.  Expect Louis to pack all four scorers in between Longfields top 2 to try and secure the second spot.

Fast and Meredith (De La Salle) have had two great battles the past two weeks, with Fast's two winning margins totalling just over two seconds.  These two are head and shoulders ahead of the competition, with Sanger (Glebe) and Earle (Woodroffe) well back at both the East (60 seconds) and the Capital Challenge (90 seconds).  After these chase two come Roy, and Fast's teammates, Ducharme (Louis Riel), and Saravanamuttoo (Glebe) before another gap to McHale (John McCrae).

NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Ridgetmont (50), 2. Louis Riel (67), 3. Longfields-Davidson (111)
Individuals - 1. Fast (Ridgemont), 2. Meredith (De La Salle), 3. Sanger (Glebe)

Junior Girls

Glebe is the class of the field.  They have added strength to their roster that captured bronze last year at OFSAA, and defeated OFSAA silver medalists Theriault (Timmins) at the Trinity Invite, but  Theriault returned the favor at the Capital XC Challenge.  Glebe went a near perfect 1 - 2 - 4 - 5 at East behind individual favorite Shapansky and should be able to retain their title and have another crack at the podium in Port Hope. Last year's runner up, All Saints had a bit of scare from Borden at the West meet, but should be able to hold them off again to secure a spot on the OFSAA startline.

Shapansky leads the charge and is the heavy favorite having beat all NC competition over the past two seasons.  Wilson (Woodroffe) has only been bettered by Shapansky, beating both Shields (All Saints) and Barrett (Glebe) by similar margins, which should make for an exciting race for the third spot.  Behind these front four, of which three should qualify on teams, the next spots look to be a battle between MacAskill (Earl of March), Roy (Louis Riel) and Galbraith (Franco Ouest).

NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Glebe (35), 2. All Saints (56), Borden (87)
Individuals - 1. Shapansky (Glebe), 2. Wilson (Woodroffe), 3. Barrett (Glebe)

Junior Boys

The Junior Boys competition boils down to a two horse race, but like their female counterparts, the Glebe Junior Boys have dominated all NC competition this fall, winning the Gryphon Open, Turkey Trot and the Capital XC Challenge before scoring a meager 16 points to capture the East title.  Only Colonel By has a chance to stay close and these two teams should, barring any major upset, both secure a spot on the start line the first Saturday of November.

Pensom (Glebe) has been able to turn the tables on Johnston-Nielsen (Borden) who beat him at the NC Meet last year, beating him at the Gryphon Open and the Turkey Trot this fall and comes in as the favorite.  Jones (Colonel By) also got the best of Johnston-Nielsen at the Turkey Trot, but was beaten by teammate Cox and Cunningham (Glebe), who have not been able to get the best of Johston-Nielsen in two previous meetings.  With four of these top 5 likely on qualifying teams, a top 10 finish at NC's could earn a trip to OFSAA with Price (Borden), Allan (Ashbury), Soler Perez (Ridgemont), Vandenburghe (Mother Teresa), and Gould (Merivale) battling it out for the final spot.

NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Glebe (24). 2. Colonel By (48), 3. Bell (125)
Individuals - 1. Pensom (Glebe), 2. Johnston-Neilsen (Borden), 3. Cox (Colonel By)

Senior Girls

The Glebe Senior Girls have not lost a race on Canadian soil in two years (their lone defeat a second place finish at McQuaid in Rochester, NY last year) and we shouldn't expect that to change in the coming week.  Although the Lady Gryphons will have their hands full with Bishop Strachan and Lawrence Park (Toronto) at OFSAA, that has been their focus all season.  Glebe has won the Trinity Invite, Gryphon Open, Turkey Trot, Capital Challenge and East meet, all by very healthy margins and with very different rosters each time.  The second spot should be a tight battle between East runner up Canterbury and West Champs Nepean.  Canterbury got the best of the Knights at their only meeting of the season, early on at the Gryphon Open.

The individual race will feature a dual between the last two OFSAA Junior Girls Champions, as McCulloch (Longfields) won it in '14 and Weston (Glebe) won it in '15.  These two girls should be well ahead of their closest pursuers, with only Shepherd (Glebe) likely to stay close.  McCulloch has won both her races this fall by huge margins, while Weston has beat all NC competition she has faced this fall by big gaps as well.  Turkey Trot Champ Shepherd (Glebe) who has run alone behind Weston and well ahead of everyone else this fall might find some company early on in West Runner Up Laurin (St. Paul) and Renon (Pierre Savard) but should have the strength to run away from them in the end.  Scotten (Sir Wilfrid Laurier) and Soroczan-Wright (Colonel By) will likely snag the last two qualifying spots, but look for one of two Gibson's Kiana (Merivale) and Emily (West Carleton) to try and sneak in and steal a spot.

NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Glebe (22), 2. Canterbury (97), 3. Nepean (114)
Individuals - 1. McCulloch (Longfields), 2. Weston (Glebe), 3. Shepherd (Glebe)

Senior Boys

Glebe vs. Franco Ouest (Round 2).  Last year the Vikings beat the Gryphons at West (while Glebe was still in the West Conference), but Glebe returned the favor with a 2 point victory at NCs, but the Vikings beat Glebe again at OFSAA.  This year both squads look to do battle again with a slightly different look to their squads.  Franco will lead with individual favorite Mather, but may have a rather big gap back to his fourth man (3 minute gap at the West).  Glebe on the other hand could pack five or six runners very close (only 22 seconds separated 1 - 5 at the Turkey Trot, and only 10 seconds at East, although the gap was as big as one minute early on at the Gryphon Open).  Glebe has a couple of victories under their belt this fall with wins on the NC course at the Gryphon Open and in Kemptville at the Turkey Trot, while the West Meet was Franco's first outing.  Nepean and Louis will likely battle it out for the third spot but it is unlikely either of these teams will have a chance to unseat the two favorites.

Mather was impressive in his only race so far this fall with a big 53 second gap to win the West over   Pedersen (Merivale) who has been second every outing this fall but to different opponents each time (Mather, Plamondon and McCann).   Nshimiyimana (Rideau) had an impressive win at East, outlegging last years runner up Alie Lamarache (Gloucester) who managed to pay back both Gryphon Open Champ McCann (Franco Cite) and Rebelles Invite winner Rioux (Louis Riel) in the process.  With only Mather likely to qualify on a team, that leaves one more spot on the bus to Port Hope which will be an exciting battle between the boys mentioned above along with Turcanu (Bell) and Zanetti (Borden)

NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Glebe (61), 2. Franco Ouest (72), 3. Louis Riel (106)
Individuals - 1. Mather (Franco Ouest), 2. Nishimiyimana (Rideau), 3. Alie-Lamarche (Gloucester)

Information about the upcoming NC Championships (race times, course maps, along with all relevant OFSAA paperwork) can be found on the Glebe XC page.  Best of luck to all athletes competing at NC's and to all our NC athletes who go on to represent our region at the OFSAA Championships.

East Conference Championships

Glebe Collegiate captured the Girls, Boys and Overall Aggregates at the East Conference Cross Country Championships.  The Gryphons swept the Junior and Senior races (boys and girls) and placed 3rd in both the Midget races.  Lisgar captured the Midget Girls, while Ridgemont won the Midget Boys.

Individual Champions were:

Midget Girls - Emma Betty (Lisgar)
Midget Boys - Joe Fast (Ridgemont)
Junior Girls - Teagan Shapansky (Glebe)
Junior Boys - Jack Pensom (Glebe)
Senior Girls - Marin Scotten (Sir Wilfrid Laurier)
Senior Boys - Jimmy Nishimiyimana (Rideau)

Results are available on both the Louis Riel and Glebe XC pages

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

West Conference

Nepean swept the Girls, Boys and Overall Aggregates at the 2016 West Conference Championships.  Nepean won both the Midget and Senior Girls titles, while taking silver in both the Midget and Senior Boys races.  No other team won two races, with All Saints winning the Junior Girls, while Longfields, Bell and Franco Ouest won the Midget, Junior and Senior Boys races respectively.

Individual Champions were:
MG - Lauren Reid (All Saints)
JG - Valentine Wilson (Woodroffe)
SG - Shona McCulloch (Longfields)
MB - William Earle (Woodroffe)
JB - Brady Johnston-Neilsen (Sir Robert Borden)
SB - Michael Mather (Franco Ouest)

Full  Results are now posted on the Glebe XC page.


Friday, October 14, 2016

Capital XC Challenge

It's along way from Timmins to Ottawa, but ESC Theriault made the trip for the first Annual Capital XC Challenge and didn't leave the City empty handed.

Theriault battled with Glebe for honours in the Senior Boys race and eked out a one point victory over the Gryphons, to give Theriault two victories on the day.  Their Junior Girls team, silver medalists at OFSAA last year were bolstered by the addition of two strong Midget Girls runners to booked end the day with victories and head home with $1300 in prize money.  Glebe won the Senior Girls and Junior Boys races and placed second in both the Senior Boys and Junior Girls to finish the day with $1600 courtesy of the Running Room, Run Ottawa and the Ottawa Lions.

Teagan Shapansky (Glebe) and Maxine Dupuis (Theriault) battled together for the first half of the Junior Girls race before Shapansky final gaped Dupuis on the 400m long beach section, and ran to an 8 second victory.  Dupuis' teammates, Kornell, Boileau, and Melancon ran brilliantly behind her finishing 3rd, 4th and 7th to easily outpace Glebe for the team title.

The Junior Boys race saw the tightest finish of the day as Joe Fast (Ridgemont), Jack Pensom (Glebe) and Zachary Meredith (De La Salle) were all side by side with 200m to go.  Fast closed the fastest to edge Pensom by 0.8 seconds with Meredith just over a second adrift of Pensom.  Glebe took the team title from Theriault with Cunningham in fourth, Sanger 6th and a shoeless Saravanamuttoo 14th.

The Glebe Senior Girls were unchallenged as Mei Mei Weston and Keili Shepherd finished well ahead of the competition, with Gryphons Grimes - 8th, Millar - 10th, Welburn - 11th and Barrett - 13th rounding out the Grpyhon's squad that placed 6 runners in the top 13.  Marin Scotten (Sir Wil) outlasted Soroczan-Wright (Colonel By) for the bronze.

Mattheiu Plamondon (Theriault) has been one of the top HS XC runners in the province in the last 4 years, with two OFSAA Gold medals and a 6th place finish his first year as a Senior.  Plamondon's strength showed as he was the class of the field running comfortably to victory in the Senior Boys race, leading his Theriault teammates to victory.  Nico Pedersen (Merivale) and Teagan Harris (Glebe) rounded out the top three.

Results are available on the Sportstats website.  

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Turkey Trot

Several NCSSA teams made the trip to Kemptville to run against top EOSSAA competition on the St. Michael's course that will host the Eastern Ontario Championships later this fall.  Glebe Collegiate won the Senior Girls, Senior Boys, and Junior Boys races, placed second in the Junior Girls and Midget Boys and took third place in the Midget Girls to claim the overall aggregate 58-26 over All Saints (Kanata) who captured the Junior Girls race, handing the Glebe '01 girls their first defeat against NC Competition.

Several NC runners took home dinner for Thanksgiving weekend, with individual winners being awarded a Turkey.  Individual Champions from the NCSSA were Keili Shepherd (SG - Glebe), Teagan Shapansky (JG - Glebe), and Lauren Reid (MG - All Saints).

Full results are available on the Glebe XC page.

Louis Riel Invitational

Nepean captured the Overall Aggregate at the Louis Riel Invitational on the trails of Green's Creek. Nepean won the Midget Girls, was second in the Midget and Senior Boys races and third in the Junior Girls for a 32-28 victory over the host Rebelles.

Full results are available on the Louis Riel XC site.