Gryphon Open

Competitors at the 2018 Gryphon Open were treated to sunny skies and beautiful racing conditions after several wet days in Ottawa this past week.  Big shout out to West Carleton who made the trip to participate, despite their school still not being open due to the Tornado damage in the Dunrobin area.  We wish all students and athletes affected by the storm the best and hope they can return to some sense of normalcy as soon as possible.  Thank you to all the volunteers who have, and who continue to help our communities impacted by the storm.

The host Gryphon squad looked very dominant on their home course as they captured 5 of the 6 divisions after losing the first race of the day, the Midget Girls, to Colonel By.  The Gryphon Junior Teams, both medallists at OFSAA last year showed strength and depth, with the boys capturing the top two team spots in their race (which uses a multiple dynamic team scoring system). 

Full results are available on the Glebe XC site 

Trinity Invitational

A handful of individuals and the Glebe XC team made the trek to Port Hope for the annual Trinity Invitational to kick off their XC season.  Glebe, the defending 4 time champions retained there overall title, capturing the Junior Girls and Junior Boys race, while placing 2nd in the Midget Girls and 4th in the Midget Boys and Senior Girls races, but this year will have to share the Honours with Thousand Islands (Brockville) as both teams picked up 38 points in the Overall Aggregate. 

The story of the day however for NC athletes was in the Junior Boys race.  After just missing qualifying for OFSAA in 2017, placing 6th on the Glebe squad (and 10th overall at the NC Championships) Sebastien Cino made himself a commitment he would not miss making the team in 2018 and worked hard to ensure it.  In his first race of the 2018 campaign, Cino not only topped all his Gryphon teammates, but the entire 110 runner field down in Port Hope.  Cino hung with the lead pack before breaking away just past the mid-point and building up a comfortable 40m lead by the time the athletes reach Mount Trinity.  Aidan Tulk (Holy Cross - Kingston) made a furious charge over the final 400m but was not able to catch Cino, who hung on for a 0.8 second victory.  

Other medalists included - Adam Sanger (Glebe) 2nd in Senior Boys, Anna-Sierra Heffernan-Wilker (Glebe) 2nd in Junior Girls, Ivy Bialowas (Glebe) 3rd in Junior Girls and Cara Macdonald (Glebe) 3rd in Midget Girls.  

For full results, please check the Glebe XC website

A New Season...

Is about to begin!  Louis Riel hosts their early season Cookie Run at the Hornet's Nest this week, along with the Queens' Invitational (featuring a HS section this fall) on the weekend.  NCSSAA athletes have a host of meets over the coming weeks as they prepare for the Conference and NCSSAA Championships and hopefully, OFSAA XC in Dundas ON.

A complete list of NC area and other meets can be found on the Glebe XC site!

Happying Harriering!