It was a good day for running on the shore of Spencer Creek in Dundas as more than 1500 athletes competed in the 2018 OFSAA Cross Country Championships, one of largest events of it’s kind in North America.
The Lions top performer was De La Salle’s Yannick Meredith who captured bronze in the midget boys category. The grade nine student completed the 4 kilometre course in 14 minutes 41.1 seconds, a mere second ahead of Riley Flemington from Oakville’s Appleby College. Meredith follows in the footsteps of his older brother Zachary who was a silver medalist in the same race two years ago.
In the senior boys event, grade 12 students Kevin Robertson of Bell and Will Cox of Colonel By finished 10th and 11th respectively to round out their high school cross country careers. Robertson crossed the line in 20 minutes 24.3 seconds, exactly two seconds ahead of Cox. Adam Sanger of Glebe, who had won the National Capital title was 22nd overall, helping his Gryphon team to a sixth place finish.
Despite being the only Lion in the junior girls competition, Zoe Gardiner of Glebe put forth an excellent effort, covering the 5 kilometre course in 20 minutes 21.7 seconds to finish 11th, ten spots up from her finish in 2017. In addition, Gardiner was the top scorer for a Gryphon team that won it’s second consecutive OFSAA team title.
In fact the Glebe Gryphons, led by Lions coach Kirk Dillabaugh swept both junior races. Their boys team, which included Owen Pensom (46th – 18:34.0), Keito Newman (52nd – 18:40.5), and Sebastian Cino (56th – 18:45.4) finished with 211 team points, 16 ahead of London’s Oakridge Secondary School.
A further congratulations goes out to Coach Dillabaugh’s teams as the girls captured the overall title while the boys were third.
For full results, see the list below.
Midget Girls:
Gillian Porter (Franco Cite) 42nd – 17:24.1
Isabelle Honegger (AY Jackson) 45th – 17:24.9
Rebecca Greer (St. Thomas Aquinas) 96th – 18:15.4
Freya Hurst (Glebe Collegiate) 177th – 19:29.7
Charlotte Murchison (Mother Teresa) DNS
Junior Girls:
Zoe Gardiner (Glebe) 11th – 20:21.7
Senior Girls:
Skye Pellerin (St. Francis Xavier) 19th – 24:12.2
Katie Newlove (St. Peter) 37th – 24:53.2
Olivia Macaskill (Earl of March) 77th – 25:55.1
Midget Boys:
Yannick Meredith (De La Salle) BRONZE – 14:41.1
Kyle Porter (Sir Robert Borden) 40th – 15:37.7
Toby Welburn (Glebe) 139th – 16:40.5
Manuel Fernandez (Paul-Desmarais) 190th – 17:23.9
Junior Boys:
Cameron Porter (Sir Robert Borden) 40th – 18:29.3
Owen Pensom (Glebe) 46th – 18:34.0
Keito Newman (Glebe) 52nd – 18:40.5
Sebastian Cino (Glebe) 56th – 18:45.4
Miguel Alvarez (Franco-Ouest) 69th – 18:50.9
Andrew Taylor (John McCrae) 160th – 20:11.8
Jack Hayden (Merivale) 238th – 21:56.1
Senior Boys:
Kevin Robertson (Bell) 10th – 20:24.3
Will Cox (Colonel By) 11th – 20:26.3
Adam Sanger (Glebe) 22nd – 20:46.8
Joe Fast (Ridgemont) 49th – 21:14.1
Zachary Meredith (De La Salle) 81st – 21:52.5
Harun Omar Ali (Ridgemont) 148th – 22:45.6
