The following report was submitted by the CCI cross-country coaching staff and written by Al Coukell.
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It has been an impressive last month for the Collingwood Collegiate (CCI) Fighting Owls as they have once again shown that the route to cross-country supremacy runs straight through The ‘Wood.
On Wednesday, Oct. 20, the Owls held the Georgian Bay Secondary School Athletics (GBSSA) Championships at Highlands Nordic, playing unpleasant hosts as they defended their title from 2019, capturing the Girls’ Overall, Boys’ Overall and Overall Combined titles.
In all, CCI had three GBSSA Championship teams out of the six races and three individuals who were gold medallists in their respective races.
The Novice Boys started the day in fine fashion as Rylan DaSilva finished first to pace the team to a second-place result – just one point back of the GB Team Champions. Other team members included Cooper Hammond, Colin Russell and Memphis Palmer-Gummer.
The Novice Girls then followed with an equally impressive showing, taking third place honours in the second race of the day. Kenzie Wall led the team closely followed by Sophie Lougheed. Signey Magwood and Ashley Cavil rounded out the squad that added important points to the overall girls’ title.
John Parnell had a great run as he claimed the gold medal in the para event outpacing everyone else in the field.
The Black and Gold then dominated the junior division. After COVID took their Grade 9 season from them, these athletes took revenge on the hills of the Highlands. In the boys’ race, Ben Mundle literally ran away with individual gold, winning the race by thirty seconds. Johnny Liotta, Evan Chisholm, Nick Shackell and Jacob Curtis rounded out Collingwood’s first gold as a team at these championships.
The Junior Girls were not to be outdone as they posted an incredible team score of 24 points to be GBSSA Champions. Chantal Abbott broke away from the field to win by almost a full minute to be crowned Junior Girls’ Champion. The team of Emmily Ott, who took bronze, along with Hanna Lewin, Evie Oakey, Jessica Jackson, Ella Dinsmore and Jule Feineisen truly dominated the race placing all seven athletes among the top 17 for the race.
The Senior Boys then took to the trails, grabbing a third-place finish – another podium finish adding to the Owls’ Overall Championship. Ben Cornell led the team with an impressive sixth-place finish while Taiga Young, James Pederson, Alex Cavill and Logan Bub rounded out the top seniors.
On the girls’ side, the results were among the most impressive of the day as the Senior Owls posted the low score of the Championship placing four runners in the top ten for a team score of 20! Hailey Abbott led Collingwood finishing second while Avery O’Neill, Maddie Calder and Leah Ray captured third, fifth, and 10th places respectively.
The day was a spectacular success but a little bittersweet as none of the Collingwood Collegiate athletes, nor any student athletes from Simcoe County District School Board, or Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board schools will be permitted to attend OFSAA. In all, CCI would have sent four teams and three individuals to Lakefield for an impressive total of 27 athletes.
The entire season was a huge success as the team captured not only this championship but were crowned the overall winners of the Georgian Bay Race Series – so that now the “Golden Boot” remains in Collingwood. When the three series races were combined, CCI took top overall honours with the Novice Boys, Junior Girls, Junior Boys and Senior Girls all finishing first in their divisions. The Novice Girls and Senior Boys were close behind, finishing second in each of their race classes.
In all, it was a wonderfully successful season and one of the greatest triumphs was just getting to have sports back. The athletes were incredible at each of the meets, wearing masks – even outside running to warm-up – and following every protocol. Once again, it is that kind of commitment that makes all this success possible.
