2024 NC Preview

Year after year it seems I do less and less, but the one thing that remains, and will always remain, will be the NC Preview and Predictions.  Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.  I love hearing from my followers....both of them.

The cancellation of the Turkey Trot meant one less race for many schools and many more athletes. Despite the Gryphon Open serving as an OFSAA Preview Meet, many athletes did not race until Conference, which makes my job much harder!  Race more athletes!!

Glebe has won 17 of the last 18 overall city titles, but has some serious contenders looking to knock them aside and claim the crown. Glebe defeated Colonel By by a mere 3 points at the East (44-41), while Nepean dominated in the West with 42 points, sweeping all three Girl's races. Nepean will need their Senior Boys to step up at NC's to add some valuable points if they hope to wrest the title from Glebe or challenger Colonel By.

Finally, with the NC hosting OFSAA this year, a double cohort of athletes (4 teams and 10 individuals) will qualify for the OFSAA Championships to be held at Mooney's Bay.

Novice Girls

It's an ancient medieval battle to start the day, with the Knights mounting a charge to take down the mighty Gryphons. 

Glebe has been undefeated all year, with victories in Port Hope, the OFSAA Preview Meet (Gryphon Open) and this past week at the East.  Their largest margin of victory however, was only 12 points over Kingston at Trinity.  The battles have been tight and that might help the Gryphons, who have proven themselves in tight spots, when things come down to the wire.  Led by McInnes, Glebe's following trio of Vickers, Ravard and Steffler have all been very close to each other throughout the season and should pack well again at NC's.  

Nepean has a similarly well packed team, placing all 4 scorers in the top 10 at West led by silver medalist Fee.  Just off the podium, Eccles was the top Knight at the Gryphon Open and Winkel and Stewart round out a tighly packed squad.  Colonel By has two low sticks in Coldrey and Edwards, but will need big runs from MacFarland and Cabasson to unseat the Gryphons or the Knights.    

Sir Robert Borden and John McCrae were separated by only a single point at West and one of these two teams should grab the 4th spot.  It will be a battle to the line with the 3rd and 4th scorers for each team (Lee and Lloyd vs. Manley and McLellan) making the difference.  

Individually, there has not been an NC athlete within 30 seconds of John McCrae's Harris all season, the closest being McInnes at the Gryphon Open.  East Champ Gauthier (St. Laurent) is also undefeated this year against Novice runners, placing 3rd in the Junior race at the Rebelles Invite ahead of West runner up Fee.  

NC Blogger's Picks

Teams - 1. Glebe 47, 2. Nepean 51, 3. Colonel By 60 

Fighting for Fourth - Sir Robert Borden and John McCrae

Individuals - 1. Harris (John McCrae), 2. Gauthier (St. Laurent), 3. McInnes (Glebe)

Potential Troublemakers - Coldrey (Colonel By) and Fee (Nepean).

Novice Boys

Immaculata and Garneau have very similar teams with their top 2 closely bunched, and two more tightly bunched a small gap back.  Gerges and Deveau (Garneau) led their teammates (Cazabon and Mantha) to victory at the East only 8 points ahead of Mac's Davies, Conkwright, Pollman and Scullion.  West Champs Earl of March will have to work hard to hit the podium ahead of East's Colonel By, who packed all 4 scorers within 30 seconds to finish 3rd at the East.  Even Canterbury, lead by East Champ Onyx Sineus and his twin bother Zain (4th) may be able to wrest the spot from  West Champs Earl. 

Sineus (Canterbury) had an impressive victory at the East and Charbot (St. FX) was similarly dominant in the West.  Charbot was the top NC athlete in the field at the Grpyhon Open just under 20 seconds ahead of Davies (Mac) who was 5th in the East.  Charbot will have more company at NC's and will have to work hard to break up an East sweep of the podium.

NC Blogger's Picks:

Team - 1. Garneau 48, 2. Immaculata 61, 3. Colonel By 90

Fighting for Fourth - Canterbury, Earl of March, Glebe

Individual - 1. O.Sineus (Canterbury), 2. Charbot (St. Fx), 3. Gerges (Garneau)

Potential Troublemakers - von Teichman (Paul Desmarais), Deveau (Garneau), Z.Sineus (Canterbury) 

Junior Girls

In 2023, Nepean edged Colonel By by a single point to capture the NC title and it looks to be another tight battle shaping up this year.  Nepean won in 2023 without a single scorer in the top 10 and won't likely have one again this year, with Hume their top scorer in the West, placing 10th.  Packing all four runners inside a minute though will likely make the difference. The Cougars will counter with the individual favorite in Lebel, but with over a 2 minute gap back to their second scorer, Amberg, it may not be enough to keep the score down.  Colonel By, Garneau and Pierre Savard will all have over 4 minutes between their top scorer and final tally, which will make the fourth runner the King-, I mean Queenmaker.

Lebel (Colonel By) remains undefeated against NC competition this year and heads to KRC as the heavy favorite.  She used a strong final k to pull away from Daniels (The Element) at the Hornet's Nest and has both the strength and finishing speed to fight off any challengers.  West Champ Dahila (Pierre Savard) nipped East Runner up Daniels in their only head to head match up this season so she get the nod for the silver.  There are not many challengers in sight to reach the podium, but Carlton (Franco Ouest, Chernoff (Lisgar) and Arabackyj (De La Salle) will take a stab.

NC Blogger's Picks: 

Team - 1. Nepean 73, 2. Colonel By 92, 3. Garneau 102

Fighting for Fourth - Pierre Savard, Earl of March, Glebe

Individuals - 1. Lebel (Colonel By), 2. Dahlia (Pierre Savard), 3. Daniels (The Element)

Potential Troublemakers - Arabackyj (De La Salle), Carlton (Franco Ouest), Chernoff (Lisgar)

Junior Boys

The Difference a year can make.  Last year, Glebe did not field a single athlete in the Novice Boys race, but the 2009's came out in droves this fall as Glebe clipped last year's East Champs and NC Runner Up Immaculata by six points to win the East.  That said, West Champs Merivale won the Gryphon Open by a healthy margin and Deveer, the West bronze medalist, topped the East Champ, Glebe's Schreiner at the Gryphon Open by just under 30 seconds. Merivale, who placed third in the Novice race last year has added some key pieces in Cobb and Ginn and along with returning Fu, Russell and Deveer, should have the depth to more than hold off any challengers.  

Last year's NC Champs Earl of March, led by West Champ Van Brabant (aka LVB) will have their work cut out for them to hit the podium this year or even make it to the dance, as Ashbury, third at East, looks to have an ace up their sleeve.  Ashbury had 3 in the top 5 before Lamont, who won the Rebelles Invite and was the 2nd NC athlete at the Gryphon Open had to drop back due to a nagging quad. If he can hold form and perform he did earlier in the season, Ashbury could challenge Merivale for the title.

The West trio of LVB, Bonilla (Holy Trinity), and Deveer may be able to repeat the performance at the NC Championships, although if Lamont is healthy he could mix things up.  Merivale's Ginn (5th for Merivale at West) was their top Gunn (haha see what I did there) and top NC athlete at the Gryphon Open, so he may have just been lurking in the weeds as well. 

NC Blogger's Picks:

Teams - 1. Merivale 58, 2. Ashbury 67, 3. Glebe 91

Fighting for Fourth - Earl of March, Immaculata, Colonel By

Individuals - 1. LVB (Earl of March), 2. Bonilla (Holy Trinity), 3. Deveer (Merivale)

Potential Troublemakers include Lamont (Ashbury), Ginn (Merivale), Van Elst (Redeemer Christian), Schreiner (Glebe)

Senior Girls

Nepean swept the Girl's race at West capturing the Senior Girls with a comfortable 19 point gap over Paul Desmarais and Ashbury, with their massive 22 athlete squad grabbed victory in the East by 7 points over Glebe.    Both teams bring similar squads to the table with Petrescue-Commene and Pender (Nepean) looking to score single digits, while Izumikawa and Johnston-Zemek (KJZ) (Ashbury) will try to offset their scores.   While both teams have significant gaps back to their final tally, Barber and Forestier have kept the gap to 3 - 3:30, while Ashbury's Hewison and Turner have been closer to 4:30 - 5.  That might be the difference in the larger NC fields, as more time means significantly bigger gaps.  

Franco Cite will be led by East Champ Knight and they likely have the best 1-2 punch in the city with Fraserwalls also looking to score low. Franco, along with East runner-up Glebe and West runner-up Paul Desmarais will contend for the final two spots on the dance floor Nov 4th at Mooney's Bay.  The gaps are just too big for either of these teams to post a serious challenge to Nepean or Ashbury, but should provide an exciting battle for the two bonus spots on the OFSAA start line.

Jeffrey (St. FX) posted an impressive victory in the West over Peak's Streek who struggled with a stitch over the second half, but was able to hold off 2023 NC Junior Champ, Franco Ouest's Lauter, for the silver.  In the East Knight was followed by Mac's Davies and Glebe's Van Wesenbeeck.  No one can touch Streek if she is on form, and the OFSAA Steeple Champion has a history of showing up big when it matters, capturing OFSAA XC bronze in 2022.  She was also the top NC finisher in the Senior race last year, placing 12th.  It's tough to bet against that kind of talent and experience, but please remember this is HS sport, so you shouldn't be betting on it anyways. 

NC Blogger's Picks:

Teams -  1. Nepean 88, 2. Ashbury 99, 3. Glebe 115

Fighting for Fourth - Franco Cite and Paul Desmarais

Individuals - 1. Streek (Peak Academy), 2. Jeffrey (St. FX), 3. Knight (Franco Cite)

Potential Troublemakers include Lauter (Frano Ouest), Davies (Immaculata) and Van Wesenbeeck (Glebe)

Senior Boys

This one is likely one of the easiest of the day to call as the Louis Riel Senior Boys have their eyes set on a much bigger prize than the NC Championships.  They have the upfront talent and depth to be a serious contender for the OFSAA podium and should easily handle anything any NC team can throw at them this week at Walter Baker.  Louis placed all 4 scorers in the top 9 at East to post a winning score that was half that of last years OFSAA Junior Silver Medalists Colonel By (23-46).  These two teams should prove the class of the field leaving everyone else to fight for scraps.  

Those scraps though have a lot of meat with the two extra spots on the OFSAA starting line.  Lisgar was perhaps the surprise of the day at East, giving Glebe a scare, only 6 points back.  Outside of Louis and CB, they will pack the best and if they can keep the gap small enough it could find them on the line Nov 4th.  Glebe's 1-2 punch of Taler and Heins is tough for any team to match but with a 3+ minute gap back to their 3-4-5 (Johnston, Bou, Woolf) it will mean big runs are needed from the back end.  It's not often that a Conference Champ is on the outside looking in, but the Bulldogs will be in a dog fight to unseat one of the top four teams from the East. West Champ McKercher and Yakimchuck will have to rally the pack to earn a trip to the Bay.  Then there is West runner-up Nepean who packed well at West, but may have been lurking in the shadows, trying to fly under the radar and surprise teams at the NC Meet.

Taler - Cova. Cova - Taler.  It's been back and forth between these not only this year, but since the two first locked horns in Grade 10. Neither has remained undefeated over the other for a full season, and although Taler (Glebe) got the best of Cova (Louis Riel) at the Gryphon Open, Cova got the nod over Taler when the two crossed the line together at East. These two are certainly the class of the field, but after that, there is a massive cue of athletes fighting for the final spot on the podium with OFSAA 2022 Junior Bronze medalist Heins (Glebe), 2023 NC Junior Champ Mortimer (Hillcrest), Siderius (Colonel By), Fortier (Louis Riel), James Rebane (Louis Riel) and West Champ McKercher all lining up to take a stab.   

NC Blogger's Picks:

Team - 1. Louis Riel (31), 2. Colonel By 56, 3. Glebe 82

Fighting for Fourth - Lisgar, John McCrae, Nepean

Individuals - 1. Taler (Glebe), 2. Cova (Louis Riel), 3 Mortimer (Hillcrest)

Potential Troublemakers include Fortier (Louis Riel), Siderius (Colonel By), Heins (Glebe)

Best of luck to all the athletes competing this coming week, but even better luck to the Glebe Harriers!  See you all at Walter Baker.

2023 OFSAA Recap

The 2023 OFSAA XC Championships were held on a beautiful fall day at Centennial Park in Etobicoke, ON.  Although the morning began with rain, by the time the gun sounded to start the Novice Girl's race the weather began to co-operate and some very fast conditions were available for all the races.  National Capital runners had some outstanding performances throughout the day and earned the honour of being the 3rd toughest region of the 18 associations from across Ontario.  The day culminated for the NC Region with a Senior Boys Team Title for the Glebe Gryphons.

For starters, a big shoutout to Noah Lamoureux, who became the first NC athlete to participate in the OFSAA Para race in the Intellectual division. Noah, guided by South Carleton Coach Carolyn Connell, placed 20th overall and 16th in the ID category.  

NC Novice Girls Champ Laila Lebel (Colonel By) once again led all NC athletes placing 12th in the Novice Girls race.  Behind Lebel, Riley Daniels (The Element) had an exceptional race, overtaking NC silver medalist Dahlia Loreti down the stretch.  Colonel By used Lebel's low score to turn the tables on the NC Champion Nepean Knights, who were without their top runner, Hume.  

NC Summary:

12. Lebel (Colonel By), 26. Daniels (The Element), 28. Loreti, (Pierre Savard)

14. Colonel By (487), 30. Nepean (698)

Immaculata also turned the tables in the Novice Boys race, besting NC Champs Earl of March.  Mitchel Skelton (Immaculata) was the top NC finisher, placing 22nd overall.  As Daniels had done, Luke Van Brabant (Earl of March) improved from 4th at Cities, to be the NC's second best finisher in Etobicoke, by besting Anik Bonilla (Holy Trinity) by less than a second.

NC Summary:

22. Skelton, Immaculata (22nd), 2. Van Brabant, Earl of March (32nd), 3. Bonilla, Holy Trinity (34th)

14. Immaculata (509), 18. Earl of March (549)

The Junior Girls race produced the first top 10 finish for an NC Team when last year's Novice OFSAA silver medalists from Nepean, placed 9th overall.  Little changed in terms of individual performances as the top 6 NC runners finished in similar order to the NC Championships a week ago, led by Kyra Lauter (Franco Ouest), who placed 17th.

NC Summary:

17. Lauter (Franco Ouest), 21. Van Wesenbeeck (Glebe), 28. Davies (Immaculata)

9. Nepean (419), 22. Glebe (626)

In the Junior Boys race Colonel By's make up may have changed slightly, but the results were very similar to last year when they captured the silver medal in the Novice division.  In fact, there was only a 9 point difference in the team score from one year to the next (241-250)!  Talk about consistency! Led by Owen Siderius, the Cougars placed 3 scorers in the top 40 of the 270 athlete field.  Siderius continued his year long battle with Hillcrest's Charlie Mortimer as there was little to chose between them as the crossed the line with less than a second between the two.  Evan James Rebane (Louis Riel) kept the order of finish the same as the NC Champs and was the 3rd NC athlete to cross the line.  Not to be left out, John McCrae made the Junior Boys race the only race with two NC teams in the top 8, with a 7th place finish, led by Jackson McKercher's 51st place finish.

NC Summary:

9. Mortimer (Hillcrest), 10. Siderius (Colonel By), 24 James Rebane (Louis Riel)

2. Colonel By (250), 7. John McCrae (377)

Grace Streek (Peak Academy) has dealt with abdominal pain while running all fall.  It hampered her in some of her races so much she ran the last k of several races almost doubled over.  At the Turkey Trot, it hurt so badly, she finished almost 2 minutes behind race winner Hamilton (Holy Cross Kingston), whom she bested by 43 seconds at OFSAA.  While the pain was still present, Streek stayed tall and sprinted past NC Champion Lauren Alexander down the final straight to lead all NC athletes to the finish line.  Jocelyn Giannotti (Holy Trinity) and Kate Johnston-Zemer (aka KJZ - Ashbury) also placed in the top 20, making the Senior Girl's race the best finish of any of the races for NC athletes.  Alexander's teammates ran well enough behind her to help the Gryphons place 6th overall.

NC Summary:

12. Streek (Peak Academy), 14. Alexander (Glebe), 15 Giannotti (Holy Trinity)

6. Glebe (419), 14. Ashbury (525)

The final race of the day saw both the best individual performance and the best team performance of the day for NC athletes and teams.  Saul Taler (Glebe) latched on to the back of the lead group and simply refused to let go.  Taler's 7th place finish helped lead his team to victory in the Senior Boys race in a highly anticpated battle with last year's Champions, London Central.  Central had the edge with Individual Champ McAllister and their 2nd, Royce one spot up on Glebe's #2 man Heins, but as we all know so well, it's 4 to score and Glebe's Derek Strachan and Kiefer Melinz-Dupuis, both put themselves infront of Central's third scorer to seal the deal for the Gryphons.  It was the first Senior Boys team title for any NC Team at the OFSAA Championships.  Louis Riel's Daniel Cova was the NC's second finisher, while Heins rounded out the top 3.

NC Summary

7. Taler (Glebe), 12. Cova (Louis Riel), 29. Heins (Glebe)

1. Glebe (193), 26. Immaculata (627)

NC Blogger would like to thank all athletes, coaches and parents for an outstanding season and look forward to next year when the NC Region will host the best at Mooney's Bay for the 2024 OFSAA XC Championships!  

2023 NC Recap

Glebe captured it's 13th consecutive overall aggregate at the NCSSAA XC Title at Green's Creek on Thursday.  The Gryphons won both the Senior Boy's and Senior Girl's races placed second in the Junior Girl's and fourth in the Junior Boy's.  Nepean captured the Overall Girls Title with victories in the Novice Girl's and Junior Girl's, while Immaculata won the Boy's Title, placing runner up in both the Novice Boy's and Senior Boy's races and picking up a single point in the Junior Boy's race as well, placing 8th.  

In the first race of the day, Loreti (Pierre Savard) lead much of the early going, but could not match Lebel's (Colonel By) finishing kick as she pulled away on the last loop of the soccer fields to a comfortable 10 second victory.  McGregor (Immaculata) swapped places with The Element's Daniels from last week to earn the bronze.

Nepean, despite not having a runner in the top 10, packed all four close, lead by Annie Hume's 11th place finish to beat Colonel By for the team title by a single point 79-80 and will head to OFSAA as NC Champions.  Garneau came oh so close with 84, as only 5 points separated the top 3 teams.

The Novice Boys saw the first upset of the day as Earl of March captured the NC Title.  Wagner was the big difference maker for the Lions, having placed 34th last week at the West he improved to 17th in the larger NC field.  Led by 4th place finisher Van Brabant, the drop in points was sufficient to eek out a 5 point victory over Immaculata 62-67.  Immaculata's Skelton won the race over Merivale's Deever, while Bonilla (Holy Trinity) captured the bronze.  Merivale was third with 79 points.

Nepean made it two for two capturing the Junior Girl's race.  Last year's OFSAA Novice Girl's silver medalists showed their grit and had a much more comfortable margin of victory than their Novice Girls, tallying 46 points to runner-up Glebe's 99.  John McCrae made a push to steal the spot from the Gryphons, but came up short with 107.

Lauter (Franco Ouest) followed by Davies (Immaculata) made a strong surge up the Green's Creek hill and started to pull away off the top.  Van Wesenbeeck let them go, but reeled in Davies over the final k, to capture the silver.   

Siderius (Colonel By) made a strong move heading down then back up Green's Creek hill in an attempt to break up the Junior Boy's pack and take the sting out of Mortimer's (Hillcrest) kick.  It was a decisive move that put lots of daylight between him and most of the the field, but not enough to drop Mortimer.  Mortimer had closed the gap by the time they came back out of the trails to the fields and pulled away over the second half of the race to capture his first NC XC crown.  A duo of Rebelles, James Rebane and Gorall, took the third and fourth spots, attempting to give their team the low scores needed for the second qualifying spot, but unfortunately, McKercher and Yakimuch (John McCrae) were not far behind and with the strength of their back end, Harris and Lin the Bulldogs were able to hold off the Rebelles 62-72 to claim the second spot behind the Cougars 42 points.

Alexander (Glebe) and Giannotti (Holy Trinity) played it patient, content to sit in the chase pack, along with Streek (Peak), KJZ (Ashbury) and Jeffrey (St. FX) through the first half of the race, out to the hill and back.  The chase pack slowly broke up over the second half as Alexander was able to overtake early race leader Chiumera (St. PiusX) in the woods before coming out to the fields with a comfortable gap, which she maintained over Giannotti through the finish.  Streek ran through as well to claim the bronze.  Alexander's teammates ran well behind her as Glebe posted a comfortable margin of victory, but it was behind the front running Gryphons that things were very interesting.  At the half way point, only 3 points separated West Champs Paul Desmarais and East / West runners-up Ashbury and John McCrae (135-133-132).  All teams really pushed for those valuable spots over the last mile with Ashbury emerging victorious 110-122 over McRae, with Paul Desmarais fourth with 125.  

The big story of the day was the Glebe Senior Boys who placed all four scorers in the top 6, lead by Taler, who placed second, and Strachan who captured the bronze, with Heins not far behind in fourth.  Cova (Louis Riel) prevented the Gryphon trio from sweeping the podium with a great display of strength as he started to string out the field after coming off the Green's Creek hill and continued to push over the second half to run to a 23 second victory.  Their 15 - 106 victory over Immaculata was the lowest Senior Boys team score NCSSAA history. 

As predicted, you can never count the Immaculata Boys out when they come in as underdogs.  They relish the roll and it was all the motivation they needed to wrest the second qualifying spot away from West Champs Sir Robert Borden 106 - 116.

NC Blogger would like to wish all the qualifiers the best of luck at OFSAA next week and thank everyone for a great season!

2023 National Capital Preview

Apologies for letting the blog slide again this season.  I am having difficulty keeping up, but once again we are back for the NCSSAA Preview! All pre-season results and results from the Conference Meets can be found on the Glebe XC site. The Conference Meets brought beautiful weather and great racing conditions and some very impressive performances.  While there are a few races that look very predictable, there also look to be some very tight battles in the quest for teams to earn a spot on the OFSAA dance floor on Nov 4th in Etobicoke. 

Novice Girls

Laila Lebel (Colonel By) has looked very strong all season.  Besting all Novice competition at the Turkey Trot, Gryphon Open and the East.  Her only defeat came at the hands of two Juniors at the Capital XC where she still reached the podium racing against grade 10s.  Dahlia Loretti (Pierre Savard) had a very impressive victory at the Rebelles Invitational, beating all the Juniors but was well back at West.  Is she just lurking in the weeds or was she sick? Just running to finish? East runner-up Daniels (The Element) and West Champ Cesario (St. Pius X), who along with Lebel finished 1-2-3 at the Gryphon Open, could repeat the performance at NC's unless Loretti was holding back and is ready to fire.  With only Lebel out of the top 5 expected to qualify on a team, every spot will matter.  McGregor (Immaculata), Arabackyj (De La Salle), Crawlton (Franco Ouest) and Blackadder (South Carleton) should duke it out for the final 3 spots.  

Lebel looks to lead her Cougar teammates to victory again at NC's but Nepean's tight packed top 3 of Hume, Chadwick and Renfroe will be very tough to beat.  While not likely have a single counter in the top 10, a 30 second 1 - 3 gap with a 4th, Hutchens, less than a minute back, Nepean should group very well.  Lebel should provide a low stick for Colonel By, but with a 2:30 gap back to their next scorer Amberg, the Cougars will have their work cut out for them.  The Cougars need to keep their back end as close as possible to Hutchens if they hope to upset the Knights.  Both West runner-up Earl of March and East runner-up Garneau will have to improve massively if they hope to steal a spot from the top ranked teams.

NC Blogger Picks

Teams: 1. Nepean (72), 2. Colonel By (84), 3. Garneau (108)

Individuals: 1. Lebel (Colonel By), 2. Dahlia (Pierre Savard), 3. Daniels (The Element), 

Novice Boys

West Champ Deveer (Merivale) and East Champ Skelton (Immaculata) have yet to lock horns this year and that should make for an exciting show down at Green's Creek this coming Thursday.  Deveer won the Gryphon Open a week ahead of the West, besting Skelton's teammate, Lanca, by the same margin Skelton beat him in winning the East.    While Skelton had a rather large cushion, Deveer's pursuers were considerably closer as the West looked to be the deeper of the two fields.  Bonilla (Holy Trinity) should round out the top 3, but Lanca, Lodha (Ashbury), Rose Royo (St. FX), Van Brabant (Earl of March) and Elmasry (John McCrae) can't be counted out.  With Deveer, Skelton and Lanca on top 2 contending teams, a top 8 finish could earn a spot on the OFSAA starting line.  

Merivale, Immaculata and Earl of March all match up very well and the two NC reps should come from these schools.  Merivale is most vulnerable in the larger NC field as the gap between Deveer and his teammates is over a minute and a half, while the Earl has a tight packed top 2 in Van Brabant and Zabarah (4 seconds at West) and then another two relatively close Chen and Preuss just over a minute back.  While the gap between Chen and Preuss was small, there were 7 places between them at West.  Preuss needs to close that gap in order to gain the valuable points needed to upset the Mauraders,  Immaculata will counter with Skelton and Lanca, and although the gap is a little bigger between the two, there won't be many scorers between them.  Rioux and Smith crossed the line together and only finished a minute back, giving Immaculata the tightest grouping of the three teams.  

NC Blogger's Picks

Teams: 1. Immaculata (70), 2. Merivale (85), Earl of March (90)

Individuals: 1. Deveer (Merivale), 2. Skelton (Immaculata), 3. Bonilla (Holy Trinity) 

Junior Girls

There were a few girls who spent some time in the summer, honing their speed on the track and it shows!  Both Lauter (Franco Ouest) and Van Wesenbeeck (Glebe) missed the podium last year at NC's but look to be fighting for the top spot this year.  Both girls had impressive victories at their conference meets.  Lauter won the Captial XC and was the top Junior at the Rebelles Invitational, while Van Wesenbeeck captured the Gryphon Open and was runner-up at the Turkey Trot.  Lefavire (Louis Riel) and Allibon (John McCrae) also look to be contending for top 5 spots but were outside the top 10 last year.  Defending NC Champ Davies (Immaculata) continues to look strong and was only 2 seconds back of Lauter at Captial XC and 20 seconds back of Van Wesenbeeck on two occasions this fall (West and Gryphon Open).  Behind these 5 we have a couple of Knights (Petrescue-Commene and Forestier) who were part of Nepean's OFSAA Silver Medalist Novice team last year, so a top 10 finish might put you in the conversation for the O-Show in November.  Look for Murphy (Pierre Savard), Taft (AY Jackson) and Bergevin Hemsing (De La Salle) to fight for those last individual spots.

OFSAA Silver Medalists Nepean packed well again at West and look to be heavy favorites coming into the NC Meet.  With only 90 seconds separating 1 - 4, they should easily defend their title and punch their ticket.  Last's years runner-up Glebe looks to hold on to the second spot.  With individual favorite Van Wesenbeeck, they have four more potential scorers packing within 30 seconds, but they will be far enough back to make it interesting.  If John McCrae can get a big run from Rockburne, to close the gap on her teammates, John McCrae could steal the spot.  

NC Blogger's Picks

Teams: 1. Nepean (38), 2. Glebe (82), 3. John McCrae (91)

Individuals: 1. Van Wesenbeeck (Glebe), 2. Lauter (Franco Ouest), 3. Davies (Immaculata) 

Junior Boys

Look for a repeat of the East Conference finish with Mortimer (Hillcrest), Siderius (Colonel By) and Walker (Colonel By).  The boys were 1-2-3 as Novice last year as well, but expect Mortimer to turn his gold to silver this year as he heads to the start line undefeated this season, including two close victories over Siderius. Behind this trio are a several pairs of runners challenging for team titles, with McKercher / Yakimuch (John McCrae), Gorall / James Rebane (Louis Riel) and Bou /O'Hare (Glebe).  The latter are unlikely to upset the individual order of things, but could make things messy in the team race.  Depending on the how the team battle shakes out, Lee (Mother Teresa), Recoskie (St. Joseph), Gimby (South Carleton), McIntyre (West Carleton), and Chelgoum (Gisele Lalonde) could be in the mix for a top 5 individual finish.  

The team battle however looks anything but decided.  Colonel By are the OFSAA Silver Medalists from 2022, but only return with the impressive 1-2 punch of Siderius and Walker.  After that, things drop off with almost a 3 minute gap back to their 4th at East Bordovsky.  All four teams have close 1 -2 finishers before a gap back to 3 - 4.  West Champs John McCrae pack them the closest, with only 90 seconds between 1 - 4 and had the lowest team score of the day at West tallying only 23 points.  Lead by West Champ McKercher and runner-up Yakimuch, they will spot the front running Cougar's and Rebelles a few spots, but there are so many more points be be gained on the back end.  They could find themselves heading to Etobicoke as NC Champs. Glebe and Louis Riel were only 3 points apart at East behind Colonel By, but they both need big runs to catch John McCrae. Glebe's back end Johnston and Eaton need to be ahead of McCrae's Lin and Harris, but that is a big ask.  Louis' fate rests in their 4th, Backman who was 4 minutes behind at East.  He'll need to close that gap for the Rebelles to have a chance.  

NC Blogger's Picks

Team: 1. Colonel By (48), 2. John McCrae (65), 3. Louis Riel (70)

Individuals: 1. Mortimer (Hillcrest), 2. Siderius (Colonel By), 3. Walker (Colonel By) 

Senior Girls

Chiumera (St. Pius X) has not lost an NC competition in her XC career and she looks to carry on with that in 2023.  Her only serious threat will come from East Champ Alexander (Glebe), whose only previous race was a 5th place finish at McQuaid in Rochester, NY.  Gianotti (Holy Trinity) has been Chiumera's closest pursuer with only 10 seconds separating the two at Capital XC, but that grew to 30 seconds at West.  The Hornet's Nest course favors athletes that can break away before the twisty forest loop, but can also be dreadfully cruel to athletes who go out too hard.  Alexander should be able to close on Chiumera down the stretch, but if the gap is too big coming out of the woods, it'll be over.  Streek (Peak), Jeffrey (St. FX), Villeneuve (Paul Desmarais) and K-J-Z (Ashbury), and Knight (Franco) will duke it out for the last spots on the OFSAA start line.  With only Alexander and Villeneuve likely on a team, it's unlikely any others will be able to wrest a spot away for a ticket to OFSAA.

Glebe lost 4 of 5 from their OFSAA Silver Medalist Senior team last year, but return their #1 Alexander, who will likely lead the team to victory over the Green's Creek Trails.  West Champs Paul Desmarais looks to have a solid hold on spot number 2, but West runner-up John McCrae and East runner-up Ashbury, who also won the Rebelles Invite on the Championship course will look to upset the front running favorites as all teams have rather large gaps between their top runners and their 4th.  The 3rd and fourth runners, Waddington / Sutherland (Glebe), Di Lello / Olszewski (Paul Desmarais), McKenna / McQuinn (John McCrae) and Turner / Bruce (Ashbury) hold the keys to their team's success.

NC Blogger's Picks

Teams: 1. Glebe (65), 2. Paul Desmarais (105), 3. John McCrae (132)

Individuals: 1. Chiumera (St. Pius X), 2. Alexander (Glebe), 3. Gianotti (Holy Trinity)

Senior Boys

Cova (Louis Riel)  is on a mission.  Since his defeat by Taler (Glebe) at NC and OFSAA last year, Cova has not lost to anyone from the NC region.  Taler is the defending OFSAA Junior Boys Champ and the only one with a chance of upsetting either one of these two is Strachan (Glebe).  Glebe may pack 4 in the top 6 with Heins and Melinz-Dupuis only broken up by Smith (Immaculata).  With Glebe almost assuredly winning the team title, and Immaculata, Louis, Garneau and West Champs Borden all fighting for the second team spot, 6 of the top 10 could qualify on teams, making a top 10 finish  enough grab a spot on the OFSAA starting line.  Smith, Cohen (Louis Riel), Max Wilson (Woodroffe), Barrett Goold (Sir Robert Borden) and Padoin-Castillo will fight for those spots.

Glebe went 2-4-5-6 at East with only 0.8 seconds separating their 1 - 4.  With Taler and Heins 1 - 3 in the Junior Boys race at OFSAA last year, they certainly have what it takes to not only win the NC Title, but challenge for the top of the podium at OFSAA. The battle for the second qualifying spot will be very interesting. Despite not having a runner in the top 10 at East, Garneau only finished one point behind Louis Riel.  The Junior Boys OFSAA Champion Immaculata Boys team found the step up to Senior a monumental task as they finish 4th at East, but only 7 points out of second.  We found out last year though that the Immaculata Boys show up when it counts, as they came into cities last year having been beaten by Louis only to win Cities and go on to OFSAA gold.  West Champs Borden are similar to Garneau in that they will not have a top threat, but will try to mix things up.  Louis has the up front talent, but will need a big run from Abou-Arraj if they hope to finish runner-up to Glebe again.  Once again, the fate of all four teams rest with their 4th.  

NC Blogger's Picks

Team: 1. Glebe (15), 2. Borden (143), 3.Louis Riel (145)

Individuals: Cova 1. (Louis Riel), 2. Taler (Glebe), 3. Strachan (Glebe)

Best of luck to all NC Athletes!

2022 National Capital Preview

Most of the big names came through at the Conference Championships, but there were a few surprises and the stage is now set for the National Capital Championships as athletes vie for a spot on the start line the first week of November at Dagmar Ski Resort in Uxbridge, ON.  There are no grade 9 - 11 students that have had the chance to run an OFSAA XC race, so there will be high hopes and dashed dreams over the trails at Mooney's Bay this coming Thursday.  There are some secure spots, but as we know, in sport, nothing is ever guaranteed until the race is over, which is why they don't hand out awards until the athletes have crossed the line.

Novice Girls 

Whether due to injury, illness, or just playing it cool, Nepean had a couple of their top scorers well back at Conference, but they still come in as heavy favorites.  Nepean's top three scorers, Pender, Hale and Petrescue-Commene have all taken turns beating each other this season.  With Voros not far back they have a solid hold on the first spot, despite being beaten by South Carleton at West.

The second spot is where things get real interesting.  West runner up South Carleton, East Champs Glebe and runner up Colonel By will be very close.  Glebe has a little more wiggle room with a low score in potential podium threat Van Wesenbeeck, but this race will all come down to the back end, runners three and four, where big swings in points are possible.  Glebe needs their Madeleines (Leschinsky and Beauregard) to keep ahead of South's Adams and Nemchin to help them seal the deal and while Colonel By was ahead of Glebe at the halfway point at East, they will need to run a strong second half to wrest the spot away from either of these two teams.

Individually, East Champ Davies (Immaculata) and West Champ Lofthouse (St. Mark) have been undefeated against Novice competitors this season, but only one will walk away next week with that title.  Davies was the top '08 at Capital XC, while Lofthouse won the North Dundas Invite ahead of the Conference Meets.  Lofthouse held off Pender to win the West, but Pender was well behind East runner-up Buchanan (Franco-Cite) at the Louis Riel Invite, who in turn was beat by Pender's teammate Petrescue-Commene.  Looks to be a real competitive race, as these girls have been been up and down all seasons.  With 2 of the top 6 likely on a qualifying team that will mean a 7th place finish might be enough to punch a ticket to Uxbridge.  Expect Hutt (DeLaSalle), Leblanc (St. Pius) and Lefaivre (Louis) to fight it out for that spot.

NC Bloggers Picks  

Teams - 1. Nepean (32), 2. Glebe (100), 3. South (110)

Individuals - 1. Davies (Immaculata), 2. Lofthouse (St. Mark), 3. Buchanan (Franco Cite)

Junior Girls

Nepean will strive to make it 2-for-2 in the Girl's races as the defending Novice Girl's Champs come in as favorites to defend their title, this time as Juniors.  Without a top threat, Nepean's top runner Barber will have to run well to crack the top 10, but they will likely pack all four scorers within 45 seconds.  The tight bunching will reward them with a low team score.  Similar to the Novice Girls, that second qualifying spot will be a tight battle between three teams, which could be separated by as few as 5 or 6 points.  It's the back end, that all important fourth runner, that will make the difference for West Runner-Up St. Mark, East Champs Franco-Cite and John McCrae.  Franco will have the low stick in Knight, while McCrae will counter with Jennings.  St. Mark, like Nepean will not likely have a single point counter, but will pack much tighter than Franco or McCrae.  McCrae and Franco, on the other hand, have the greatest potential to lower their score if they can get a big run from their fourth runners, Rodriguez and Sabha.  

Chiumera (St. Pius) has yet to be beaten against NC Competition and that streak will likely extend through this year.  Speaking of streaks, it will be a Streek (Peak Centre) that is likely to be Chiumera's closest pursuer, with Streek finishing only 11 seconds behind at Capital XC.  East Champ Johnston-Zemek (Ashbury) was a minute adrift at Capital XC which should be more than enough to secure bronze.  Since there are no teams likely to have an individual in the top 5 it will be a clearer picture for these girls. Place top 5, or you don't go.  Jeffrey (St. FX) and Villeneuve (Paul Desmarais) are most likely to take those spots, although Knight (Franco Cite) will be in the hunt, although she has a second chance with her Faucons teammates.  

NC Blogger's Picks:

Teams -  1. Nepean (65), 2. St. Mark (115), 3. Franco-Cite / John McCrae (120)

Individuals - 1. Chiumera (St. Pius), 2. Streek (Peak Centre), 3. Johnston-Zemek (Ashbury)

Senior Girls

While there is no such thing as a sure, thing, oddly enough, the more mature the athletes get, the more predictable their behaviour (and results) become.  Go figure.  The Glebe Senior Girls will look to make it 9 consecutive years holding the Senior Girl's crown.  The Gryphons scored a paltry 14 points, placing 6 in the top 8 at East and scored even less, 13, in winning the Capital XC Challenge earlier this year. Podium threat Alexander, leads a cast of Gryphons about a minute behind her with Gormley, Trott, McColgan and Waddington that will likely pack within 30-45 seconds.  Meanwhile, West Champs Merivale looks to have a solid hold on the second qualifying spot, packing all four scorers tightly to win the West by almost 50 points.  Something drastic will have to happen for one of these two teams to be upset.  

Both Individual Conference Champs laced up the spikes for the first time this fall at Conference and showed that a lack of racing does not mean a lack of fitness.  Defending NCSSAA and Athletics Ontario U18 XC Champion Van Brabant (Earl of March) looked very comfortable cruising to a 1 minute victory over defending NC Junior Girls Champ Gionnatti (Holy Trinity) in the West, while Baggley (Gloucester) opened up a gap early and maintained the gap throughout, running to a 25 second victory over last year's Junior Girls runner-up Alexander (Glebe). With only Alexander likely to have a qualifying team, the next spots likely belong to Sarai (West Carleton) and Soler (Longfields), with Hertz (John McCrae) on the outside, looking in, needing a big run to crack the top 5 individuals.

NC Blogger's Picks:

Teams - 1. Glebe (28), 2 - Merivale (65), 3 Longfields (120)

Individuals - 1. Van Brabant (Earl of March), 2. Baggley (Gloucester), Gionnatti (Holy Trinity)

Novice Boys

The Colonel By Novice Boys have the upfront talent and the depth to come in as heavy favorites to win the NC title.  They won the XCookie Open race with 3 novice scorers and Turkey Trot before steamrolling to victory at East with a mere 20 points, despite one of their top dogs rolling an ankle and taking it easy all the way.  Even without one or two of their low scorers, their depth will carry the day. Second will be a close battle between West Champs Nepean and East runner up Glebe.  Expect Nepean's top 2, Moons and Hawkes to edge out Glebe's top 2, O'Hare and Battou-Achab, and hold a slight advantage, but once again, it's the back end that often carries the day.  Whomever has the better races between Glebe's Johnston / Kurien and Nepean's Fee / Frank will likely come out victorious, with many more points available in the latter stages of the race.  Johnston and Fee have taken turns defeating each other this season, with Fee 20 seconds up at Louis, while Johnston held a 12 second advantage at the Turkey Trot.  Kurien has always got the better of Frank by 30 and 10 seconds respectively at the same races.  Outside these two teams only John McCrae has a chance of cracking the top 2.  There is little they can do to improve upfront, likely placing two in the top 6, McKercher and Yakimuch, but if Kydd can come up with the race of his season, even running 30-40 seconds faster could mean 20 - 30 points to help his teams chances.

Colonel By's Siderus and Walker could go 1-2 for the Cougars, but Mortimer (Hillcrest) will likely have something to say about it.  Siderus bested his teammate by 15 and 18 seconds in their two early races, and Mortimer by 15 at East, so it will be very tight.  Will Walker's ankle be good to go?  After them the duo's of Moons / Hawkes (Nepean) and McKercher / Yakimuch (John McCrae) will duke it out.  With four of the top 7 likely on a qualifying team, and the next Glebe's O'Hare before another couple Cougars in Ross / Ghie a top 11 spot might be enough to earn a spot on the OFSAA start line.  Zegers (Mer Bleue) and Uren (St. FX) might be able to sneak a spot depending on how the team battle unfolds.

NC Blogger's Picks:

Teams - 1. Colonel By (25), 2 Glebe (72), 3. Nepean (78)

Individuals - 1. Siderus (Colonel By), 2. Mortimer (Hillcrest), 3. Walker (Colonel By)

Junior Boys

Defending Novice Champs Immaculata looked to be the team to beat heading into the Conference Meets, but Louis Riel had a surprise in store for them.  Not running a full team until their own Invitational, a week ahead of Conference, kept their secret weapon hidden.  They placed three scorers,  ahead of Mac's second runner, lead by individual champion Cova. While Mac got all four scorers in ahead of the Rebelles, Plessas was only 12 seconds behind Mac's 4th Meehan, which sealed the deal.  Louis' front end is stronger, so as long as Plessas is able to keep Meehan or Padoin-Castillo in sight, it should be enough to seal the deal.  There is no other teams with the depth to seriously challenge either of these two teams, with Glebe and John McCrae likely a good chunk back battling it out for the bronze.

Taler (Glebe) has had quite the season winning the Trinity Invitational in Port Hope before losing a tight battle with the defending OFSAA 800 & 1500m Champ Kenny at Capital XC.  Taler, however, returned the favor the following week making a strong move early to defeat Kenny by 40 seconds at the Turkey Trot.  At East, Taler, Cova and Heins stayed tightly bunched for most of the race before Cova kicked away to victory.  Will Taler try the same tactic again to turn the tables on Cova, by making a move early?  Heins looks to have a solid lock on the bronze medal position ahead of Mac's Smith.  The final OFSAA spots should belong to Ghozani (Lisgar), Johnston-Zemek (Ashbury) and West Champ (Sankey) with Goold (SRB) looking to sneak in for one of those coveted spots.  

NC Blogger's Picks:

Teams - 1. Louis (44), 2. Immaculata (46), 3. Glebe (75)

Individuals - 1. Cova (Louis Riel), 2. Taler (Glebe), 3. Heins (Glebe)

Senior Boys

Like their Senior Girl's, the Glebe Senior Boys have not known the taste of defeat at the NC Championships since 2012, when they finished tied for first with Nepean, but lost on the tiebreaker (higher finishing 4th place runner).  They certainly expect to find themselves on top again this year.  With the best 1 - 2 punch in the city, Strachan and Melinz-Dupuis will strive to repeat what they did as Junior's and finish first and second.  Behind them they've got a plenty of depth to back them up, having placed 6 runners in the top 15 at East. West Champs Bell look to have a solid lock on second place behind West Champ Kushner.  Mother Teresa, Nepean, Colonel By and Immaculata will have a tightly contested battle for third, but the top two teams have a rather large cushion to protect themselves.

The Glebe duo of Strachan and Melinz-Dupuis looked very comfortable having been the top 2 NC runners at every race so far this season.  Behind them Thanksgiving weekend marathoner's (yes you heard that right) Padoin-Castillo (Immaculata) and McDaniel (Ashbury) will try to hold off Bell's Kushner.  Another week might help the legs recover a little more, but Kushner had plenty in the tank left at West as he kicked away from OFSAA 400m Champion Sanders (Mother Teresa). That's quite the range Mr. Sanders.  With 4 of the top 6 likely to be on a qualifying team, and Glebe's Hurley, who could be the next across the line, a top 10 finish might make the dance.  Belan (Canterbury), Lacasse (Colonel By) and Del Rio (St. Joseph) all have a realistic chance of nabbing those final two spots.  

NC Blogger's Picks

Teams - 1. Glebe (29), Bell (85), 3. Mother Teresa (130)

Individuals - 1. Strachan (Glebe), 2. Melinz-Dupuis (Glebe), 3. Padoin-Castillo (Immaculata)

Best of luck to all next week at Mooney's Bay.  

Conference Wrap Up

Nepean captured the Girl's and Overall Aggregates at the West winning both the Junior Girl's and Novice Boy's races.  John McCrae prevented Nepean from completing the full sweep by winning the Boy's Aggregate on the strength of their Junior Boy's win and runner up finish by their Novice Boys.

Other winners included South Carleton (Novice Girls), Merivale (Senior Girls) and Bell (Senior Boys).  

Individual winners were: 

Naomi Lofthouse (St. Mark) - Novice Girls, Isabella Chiumera (St. Pius) - Junior Girls, Amelia Van Brabant (Earl of March) - Senior Girls, Jackson McKercher (John McCrae) - Novice Boys, Levi Sankey (Merivale) - Junior Boys, and Zachary Kushner (Bell) - Senior Boys.

In the East, Glebe swept the Aggregates with wins in the Novice Girl's, Senior Girl's and Senior Boy's races.  

Franco Cite captured the Junior Girls, Colonel By won the Novice Boys while Louis Riel was victorious on their home course in the Junior Boys.

Individual winners were:

Evelyn Davies (Immaculata) - Novice Girls, Kate Johnston-Zemek (Ashbury) - Junior Girls, Olivia Baggeley (Gloucester) - Senior Girls, Owen Siderus (Colonel By) - Novice Boys, Daniel Cova (Louis Riel) - Junior Boys, and Derek Strahcan (Glebe) - Senior Boys.

Stayed tuned for our National Capital Preview coming soon.

Conference Week is Here!

The Invitational and Open Meets have wrapped up and we are ready to jump into the OFSAA qualifying meets.  Several teams have shown some promise this season, but many schools have also been conspicuously absent from the early season meets.  

Teams to watch heading into Conference week include both Glebe Senior teams, which  look strong, but in very different ways.  While the boys likely pack the best 1-2 punch in town, with Strachan and Melinz-Dupuis placing as the top 2 NC individuals at the Capital XC Challenge, the girls will likely prevail through their depth as demonstrated by placing 6 in the top 15 at the same meet.

The Glebe Junior Boys have a similar 1-2 punch with Taler and Heins, but defending Novice Champs Immaculata led by Smith and Padoin-Castillo looked strong at Capital XC winning with a healthy margin, despite not running some of their top dogs, 2021 Bronze Medalist McGregor and Meehan.  On the girls side, defending Champs Nepean looked strong in their only showing this fall, winning the Turkey Trot in Kemptville with a solid score, while 2021 Runner Up Canterbury took the Capital XC Junior race with a combination of Novice and Junior runners.

Two teams stand strong in the Novice categories, with Nepean's Novice girls being utterly dominant at the Turkey Trot, placing three in the top 5 to win by a huge margin.  Those Novice runners also bested all the Junior competition the following week at the Louis Riel Invite.  Likewise, the Colonel By Novice boys also captured the Turkey Trot in convincing fashion, and to one up the Nepean Girls, scored 3 Novice Boys in winning the Open division at the season opening XCookie Run.  

The NC has not teams or individual runners at OFSAA XC since 2019, so the athletes will be hungry to earn spots on the starting line at the Dagmar Ski Resort in Uxbridge, ON, the first week of November.

Best of luck to all athletes competing this week and we'll see you on the trails!