The following article was contributed by the Collingwood Collegiate Institute (CCI) cross-country running team.
The Fight Owls cross-country running team has proven throughout the 2023 season that they are amongst the best in Central Ontario and can now stake claim to being the top team in all of Ontario.
Collingwood Collegiate took all six of its teams to the Ontario Federation of School Sports Associations (OFSAA) Championships in Etobicoke on Nov. 4 and ran away with top honours – amassing more overall team points than any school in Ontario.
The runners in Black and Gold placed all six of its teams in the top-11 in the province with notable finishes within the top ten. Each race featured approximately 265 of Ontario’s best distance runners and also the top 36 teams from throughout the province in each division.
Leading the championship charge was Collingwood’s junior girls who captured silver medals, led by Sabine Cornell’s fifth-place run as an individual.
All five Owls finished in the top 100 with Sadie Johnson in 37th, Elly Moore in 72nd, Ruby File in 80th and Sofia Mundle in 92nd. This team’s finish, along with Cornell’s individual placing, were also the top showings from any Georgian Bay Secondary Schools Association representatives at OFSAA.
The novice boys announced their arrival on the provincial scene with an impressive fourth-place team finish.
Jean-Jacques Michener paced the Owls in 21st place followed by Gavin Magwood in 58th. Seth Tangney (95th), Owen Edwards (120th) and Blake Shaw (199th) rounded out the team that matched the best-ever finish by a CCI boys’ squad at an OFSAA Championship.
The Senior Boys had a great day as they ran to seventh place in Ontario.
Ben Mundle led the way with a season’s best performance, placing 15th as an individual. Wes MacMillan was the next Owl to cross the line in 53rd while Memphis Palmer-Gummer (147th), Nathan Sims (150th) and Johnny Liotta (171st) rounded out the team – the latter three all finishing within 30 seconds of each other.
The junior boys also posted a standout result taking eighth-place honours.
Owen Moore led the Junior Owls capturing 48th spot, closely followed by Ewan Hurley in 58th position. Evan Pollock grabbed 119th while Marco Savini and Ryne Henry took the 165th and 166th places respectively to complete the team.
Collingwood’s senior girls placed themselves amongst the top in Ontario taking ninth as a team, led by Chantal Abbott in 27th. Emmily Ott ran away with 86th while Kenzie Wall took 167th. Ashleigh Cavill finished 206th while Evie Oakey took 236th to round out this solid top-10 finish.
The novice girls got their high school OFSAA careers off to a great start as they grabbed 11th spot in the province to get CCI's winning ways underway on the day.
Rachael MacMillan was the top black and gold finisher in 58th place. Julia Lehmann finished in 101st spot while the team was rounded out by Stella Lennox in 134th, Beatrice Cheek in 157th and Annaliese Greig in 212th to add valuable points to Collingwood Collegiate’s overall team total.
In all, it was an incredible day with the boys’ teams combining to end up second with 31 points while the girls’ teams went together to tally another 30 points. The combined total of 61 meant that Collingwood Collegiate had crafted the top overall score in Ontario – ahead of strong teams such as Neil McNeil of Toronto and E.S.Theriault of Timmins.
It was truly a championship season for the Fighting Owls who staked claim to the Georgian Bay Race Series title with all six teams finishing first in their respective divisions to retain the Golden Boot.
They then secured the GBSSA Girls’, Boys’ and Overall Combined Championships before achieving the most team points at the OFSAA Championships – a feat they have now accomplished two years in a row.
