Up the hill, down the beach, over the hay bale and around the track they ran as more than 1000 athletes competed in the annual Capital Cross Country Challenge this past weekend at Mooney’s Bay park. The two day competition was the third iteration of the run around the park which brings together competitors of all ages.
The competition kicked off Friday with the high school competition which was dominated by Ontario cross country power, Glebe Collegiate. The Gryphons swept all four team scored categories, winning by an average of nearly 17 points. The closest battle was in the varsity boys category, which Glebe won by a mere six points over Ridgemont thanks in part to Adam Sanger’s victory over defending OFSAA champion Joe Fast of Ridgemont.
In the 9th annual Eastern Ontario Elementary Cross Country Championship, Elmdale Public School was the king of the course as they captured three of the six age category titles in addition to picking up a silver. The Iona Street school was victorious in the 8-9 boys as well as sweeping the boys and girls titles for the 10-11 year olds.
In the Jim Howe Memorial races for the open category athletes, the team titles were a battle between the University of Ottawa and Montreal’s McGill University with each school taking home one title. The Martlett’s dominated the women’s race finishing an impressive 1-2-4-5 to win by 12 over the Gee Gees. The performance was highlight by Elizabeth Hirsch’s 16 second victory over teammate Maggie Dargis.
The men’s race was a much tighter affair with the Gee Gees and Redmen separated by a mere three points. The University of Ottawa team of Andre Alie-Lamarche, Nic Roberts, Nico Pedersen, Adrian Fournier and Robbie Mitchell did prevail with a total of 44 points, led by rookie Alie-Lamarche’s fourth place finish.
