Success at the Western Regional Cross Country Meet

We could not have hoped for better weather than we have had throughout this cross country season. The conditions and fall colours were on full display Monday as Ms. Carolyn Andrews and I took down our group of 25 runners to Annapolis Royal for the Western Regional Cross Country meet.

Our first group of runners to go were also our largest, as the junior girls team was seven runners deep. They competed in a field of over 130 runners in what I believe is the largest group of juniors I have seen go off at a regional competition. Because of the size of the field, and the distance in this race, I believe the junior races were the most challenging of all races this day. It’s important to note how close these finishes were, as the difference between the 20^th and 60^th finishers were all within one minute. Chelsea James '29 racing in her last cross country regionals as a junior, was our first across the line finishing in fourth place. This result was one second from reaching the podium and 13 seconds off the first-place finisher, securing her place next week at Provincials. Racing on her home turf here in Annapolis Royal was Laura Napier-Whale '30 our second junior girl across the line followed closely by Farrah Webber '30 and Alethea Cheng '29. Lily Dow '31 and Penelope Hopgood '31 were our next to cross the finish line and have become quite the pack runners, usually found racing next to one another. Victoria Siu-Porter '29 dug deep within herself to finish her race on a strong foot. This was something she reflected positively on after the race. In a very competitive race, our junior girls finished in sixth, just missing a team qualification to provincials by 27 points.

In a field of 142 runners, the junior boys were next to race, led by first-year runner Link Choo '29 who has steadily improved in each race this season and finished here in sixth place, punching his ticket to Provincials. Much like the girls’ race, this was close throughout with many finishers coming across the finish line within seconds of one another. Spencer Armstrong '30 was our next runner to come through and did his best to work through the crowds out on the trail. He left this race determined and will be one to look for next year in this race. It takes four runners to make a team, and Altyn Hood '29 temporarily left his soccer team to join ours for the cause, finishing as our third runner. It was a pleasure to see the hard work of Joshua Oyebanji '29 pay off as he ran hard in his first race of the season, crossing the line as our fourth runner. In a deep field, the boys finished eighth overall out of 20 possible teams. An achievement to be proud of.

Ms. Andrews and I have been so happy to work with the juniors this term and have been thoroughly impressed by their commitment and growth this season. We hope that they continue to run and join the program again next year.

Heather Lawton '28 impressed in the intermediate girls 4km race finishing third overall as a Grade 9 student. She ran a consistent race and looked very strong throughout. Although unsure about racing, Valeria del Villar García '27 pushed herself to her limits and should be commended for doing so.

The intermediate boys were our second largest team, represented by six runners. They brought with them a fun and competitive energy and carried this from the walk-through to the sound of the starting siren and right through to the finish line. Following up his recent successes at the Valley Harvest Marathon 5km event was our lead runner Nathan Woo '28, coming across the line in eighth place. Not far behind him was Brin Lloyd '27 in 13^th place who continues to show he has what it takes to be a competitive runner. Harvey Hadley '27 stayed in the mix throughout and dug deep to push through calf pain coming across the line in 29^th as our third runner. Right behind him was our fourth runner Nicholas Smith '28 whose hard work and determination in practice paid off, running his best race of the season. In practice last week we spoke about the important role that each racer played regardless of where they finished on our team. In team scoring, the lowest score wins amongst your top four runners meaning that the more people you catch, the lower your score will be. With this, your fifth and sixth runners can certainly make a difference if they can make it in before another team’s fourth. Jack Cosgrove '27 was the fifth runner across the line for our team, finishing only seconds behind Nicholas. After the race, he spoke about digging deep at the end and surging to pass a runner stating, “Imagine if that runner made a difference” (more on this to come). Rounding out the intermediate boys was Maxwell Proctor '27 who while no stranger to big races over the last two years was racing in his first meet of the season and looked strong throughout. These efforts were good enough to give the intermediate boys a score of 80 points, which secured them second place amongst the teams in competition and a spot in provincials next week. They beat the third-place team from Yarmouth by one point with five of our members coming in before the fourth runner from Yarmouth showing how important every position is in a race.

In a very competitive senior girls race, Emma Lawton '26 pushed to an impressive 11^th overall, showing that the Lawtons don’t settle for anything but provincials. She will join her sister racing in Trenton next week. In her most complete race of the season, Julia Farina '26 finished 25th and continues to impress her coaches with her strong work ethic and determination in her first year of competitive running.

In his final regional cross country race, Alex Graham '25 gave it everything he had and then some, finishing in 15^th place and accomplishing his goal of securing a ticket to provincials. Battling through ankle discomfort for most of his race, Andre Karabu '25 finished in 35^th. While disappointed, he remains motivated to improve as a racer. Billy Zhang '26 was our third runner across the line in this race and impressed in his first ever competition. His hard work this season will surely translate to success on the basketball court this winter.

This day would not have been possible without the help and support of coaches Ms. Andrews and Mr. Alan Dick who have jumped right into the program this year and have been such an important support for all since the first day of practices. A special thanks to Mr. Wade Trider for getting us to and from Annapolis Royal and spending the day with our group.

Ms. Lisa Headley and I look forward to taking our 11 provincial qualifiers to New Glasgow on Sunday where we will complete a course jog and prepare for a big day of racing at Trenton Park on Monday, October 28. Please join me in wishing the following runners the best of luck.

Chelsea James

Link Choo

Heather Lawton

Nathan Woo

Brin Lloyd

Harvey Hadley

Nicholas Smith

Jack Cosgrove

Maxwell Proctor

Emma-Joan Lawton

Alex Graham