The following article was contributed by the Collingwood Collegiate Institute Cross-Country running team.
On Thursday, Oct. 12 runners from Alliston to Almaguin, and from Parry Sound to Orillia gathered to take on the trails of Highlands Nordic near Duntroon.
This was the third of four Georgian Bay Cross-Country Race Series events leading up to the Georgian Bay Secondary Schools Association (GBSSA) Championships later this month.
Collingwood athletes ultimately played poor hosts as they ran away with several of the top spots.
Collingwood Collegiate Institute (CCI) Fighting Owls maintained their pace from the first half of the season as they posted five first place team finishes and one second over the six races held on the day.
In addition, Our Lady of the Bay Catholic High School (OLB) had a fourth-place team and several strong individual performances.
The day began with the novice races featuring the best runners in their first year of high school. In the boys’ race CCI put four runners in the top seven, led by Cole Elmes and Gavin Magwood, to place first as a team.
The Owls also had the second-place team in the race, while Wesley Harbeck of OLB finished a strong eighth.
On the girls’ side, CCI again took the top spot on the podium, led by Rachael MacMillan and Julia Lehmann, Stella Lennox and Beatrice Cheek.
The junior races saw strong showings from local Grade 10 athletes as the top podium spots were once again coloured in Black and Gold.
On the boys’ side, Evan Moore and Ewan Hurley paced the Owls to first place as a team while CCI also had the second place team.
OLB boasted two very strong finishes with Kaj Kulakowsky and Jack Wessinger finishing fifth and 11th respectively.
The junior girls’ race then saw CCI post first and third-place team finishes while OLB was fifth as a team.
Once again, Collingwood placed their top four runners in the top seven spots, led by race winner Sabine Cornell, Sadie Johnson and Elly Moore. Hazel Dempsey led the way for the OLB junior girls.
The Collingwood Collegiate seniors continued the strong performances with Ben Mundle winning the Boys’ race to lead the Owls to a first place team finish.
Nathan Sims also added a top-10 finish. The girls’ race saw CCI cap the day with another podium finish as Emily Ott placed second as an individual to lead the team to a second-place overall result with Kenzie Wall adding a top-10 placing to aid the team.
These same runners will now complete the season series with a race in Parry Sound on Oct. 19 before returning to Parry Sound to compete in the Georgian Bay Secondary School Association Championship on Oct. 26. That one-day championship meet will decide who will represent this region at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) all-Ontario Championships.
