NC Runners had outstanding performances at the 2019 OFSAA XC Championships, in cold, snowy and icy conditions at Kivi Park in Sudbury. Glebe Collegiate was 2nd in the Girls Aggregate and 3rd in the Boys Aggregate to claim the unofficial crown of top XC program in the province, edging out St. Catherines' Sir Winston Chruchill by a single point (61-60).
Joe Fast (Ridgemont) turned in the top individual performance of the day for NC athletes placing 5th in the Senior Boys race. Cara MacDonald was 7th (Junior Girl), Adam Sanger was 8th (Senior Boy), and teammates Caitlin Gormley and Zoe Wojtyk (Glebe) were 8th and 9th in the Novice Girls, putting 5 NC athletes in the top 10 in their respective races.
Several NC teams found their way into the top 8 in the province with Lisgar Senior Girls(8th), Glebe Junior Boys (8th), Glebe Junior Girls (7th), Glebe Senior Girls (5th), Glebe Novice Girls (4th), and the Glebe Senior Boys team of Sanger, Callum Saravanamuttoo, Sebastien Cino, Owen Pensom and Ben Rundle, who captured the silver medal in the Senior Boys race.
Congratulations to all NC athletes on their performance at OFSAA and thank you once again for another great year of Cross Country!
Full results available at www.trackdatabase.com
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Friday, October 25, 2019
NCSSAA Championships
Glebe Collegiate swept the Girl's races while taking the Junior and Senior Boys races as well en route to the Overall Aggregate at the 2019 NCSSAA XC Championships at the Hornet's Nest. Footing was sloppy but despite a brief shower during the Novice Girls race, the weather held and was a beautiful fall day for Cross Country. Isn't every day a beautiful day for XC?
The Novice Girls kicked things off with a tight three way battle between the pre-race favorites, teammates Gormley and Wojtyk (Glebe) and Nepean's Hegan. Gormley and Hegan traded the lead throughout with Wojtyk content to let the other two push the pace as the trio separated themselves from the pack pretty quickly. It as Gormley who struck first, just past half way, coming down off the ridge, but the gap never got big enough and she was caught shortly after. Hegan tried to break things up through the back, twisty, muddy loop behind the Dome, but was unable to shake her pursuers. Once back out onto the soccer fields Gormley and Wojtyk finally broke away, with Gormley just pulling away from her teammate in the final 50m. The leading Gryphons were followed by Bennett (11th) and McColgan (16th) to take the team title with 30 points, well ahead of second, East Champs Beatrice Desloges (109) who were lead by 5th place individual Lortie.
Colonel By was considered the pre-race favorites in the Novice Boys and they did not disappoint, placing 5 runners in the top 21, behind their leading duo of Loganathan (4th) and Lacasse (5th), but the battle for the second spot behind them was very heated. As expected it was the workhorses that often toil in obscurity in the middle of the pack that made the difference in the end. Four teams, John McCrae, Mother Teresa, Immaculata and Paul Desmarias all finished within 7 points (89-96). Immaculata placed 2 in the top 10, individual silver medalist Vrankovic and Padoin-Castillo (9th), while McCrae had individual Champ, Legare and Mother Teresa had bronze medallist Kennedy. While Demarais' top duo was 13th and 14th, Vivas-Moncado and Ledain, their 3rd and 4th, Jalbu (29) and Watt (33) were able to help them capture the team title with a score of 89 points, with Mother Teresa and Immaculata tied for 3rd (94) and John McCrae 5th (96).
Legare pushed hard from the gun and only Kennedy was able to stay close until about 1k, when up the first steep accent to the top of the ridge, he lost his footing and went down. From then on, Legare was alone out front. Vrankovic managed to keep him in sight, but Legare was never seriously threatened throughout the race.
The Junior Girl's race saw a tight battle between West Champ Murchison (Mother Teresa) and MacDonald (Glebe) who separated themselves pretty early from their only real pursuers Porter (Franco Cite) and May (Immaculata). Murchison made several attempts to shake MacDonald but was unable to do so throughout the early going. With only 400m to go, MacDonald went to the front in a bid to steal the race, but Murchison refused to let her go and charged back past MacDonald in the final 100m to take the win. Porter was able to pull away from May to claim the bronze.
Behind MacDonald, her teammates ran well and secured the victory for the Gryphons ahead of Colonel By, who was once again led by East Champ Ginther, who placed 7th.
Glebe captured the Junior Boys race in expected fashion, with only 37 seconds separating their 1st through 5th runners. Led by Welburn's 4th place finish, the Gryphon's tallied 40 points, while John McCrae, 3rd at West, had strong runs behind their top finisher, Sendybyl (5th), to turn the tables on Nepean and Sir Robert Borden to nab the second qualifying spot. Borden's Porter did his part, pushing hard from the front for almost the entire race. A rather large lead pack stayed closely bunched behind out to the Hill and back, but Porter started to pull away before heading up to the ridge, with only Meredith (De La Salle) able to cover his move. Meredith waited patiently until the finishing stretch before unleashing his kick to sprint to a small three second victory, but the duo where well ahead of the chase pack in which Beatrice Desloges' Trudel won the race for bronze.
The Senior Girls race saw a lead trio establish themselves quite early in the race with Betty (Lisgar), Pellerin (St. Francis Xavier) and Newlove (St. Peter) setting a quick pace and putting early daylight between themselves and the field. Heading into the mud maze behind the Dome the three stayed tightly bunched, but when they emerged it was just Betty and Newlove left to duke it out over the final 600m. Newlove made the first move as they passed the start line area, but Betty found another gear and pulled away over the final loop around the fields. Pellerin ran solo the final k to capture the bronze. Bialowas (Glebe) ran solo for much of the entire race, behind the lead trio but ahead of the rest to lead her Gryphons to a comfortable victory. Just over a minute separated her from Glebe's 4th, Heffernan-Wilker (10th) and Glebe was able to take the win with 29 points over East Champs Lisgar (39), despite Wojtyk's strong performance that put two Lisgar runners in the top 5.
Gryphon teammates Saravanamutto and Sanger set a blistering pace from the gun and opened a 10 second lead over the first kilometre of the race. Fast (Ridgemont) was patient and waited until the Hill to move his way back into contention. Cresting the Hill, he and Sanger started to pull away. Coming down off the ridge a mile later, Fast moved again and from then on, it was him against the clock and Sanger was left in no man's land for the remainder of the race. Allan (Ashbury) hauled in Saravanamuttoo through the maze but the early quick pace didn't take too much out of the Gryphon as he was able to hold off Allan down the stretch to claim the bronze. Behind the two medalists, the Gryphon's ran well with Cino (7th) and Pensom (14th) to post the lowest team score of the day (26). Louis Riel showed off their stuff on their home course putting together a strong team performance to edge out Ridgemont (76-79) for the second OFSAA qualifying spot. Led by Fillion (5th), the Rebelles 2-4 stayed within 30 seconds of each other with Lejeunesse (20th), Ducharme (24th) and Pollock (26th), which was enough to steal the race from Ridgemont, despite Ridgemont having three (Fast, Omar Ali and Luqman) in before the Rebelles second scorer.
Thank you to NC hosts Ken and Sebastien from Louis Riel for an excellent day of racing and best of luck to the NC athletes heading up to Sudbury to represent their respective schools and our region at the OFSAA XC Championships.
Full Results can be found on the Glebe XC site or louisrielathxc.com
Teresa
The Novice Girls kicked things off with a tight three way battle between the pre-race favorites, teammates Gormley and Wojtyk (Glebe) and Nepean's Hegan. Gormley and Hegan traded the lead throughout with Wojtyk content to let the other two push the pace as the trio separated themselves from the pack pretty quickly. It as Gormley who struck first, just past half way, coming down off the ridge, but the gap never got big enough and she was caught shortly after. Hegan tried to break things up through the back, twisty, muddy loop behind the Dome, but was unable to shake her pursuers. Once back out onto the soccer fields Gormley and Wojtyk finally broke away, with Gormley just pulling away from her teammate in the final 50m. The leading Gryphons were followed by Bennett (11th) and McColgan (16th) to take the team title with 30 points, well ahead of second, East Champs Beatrice Desloges (109) who were lead by 5th place individual Lortie.
Colonel By was considered the pre-race favorites in the Novice Boys and they did not disappoint, placing 5 runners in the top 21, behind their leading duo of Loganathan (4th) and Lacasse (5th), but the battle for the second spot behind them was very heated. As expected it was the workhorses that often toil in obscurity in the middle of the pack that made the difference in the end. Four teams, John McCrae, Mother Teresa, Immaculata and Paul Desmarias all finished within 7 points (89-96). Immaculata placed 2 in the top 10, individual silver medalist Vrankovic and Padoin-Castillo (9th), while McCrae had individual Champ, Legare and Mother Teresa had bronze medallist Kennedy. While Demarais' top duo was 13th and 14th, Vivas-Moncado and Ledain, their 3rd and 4th, Jalbu (29) and Watt (33) were able to help them capture the team title with a score of 89 points, with Mother Teresa and Immaculata tied for 3rd (94) and John McCrae 5th (96).
Legare pushed hard from the gun and only Kennedy was able to stay close until about 1k, when up the first steep accent to the top of the ridge, he lost his footing and went down. From then on, Legare was alone out front. Vrankovic managed to keep him in sight, but Legare was never seriously threatened throughout the race.
The Junior Girl's race saw a tight battle between West Champ Murchison (Mother Teresa) and MacDonald (Glebe) who separated themselves pretty early from their only real pursuers Porter (Franco Cite) and May (Immaculata). Murchison made several attempts to shake MacDonald but was unable to do so throughout the early going. With only 400m to go, MacDonald went to the front in a bid to steal the race, but Murchison refused to let her go and charged back past MacDonald in the final 100m to take the win. Porter was able to pull away from May to claim the bronze.
Behind MacDonald, her teammates ran well and secured the victory for the Gryphons ahead of Colonel By, who was once again led by East Champ Ginther, who placed 7th.
Glebe captured the Junior Boys race in expected fashion, with only 37 seconds separating their 1st through 5th runners. Led by Welburn's 4th place finish, the Gryphon's tallied 40 points, while John McCrae, 3rd at West, had strong runs behind their top finisher, Sendybyl (5th), to turn the tables on Nepean and Sir Robert Borden to nab the second qualifying spot. Borden's Porter did his part, pushing hard from the front for almost the entire race. A rather large lead pack stayed closely bunched behind out to the Hill and back, but Porter started to pull away before heading up to the ridge, with only Meredith (De La Salle) able to cover his move. Meredith waited patiently until the finishing stretch before unleashing his kick to sprint to a small three second victory, but the duo where well ahead of the chase pack in which Beatrice Desloges' Trudel won the race for bronze.
The Senior Girls race saw a lead trio establish themselves quite early in the race with Betty (Lisgar), Pellerin (St. Francis Xavier) and Newlove (St. Peter) setting a quick pace and putting early daylight between themselves and the field. Heading into the mud maze behind the Dome the three stayed tightly bunched, but when they emerged it was just Betty and Newlove left to duke it out over the final 600m. Newlove made the first move as they passed the start line area, but Betty found another gear and pulled away over the final loop around the fields. Pellerin ran solo the final k to capture the bronze. Bialowas (Glebe) ran solo for much of the entire race, behind the lead trio but ahead of the rest to lead her Gryphons to a comfortable victory. Just over a minute separated her from Glebe's 4th, Heffernan-Wilker (10th) and Glebe was able to take the win with 29 points over East Champs Lisgar (39), despite Wojtyk's strong performance that put two Lisgar runners in the top 5.
Gryphon teammates Saravanamutto and Sanger set a blistering pace from the gun and opened a 10 second lead over the first kilometre of the race. Fast (Ridgemont) was patient and waited until the Hill to move his way back into contention. Cresting the Hill, he and Sanger started to pull away. Coming down off the ridge a mile later, Fast moved again and from then on, it was him against the clock and Sanger was left in no man's land for the remainder of the race. Allan (Ashbury) hauled in Saravanamuttoo through the maze but the early quick pace didn't take too much out of the Gryphon as he was able to hold off Allan down the stretch to claim the bronze. Behind the two medalists, the Gryphon's ran well with Cino (7th) and Pensom (14th) to post the lowest team score of the day (26). Louis Riel showed off their stuff on their home course putting together a strong team performance to edge out Ridgemont (76-79) for the second OFSAA qualifying spot. Led by Fillion (5th), the Rebelles 2-4 stayed within 30 seconds of each other with Lejeunesse (20th), Ducharme (24th) and Pollock (26th), which was enough to steal the race from Ridgemont, despite Ridgemont having three (Fast, Omar Ali and Luqman) in before the Rebelles second scorer.
Thank you to NC hosts Ken and Sebastien from Louis Riel for an excellent day of racing and best of luck to the NC athletes heading up to Sudbury to represent their respective schools and our region at the OFSAA XC Championships.
Full Results can be found on the Glebe XC site or louisrielathxc.com
Teresa
Monday, October 21, 2019
NC Preview v.2019
The Conference Meets are over (finally) and athletes are primed and ready to vie for entry to the 2019 OFSAA XC Championships the first weekend of November. The top 2 teams in each race, plus the next five individuals not on a qualifying team will earn a spot on the start line at Kivi Park in Sudbury. With the East Conference Meet being delayed until Oct 21st, not a lot of teams / individuals gave it their all on Monday, ensuring they will be rested for Thursday, but the meet gave us a good picture of how dominant some of the teams will be.
Novice Girls
The Glebe Novice Girls have only raced twice as a team this season but have bested all their competition, winning the Gryphon Open handily over West Champs Pius X, even without their top gun in the line-up. They will head to the start line at the Nest as heavy favorites, with both upfront talent in Gormley and Wojtyk, who could both land on the podium, and a solid pack of four not far behind. West Champs Pius X have bested all their rivals, except the Gryphons in their two outings this fall and the second OFSAA qualifying spot is theirs to lose. While they will not have a real low stick in the tally, a 43 second spread 1 - 4 should be enough to keep them low enough to earn runner up honours.
Individually, the top two have not faced each other yet this season so we could see the best of both brought to the forefront. Gormley (Glebe) is undefeated against NC Novice competition, beating all but one of the Juniors (Murchison) at the Capital XC Challenge. Hegan (Nepean) is in the same boat, outkicking Wojtyk (Glebe) to win the Gryphon Open by a second, and running to a slightly more comfortable 7 second victory over Brabant (Earl of March) at West. With Gormley and Wojtyk likely to qualify as part of a team, that leaves the individual spots up to 7 deep. Expect Lortie (Beatrice Desloges), Saravanamuttoo (Colonel By), Brayman (Osgoode), Benz (St. Joseph) and Young (Mother Teresa) to fight it out for those spots and a ticket to the big dance.
NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Glebe (35), 2. St. Pius X (83), 3. Nepean (91)
Individuals - 1. Gormley (Glebe), 2. Hegan (Nepean), 3. Wojtyk (Glebe)
Novice Boys
Mother Teresa and John McCrae had a very tight neck and neck battle at West, with each scorer finishing within 1-3 places of his counterpart. Mother Teresa eeked out a 1 point victory. Expect them to do battle again at the Nest, but this time, fighting it out for the second OFSAA qualifying spot. The top spot should go to Colonel By who ran to a massive victory at East, putting all four scores in front of every other teams second. The small spread between their 1 - 4 runners will make beating them a tall order. The only other teams that have a shot at striking for second would be Paul Desmarais and South Carleton who were both within range of Mother Teresa and John McCrae at West. The fate of these teams all rest with the 3 - 4 runners. Whoever can get the biggest runs from their back end will win the all expenses paid (by Bank of Mom & Dad) trip to the Big Nickel.
West Champ Legare (John McCrae) has bested all NC competitors this year and East Champ Vrankovic (Immaculata) has been the only one that has been within 10 seconds (at the Capital XC Challenge) of him all year. Kennedy (Mother Teresa) and Loganathan (Colonel By) will fight it out for the remaining spot on the podium. Raz (West Carleton), Wilson (Woodroffe), Del Rio Reategui (St. Joseph) from the West will duke it out with Gillian (Ashbury) and Fortin (Franco Cite) from the East for the remaining spots on the Kivi Park start line. Lacasse (Colonel By) might break things up, but he will almost assuredly be heading to Sudbury with his Cougar teammates.
NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Colonel By (44), 2. Mother Teresa (105), 3. John McCrae (107)
Individuals - 1. Legare (John McCrae), 2. Vrankovic (Immaculata), 3. Kennedy (Mother Teresa)
Junior Girls
Last year, Colonel By came into the NCSSAA Championships as favorites, but unfortunately, one of their top runners failed to show up on race day and cost the Cougars valuable points and they placed 3rd, missing the final qualifying spot. Never forget - XC is a team sport! Colonel By hopes to put that in the past on a course much closer to home. The Cougars were utterly dominant at the East meet, sweeping the podium, with their fourth scorer placing 5th. With just over 1 minute between their first and fourth, the Cougars have the the depth and talent to challenge the defending Champions Glebe even without a solid individual threat upfront. Glebe is led by individual favorite Cara MacDonald (Glebe), and then a tight pack of 4 runners, who can take turns stepping up and delivering on race day. The only team with a chance of upsetting the natural order of things is West Champs John McCrae. Ivay (John McCrae) will do her part to throw in a low score, but her teammates will need to step up and track the Cougar and Gryphon girls closely if they hope to knock either team off the bus.
There are no undefeated athletes heading to NC's this year as everyone has taken a turn at besting each other so far. Defending Champion MacDonald gets the nod based on a strong run at Turkey Trot, even though both May (Immaculata) and Murchison (Mother Teresa) got the best of her at the Capital XC Challenge. She is also the OFSAA Novice Silver Medalist from 2018, so she is a big game hunter, and shows up when it really matters. Patience will certainly play a role as whomever has taken the lead early in races tends to get tracked down in the later stages. This might make the race a little tighter upfront, for a while at least. With only MacDonald likely to qualify on a team, three more sports are up for grabs and the favorites for those spots are Bradley (Longfields-Davidson), McCulligh (West Carleton), Porter (Franco Cite) and Ivay. If John McCrae ends up unseating Glebe or Colonel By, then MacDonald, or teammates Saravanamutto and Ginther (Colonel By) will have to fight each other for the final spot.
NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Glebe (42), 2. Colonel By (54), 3. John McCrae (71)
Individuals - 1. MacDonald (Glebe), 2. Murchison (Mother Teresa), 3. May (Immaculata)
Junior Boys
The Junior Boys race will be the final example of how you can win as a team. Just like the Pius X and Colonel By girls, the Gryphons do not have an individual threat for the podium, or perhaps even a top 5 spot, so it may be easy to overlook the them, but they will pack very tightly with as many as 6 or 7 runners within 45 seconds of each other. While other teams may have a very low stick to score, no one can match the Gryphons for depth. West Champs Nepean and West Runner Up Sir Robert Borden have similar teams, each with an individual podium threat (Porter - Borden and Woodford - Nepean) with a tight bunch for their next three scorers. The Knights advantage is that they have 6 very tightly bunched, whereas the Bengals only have the three. The only team with an outside shot at besting these two for the second spot would be John McCrae, led by Sendybyl and Brooks (the best 1-2 combo next to Glebe), but will need big runs from their back two to knock off Borden or Nepean.
2018 OFSAA Medalist Meredith (De La Salle) is the class of the field. He's got the strength and the speed to finish off anyone who manages to stay with him long enough, although he has raced sparingly this fall. His opponents best bet is to catch him rusty, but it's unlikely. In his one outing earlier this season he put 13 seconds into West Champ Porter over 4k on the fields of the Nest. With only Porter or Woodford likely to be on a qualifying team, it will likely take a top 6 finish to earn one of the 5 individual qualifying spots. The remaining three spots will likey go to Niedre (South Carleton), Sendybyl and either East Champ Williams (Garneau) or Sikka (St. Paul).
NC Blogger's Picks
Teams- 1. Glebe (42), 2. Nepean (60), 3. Borden (64)
Individuals - 1. Meredith (De La Salle), 2. Porter (Sir Robert Borden), 3. Niedre (South Carleton)
The Glebe Senior Girls have been on and around the podium at OFSAA for the past several years, earning bronze in 2018 and 2016 and gold in 2015 and 2014. They hope to find themselves in the hunt again this year and need to put a good one together at NC's to set them off on the right foot. The Gryphons started the year off with a win at the prestigious Trinity Invitational in Port Hope, putting all four scorers in the top 7. At their Gryphon Open they took the top two spots with A and B teams, went 3 - 6 at the Capital XC Challenge and then posted the lowest score of any team at the Turkey Trot before Conference Week rolled around. They doubled up on their closest rival, Lisgar, at the Capital XC Challenge and Lisgar appears to have a strong hold on the second qualifying spot led by individual favorite Betty. Only West Champs Nepean have a shot and upsetting Lisgar or Glebe and it's a long shot at best, but the Knights will do their best to make it interesting on Thursday.
Although Newlove (St. Peter) got the best of Betty at Conference, Betty beat Newlove at the Capital XC Challenge. The rubber match won't mean too much as they will likely both get another shot at each other at OFSAA. In her only race against the two, Pellerin (St. FX) pulled out very early after rolling her ankle, so the three of them together should put on a good show for the fans at the Nest on Thursday. I'll go with Betty - Pellerin - Newlove as that is the way they finished last year and they all look to be in similar form this year. After this front trio, expect a slew of Gryphons, which along with Betty could mean a top 10 spot might be enough for a trip to the Big Nickel. The Gryphon order changes from race to race, but expect Gardiner, Bialowas, Lyons and Heffernan-Wilker to be in the mix followed by Semeniuk (Pius X) and Tyman (Mother Teresa) with Roy (Louis Riel), Tremblay (Beatrice Desloges), Thebaud (Canterbury) and Gruson (Nepean) fighting it out for that last spot.
NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Glebe (24), 2. Lisgar (49), 3. Nepean (63)
Individuals - 1. Betty (Lisgar), 2. Pellerin (St. FX), 3. Newlove (St. Peter)
Senior Boys
It's not often you get a team with three boys capable of running 9:10 or better over 3,000m on the same high school XC team, but that is exactly what Glebe has ready to tow the line at the Nest. Sanger, Saravanamutto and Cino have run 9:10 or better (with Sanger running 8:50). Track times don't always translate to XC success, but when you consider these three athletes punch above their weight in XC compared to the track, things are looking up. Behind these three are a host of Gryphons that, along with Cino, brought home Junior Boys gold at OFSAA last year which gives you a strong recipe for success and leaves the rest fighting for that second spot. This may be a tight, battle between Ridgemont (who has placed 2nd to the Gryphons for the last three consecutive years) and West Champs Longfields-Davidson who posted very similar scores at their respective Conference Meets. Ridgemont has the upfront talent and with three likely ahead of Longfield's #2 man, they should carry the day.
They call him Fast. Joe Fast. And that he is. In his final XC race in the NCSSAA Fast comes in as the heavy favorite. Behind him, things are fairly predictable as we can expect Sanger in second with 2018 Junior Champ Allan (Ashbury), Saravanamutto and Cino battling for the bronze. With four of these boys likely on qualifying teams (and Omar Ali not far behind) anything in the top 10 might earn you a dance ticket. West Champ Frost (AY Jackson), runner-up Roy, Porter (Sir Robert Borden), Woodford (Nepean) and Demers (Mother Teresa) will vie for those positions.
NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Glebe (26), 2. Ridgemont (54), 3. Longfields (86)
Individuals - 1. Fast (Ridgemont), 2. Sanger (Glebe), 3. Saravanamuttoo (Glebe)
Best of luck to all Harriers and if I've left you off this list, please get out there on the trails Thursday and make me look bad!
Novice Girls
The Glebe Novice Girls have only raced twice as a team this season but have bested all their competition, winning the Gryphon Open handily over West Champs Pius X, even without their top gun in the line-up. They will head to the start line at the Nest as heavy favorites, with both upfront talent in Gormley and Wojtyk, who could both land on the podium, and a solid pack of four not far behind. West Champs Pius X have bested all their rivals, except the Gryphons in their two outings this fall and the second OFSAA qualifying spot is theirs to lose. While they will not have a real low stick in the tally, a 43 second spread 1 - 4 should be enough to keep them low enough to earn runner up honours.
Individually, the top two have not faced each other yet this season so we could see the best of both brought to the forefront. Gormley (Glebe) is undefeated against NC Novice competition, beating all but one of the Juniors (Murchison) at the Capital XC Challenge. Hegan (Nepean) is in the same boat, outkicking Wojtyk (Glebe) to win the Gryphon Open by a second, and running to a slightly more comfortable 7 second victory over Brabant (Earl of March) at West. With Gormley and Wojtyk likely to qualify as part of a team, that leaves the individual spots up to 7 deep. Expect Lortie (Beatrice Desloges), Saravanamuttoo (Colonel By), Brayman (Osgoode), Benz (St. Joseph) and Young (Mother Teresa) to fight it out for those spots and a ticket to the big dance.
NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Glebe (35), 2. St. Pius X (83), 3. Nepean (91)
Individuals - 1. Gormley (Glebe), 2. Hegan (Nepean), 3. Wojtyk (Glebe)
Novice Boys
Mother Teresa and John McCrae had a very tight neck and neck battle at West, with each scorer finishing within 1-3 places of his counterpart. Mother Teresa eeked out a 1 point victory. Expect them to do battle again at the Nest, but this time, fighting it out for the second OFSAA qualifying spot. The top spot should go to Colonel By who ran to a massive victory at East, putting all four scores in front of every other teams second. The small spread between their 1 - 4 runners will make beating them a tall order. The only other teams that have a shot at striking for second would be Paul Desmarais and South Carleton who were both within range of Mother Teresa and John McCrae at West. The fate of these teams all rest with the 3 - 4 runners. Whoever can get the biggest runs from their back end will win the all expenses paid (by Bank of Mom & Dad) trip to the Big Nickel.
West Champ Legare (John McCrae) has bested all NC competitors this year and East Champ Vrankovic (Immaculata) has been the only one that has been within 10 seconds (at the Capital XC Challenge) of him all year. Kennedy (Mother Teresa) and Loganathan (Colonel By) will fight it out for the remaining spot on the podium. Raz (West Carleton), Wilson (Woodroffe), Del Rio Reategui (St. Joseph) from the West will duke it out with Gillian (Ashbury) and Fortin (Franco Cite) from the East for the remaining spots on the Kivi Park start line. Lacasse (Colonel By) might break things up, but he will almost assuredly be heading to Sudbury with his Cougar teammates.
NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Colonel By (44), 2. Mother Teresa (105), 3. John McCrae (107)
Individuals - 1. Legare (John McCrae), 2. Vrankovic (Immaculata), 3. Kennedy (Mother Teresa)
Junior Girls
Last year, Colonel By came into the NCSSAA Championships as favorites, but unfortunately, one of their top runners failed to show up on race day and cost the Cougars valuable points and they placed 3rd, missing the final qualifying spot. Never forget - XC is a team sport! Colonel By hopes to put that in the past on a course much closer to home. The Cougars were utterly dominant at the East meet, sweeping the podium, with their fourth scorer placing 5th. With just over 1 minute between their first and fourth, the Cougars have the the depth and talent to challenge the defending Champions Glebe even without a solid individual threat upfront. Glebe is led by individual favorite Cara MacDonald (Glebe), and then a tight pack of 4 runners, who can take turns stepping up and delivering on race day. The only team with a chance of upsetting the natural order of things is West Champs John McCrae. Ivay (John McCrae) will do her part to throw in a low score, but her teammates will need to step up and track the Cougar and Gryphon girls closely if they hope to knock either team off the bus.
There are no undefeated athletes heading to NC's this year as everyone has taken a turn at besting each other so far. Defending Champion MacDonald gets the nod based on a strong run at Turkey Trot, even though both May (Immaculata) and Murchison (Mother Teresa) got the best of her at the Capital XC Challenge. She is also the OFSAA Novice Silver Medalist from 2018, so she is a big game hunter, and shows up when it really matters. Patience will certainly play a role as whomever has taken the lead early in races tends to get tracked down in the later stages. This might make the race a little tighter upfront, for a while at least. With only MacDonald likely to qualify on a team, three more sports are up for grabs and the favorites for those spots are Bradley (Longfields-Davidson), McCulligh (West Carleton), Porter (Franco Cite) and Ivay. If John McCrae ends up unseating Glebe or Colonel By, then MacDonald, or teammates Saravanamutto and Ginther (Colonel By) will have to fight each other for the final spot.
NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Glebe (42), 2. Colonel By (54), 3. John McCrae (71)
Individuals - 1. MacDonald (Glebe), 2. Murchison (Mother Teresa), 3. May (Immaculata)
Junior Boys
The Junior Boys race will be the final example of how you can win as a team. Just like the Pius X and Colonel By girls, the Gryphons do not have an individual threat for the podium, or perhaps even a top 5 spot, so it may be easy to overlook the them, but they will pack very tightly with as many as 6 or 7 runners within 45 seconds of each other. While other teams may have a very low stick to score, no one can match the Gryphons for depth. West Champs Nepean and West Runner Up Sir Robert Borden have similar teams, each with an individual podium threat (Porter - Borden and Woodford - Nepean) with a tight bunch for their next three scorers. The Knights advantage is that they have 6 very tightly bunched, whereas the Bengals only have the three. The only team with an outside shot at besting these two for the second spot would be John McCrae, led by Sendybyl and Brooks (the best 1-2 combo next to Glebe), but will need big runs from their back two to knock off Borden or Nepean.
2018 OFSAA Medalist Meredith (De La Salle) is the class of the field. He's got the strength and the speed to finish off anyone who manages to stay with him long enough, although he has raced sparingly this fall. His opponents best bet is to catch him rusty, but it's unlikely. In his one outing earlier this season he put 13 seconds into West Champ Porter over 4k on the fields of the Nest. With only Porter or Woodford likely to be on a qualifying team, it will likely take a top 6 finish to earn one of the 5 individual qualifying spots. The remaining three spots will likey go to Niedre (South Carleton), Sendybyl and either East Champ Williams (Garneau) or Sikka (St. Paul).
NC Blogger's Picks
Teams- 1. Glebe (42), 2. Nepean (60), 3. Borden (64)
Individuals - 1. Meredith (De La Salle), 2. Porter (Sir Robert Borden), 3. Niedre (South Carleton)
The Glebe Senior Girls have been on and around the podium at OFSAA for the past several years, earning bronze in 2018 and 2016 and gold in 2015 and 2014. They hope to find themselves in the hunt again this year and need to put a good one together at NC's to set them off on the right foot. The Gryphons started the year off with a win at the prestigious Trinity Invitational in Port Hope, putting all four scorers in the top 7. At their Gryphon Open they took the top two spots with A and B teams, went 3 - 6 at the Capital XC Challenge and then posted the lowest score of any team at the Turkey Trot before Conference Week rolled around. They doubled up on their closest rival, Lisgar, at the Capital XC Challenge and Lisgar appears to have a strong hold on the second qualifying spot led by individual favorite Betty. Only West Champs Nepean have a shot and upsetting Lisgar or Glebe and it's a long shot at best, but the Knights will do their best to make it interesting on Thursday.
Although Newlove (St. Peter) got the best of Betty at Conference, Betty beat Newlove at the Capital XC Challenge. The rubber match won't mean too much as they will likely both get another shot at each other at OFSAA. In her only race against the two, Pellerin (St. FX) pulled out very early after rolling her ankle, so the three of them together should put on a good show for the fans at the Nest on Thursday. I'll go with Betty - Pellerin - Newlove as that is the way they finished last year and they all look to be in similar form this year. After this front trio, expect a slew of Gryphons, which along with Betty could mean a top 10 spot might be enough for a trip to the Big Nickel. The Gryphon order changes from race to race, but expect Gardiner, Bialowas, Lyons and Heffernan-Wilker to be in the mix followed by Semeniuk (Pius X) and Tyman (Mother Teresa) with Roy (Louis Riel), Tremblay (Beatrice Desloges), Thebaud (Canterbury) and Gruson (Nepean) fighting it out for that last spot.
NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Glebe (24), 2. Lisgar (49), 3. Nepean (63)
Individuals - 1. Betty (Lisgar), 2. Pellerin (St. FX), 3. Newlove (St. Peter)
Senior Boys
It's not often you get a team with three boys capable of running 9:10 or better over 3,000m on the same high school XC team, but that is exactly what Glebe has ready to tow the line at the Nest. Sanger, Saravanamutto and Cino have run 9:10 or better (with Sanger running 8:50). Track times don't always translate to XC success, but when you consider these three athletes punch above their weight in XC compared to the track, things are looking up. Behind these three are a host of Gryphons that, along with Cino, brought home Junior Boys gold at OFSAA last year which gives you a strong recipe for success and leaves the rest fighting for that second spot. This may be a tight, battle between Ridgemont (who has placed 2nd to the Gryphons for the last three consecutive years) and West Champs Longfields-Davidson who posted very similar scores at their respective Conference Meets. Ridgemont has the upfront talent and with three likely ahead of Longfield's #2 man, they should carry the day.
They call him Fast. Joe Fast. And that he is. In his final XC race in the NCSSAA Fast comes in as the heavy favorite. Behind him, things are fairly predictable as we can expect Sanger in second with 2018 Junior Champ Allan (Ashbury), Saravanamutto and Cino battling for the bronze. With four of these boys likely on qualifying teams (and Omar Ali not far behind) anything in the top 10 might earn you a dance ticket. West Champ Frost (AY Jackson), runner-up Roy, Porter (Sir Robert Borden), Woodford (Nepean) and Demers (Mother Teresa) will vie for those positions.
NC Blogger's Picks
Teams - 1. Glebe (26), 2. Ridgemont (54), 3. Longfields (86)
Individuals - 1. Fast (Ridgemont), 2. Sanger (Glebe), 3. Saravanamuttoo (Glebe)
Best of luck to all Harriers and if I've left you off this list, please get out there on the trails Thursday and make me look bad!
East Conference Wrap
The East Conference finally had it's day and beautiful day it was! Delayed 4 days, the athletes took to the Hornet's Nest and trails of Green's Creek for the first look at the NC course. Glebe Collegiate carried the day, capturing the Girls, Boys and Overall Aggregates. Glebe took victories in the Novice Girls, Junior and Senior Boys races while finishing runner-up in the Junior and Senior Girls races. Colonel By was the only other multiple team titlest, capturing the Novice Boys and Junior Girls races, both in convincing fashion.
Individual winners included Lortie (Beatrice Desloges) - Novice Girls, Vrankovic (Immaculata) - Novice Boys, Ginther (Colonel By) - Junior Girls, Williams (Garneau) - Junior Boys, Newlove (St. Peter) - Senior Girls and Fast (Ridgemont) - Senior Boys.
Full Results are available on the Louis Riel XC Results page or on the Glebe XC site.
Individual winners included Lortie (Beatrice Desloges) - Novice Girls, Vrankovic (Immaculata) - Novice Boys, Ginther (Colonel By) - Junior Girls, Williams (Garneau) - Junior Boys, Newlove (St. Peter) - Senior Girls and Fast (Ridgemont) - Senior Boys.
Full Results are available on the Louis Riel XC Results page or on the Glebe XC site.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
West Conference Wrap Up
Nepean captured the Girls, Boys and Overall Aggregates at the West Conference Championships at Walter Baker on Wednesday. Nepean won the Senior Girls and Junior Boys races and finished second in the Novice Girls and Senior Boys to tally 40 points outdistancing runner-up John McCrae by 16 points.
Other winners included St. Pius X (Novice Girls), John McCrae (Junior Girls), Mother Teresa (Novice Boys) and Longfields-Davidson (Senior Boys).
Several of the races were lonely affairs for the Individual winners, as Nolan Legare (McCrae), Charlotte Murchison (Mother Teresa) and Skye Pellerin (St. FX) ran alone and unchallenged for most of their races. In the Novice Girls race, Clara Hegan (Nepean) followed Earl of March's Amelia's Van Brabant for the first quarter of the race before taking over just before the hill.
The Junior Boy's race saw South Carleton's Russell Niedre set the pace with a small lead pack that included Xander Woodfard (Nepean) and Kyle Porter (Sir Robert Borden). Porter made a strong move just before the last kilometer and ran to a comfortable victory.
The Senior Boy's race saw a large pack of runners stay together for about the first mile before Jackson Roy (Longfields) decided to break up the pack with a strong move. A few were able to handle the move, but it thinned out the pack to three with Colby Frost (AY Jackson) and Theo Woodfard covering the move. Frost used a strong last kilometer to overtake Roy while a hard charging Cameron Porter (Sir Robert Borden) caught Woodfard for the bronze.
Full results can be found on the Glebe XC site.
The East Conference Meet has been postponed to Monday, Oct 21st.
Other winners included St. Pius X (Novice Girls), John McCrae (Junior Girls), Mother Teresa (Novice Boys) and Longfields-Davidson (Senior Boys).
Several of the races were lonely affairs for the Individual winners, as Nolan Legare (McCrae), Charlotte Murchison (Mother Teresa) and Skye Pellerin (St. FX) ran alone and unchallenged for most of their races. In the Novice Girls race, Clara Hegan (Nepean) followed Earl of March's Amelia's Van Brabant for the first quarter of the race before taking over just before the hill.
The Junior Boy's race saw South Carleton's Russell Niedre set the pace with a small lead pack that included Xander Woodfard (Nepean) and Kyle Porter (Sir Robert Borden). Porter made a strong move just before the last kilometer and ran to a comfortable victory.
The Senior Boy's race saw a large pack of runners stay together for about the first mile before Jackson Roy (Longfields) decided to break up the pack with a strong move. A few were able to handle the move, but it thinned out the pack to three with Colby Frost (AY Jackson) and Theo Woodfard covering the move. Frost used a strong last kilometer to overtake Roy while a hard charging Cameron Porter (Sir Robert Borden) caught Woodfard for the bronze.
Full results can be found on the Glebe XC site.
The East Conference Meet has been postponed to Monday, Oct 21st.
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Conference Meets Up Next
The final week of exhibition meets has wrapped up as athletes prepare for the first step in qualification for OFSAA, the East and West Conference Championships. As last year, the West will be hosted at Walter Baker in Kanata, while the East will be run on the same course that will host the NCSSAA Championhships at the Hornet's Nest / Green's Creek.
Week three saw athletes compete at the Capital XC Challenge while week four allowed athletes opportunities to compete at both the Rebelles Invitational, also on the Hornet's Nest course, or the Turkey Trot in Kemptville.
At the Capital Challenge, Charlotte Murchison (Mother Teresa) put her hard work this past summer on display taking the Junior Varsity race with a 17 second victory over Novice Caitlin Gormley (Glebe). Yannick Meredith (De La Salle), took second in the Junior Varsity Boys race behind Novice Noah Booth (Frontenac - Kingston). Glebe captured the girls title while John McCrae edged Nepean in the boys race.
In the Senior races, both Emma Betty (Lisgar) and Joe Fast (Ridgemont) ran with the lead group before separating themselves in the second half to run to comfortable victories. Glebe captured both Senior titles.
At the Rebelles Invitational, Harun Omar Ali defended his Senior Boys title, while Betty won the Senior Girls for back to back victories in consecutive weeks. Meredith captured the Junior Boys title while Gillian Porter (Franco Cite) won the Junior Girls race in her first race of the season.
Down in Kemptville, Glebe's Adam Sanger was the only NC athlete to bring home dinner, winning a Turkey for his efforts in capturing the Senior Boys title. Elena Tyman (Mother Teresa) came close in the Senior Girls race, but was outkicked by Kingston Collegiate's Chubaty down the stretch. Cara MacDonald (Glebe) also turned in a silver medal performance placing second to McShane (Holy Cross - Kingston) in the Junior Girls race.
Results for all meets thus far, plus information about the upcoming Conference and NC Championships meets can be found on the Glebe XC site. Best of luck to all athletes in their final preparations.
Week three saw athletes compete at the Capital XC Challenge while week four allowed athletes opportunities to compete at both the Rebelles Invitational, also on the Hornet's Nest course, or the Turkey Trot in Kemptville.
At the Capital Challenge, Charlotte Murchison (Mother Teresa) put her hard work this past summer on display taking the Junior Varsity race with a 17 second victory over Novice Caitlin Gormley (Glebe). Yannick Meredith (De La Salle), took second in the Junior Varsity Boys race behind Novice Noah Booth (Frontenac - Kingston). Glebe captured the girls title while John McCrae edged Nepean in the boys race.
In the Senior races, both Emma Betty (Lisgar) and Joe Fast (Ridgemont) ran with the lead group before separating themselves in the second half to run to comfortable victories. Glebe captured both Senior titles.
At the Rebelles Invitational, Harun Omar Ali defended his Senior Boys title, while Betty won the Senior Girls for back to back victories in consecutive weeks. Meredith captured the Junior Boys title while Gillian Porter (Franco Cite) won the Junior Girls race in her first race of the season.
Down in Kemptville, Glebe's Adam Sanger was the only NC athlete to bring home dinner, winning a Turkey for his efforts in capturing the Senior Boys title. Elena Tyman (Mother Teresa) came close in the Senior Girls race, but was outkicked by Kingston Collegiate's Chubaty down the stretch. Cara MacDonald (Glebe) also turned in a silver medal performance placing second to McShane (Holy Cross - Kingston) in the Junior Girls race.
Results for all meets thus far, plus information about the upcoming Conference and NC Championships meets can be found on the Glebe XC site. Best of luck to all athletes in their final preparations.
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Week 2 Wrap Up
The first two full weeks of XC have wrapped up with a few teams opening their season at last week's Louis Riel XC Relays and several more at the Gryphon Open, which saw several out of town, East Regional teams, make the trip in to Mooney's Bay.
Both host schools figured prominently in the meets they hosted, with Louis Riel capturing all three relays (Girls, Boys and Mixed) along with individual victories in the Kill the Hill Challenge by Rebelles Megan Roy and Thomas Pollock, while the Glebe captured 5 of 6 team titles on their Mooney's Bay home course. South Carleton capture the Novice Boys race, breaking up the Gryphon sweep.
At the Gryphon Open, both Novice races saw exciting finishes as Clara Hegan (Nepean) held off Zoe Wojtyk (Glebe) down the stretch and Renfrew's Josh Libby outlegged Owen Nolan (John McCrae) to the line.
Full results of both meets are available on the Glebe XC site
Both host schools figured prominently in the meets they hosted, with Louis Riel capturing all three relays (Girls, Boys and Mixed) along with individual victories in the Kill the Hill Challenge by Rebelles Megan Roy and Thomas Pollock, while the Glebe captured 5 of 6 team titles on their Mooney's Bay home course. South Carleton capture the Novice Boys race, breaking up the Gryphon sweep.
At the Gryphon Open, both Novice races saw exciting finishes as Clara Hegan (Nepean) held off Zoe Wojtyk (Glebe) down the stretch and Renfrew's Josh Libby outlegged Owen Nolan (John McCrae) to the line.
Full results of both meets are available on the Glebe XC site
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
2019 XC Season
As the 2019 school year begins, harriers around the region are gearing up for another exciting year of XC racing. This year features a full slate of races beginning with the XCookie Run, hosted by Louis Riel and wrapping up with the OFSAA Championships to be hosted at Kivi Park in Sudbury on Saturday, Nov 2nd.
The full slate of races along with links and results (once available) can be found on the Glebe XC site.
All the best to everyone with their training and racing this fall.
The full slate of races along with links and results (once available) can be found on the Glebe XC site.
All the best to everyone with their training and racing this fall.
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