It was a successful day for some Lions runners Sunday in London, as two provincial gold and team silver and bronze made their way back to Ottawa. Lions runners swept the youth category as Farah Abdulkarim and Claire Smith the boys and girls races respectively, both in convincing fashion.
Smith completed the 4km course in 15:32.46, half a minute ahead of her nearest competitor, Charlotte Prouse of London Legion. The victory was undoubtedly a little sweeter for Smith as it was Prouse who edged Smith for gold at the recent OFSAA Cross Country Championships. The Glebe Collegiate Institute’s result also helped the youth girls team capture bronze, with Erinn Stenman-Fahey (18), Alexa Livingstone (33), and Maggie Scheunert (46) rounding out the team effort.
In the youth boys event, Farah Abdulkarim was clearly the class of the field, claiming gold in 21:43.05, 22 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor, Miles Matthews of Windsor. His efforts were key to the youth boys team claiming team silver behind Windsor with a total of 75 points. Members of the team included Alex Bernst (15), Jonathan Favero (23) and Nicolas Gagnon (36).
The next stop for the cross country runners is the Canadian Championships, Saturday, November 30th in Vancouver, BC.
