Prior to Christmas, we reported on the cross-country running season for local secondary school athletes who competed at Island and provincial meets. Now, let’s catch up with top elementary school runners who took part in the annual Nanaimo and District Cross-Country Meet which was held at the Rotary Bowl stadium.
The district meet, which involved more than 300 young runners who had qualified from various zone meets around the district, was co-ordinated by Lonny Sullivan and Alana Lavery and my thanks to them for sending along complete results. They were also quick to thank the many volunteers who assisted, including the dedicated staff from Frontrunners led by Norm Thibault and Stefan Jakobsen who helped make the event possible.
Competition involved six very exciting races for different age categories of male and female runners. Tykes, born in 2015-16, completed a 1.5-kilometre route beginning and ending at the stadium. In the girls’ race, Phoebe Allison from Quarterway took first place, ahead of Mountain View’s Laina Romanik. Eva Allison of Quarterway was third, Rachel Kirk of McGirr fourth and Aubrey Mitchell from Cedar Intermediate fifth. Rounding out the top 10 finishers were Kate Dos Santos from Ladysmith Intermediate, Taylor Robson of Uplands Park, Hammond Bay’s Katie Scott and McGirr teammates Olivia Armstrong and Alice Long.
Winner of the tyke boys’ race was Carter Aiken representing Departure Bay. Hammond Bay’s Felix Weibe was the runner-up and Nirvan Tripathi of Randerson Ridge was third. Blake Wade from Chase River finished fourth and Daniel Kobets of Hammond Bay fifth. Then came Kai Baillie from Departure Bay, Harvey Jamieson of Quarterway, Hammond Bay’s Sam Jenkin, Finn Dunnett from Quarterway and Theo Cadman of Chase River.
For peewee athletes born in 2013-14, the route measured 2km. First to the finish line in the girls’ race was Quarterway runner Wren Vaitekunas, followed by teammate Stevie Capadouca. Fiona Cunning from Chase River was third, McGirr’s Hannah Jaworski fourth and Hudson Thomas from Pleasant Valley in fifth overall. Sydney Legget of Hammond Bay was next, then Kenley Korkowski of Mountain View, Pauline Haarer’s Mackenzie Sullivan, Rozlyn Letham from Mountain View and Caylen Reilly of Hammond Bay.
Departure Bay competitor Curtis Gross was fastest in the peewee boys’ race. Max Peacock from Randerson Ridge was the runner-up, followed by Eric Linder of Frank J. Ney, Milo Warden from Quarterway and Bennet Vanbergen of Mountain View. Next were Quarterway’s Finn Jakobsen, Grayson Hossini of Hammond Bay, River Capadouca from Mountain View, Quarterway’s Chase Newstone and Oskar Norman from Cedar Intermediate.
Bantam runners born in 2012 in the district championships raced a distance of 2.5km. Pauline Haarer’s Rebecca Mann claimed first place in the girls’ division. In second and third places respectively were Hammond Bay’s Lina Sierra Annaka and Pleasant Valley’s Grace Power. Marley Hyde from Mountain View was fourth and Hailey Glazewski of Fairview fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Makena Racher from Quarterway, Kamma Romanik of Mountain View, Amelia Switzer from Hammond Bay, Caitlin Morrill of Randerson Ridge and Myelle McNeal representing Mountain View.
The bantam boys’ race resulted in a district title for Jacob Liem from Quarterway, who finished ahead of Kei Fennell of McGirr, Seaview’s Hudson Bauck, Cooper Ostergaard from McGirr and Cedar Gardner of Cinnabar Valley. Also in the top 10 were North Oyster runners Oliver Sanchez and Kian Fogarty, Kane Brady from Seaview, Kylan Beaumont from Syuwenct and Kye Stranberg representing Seaview.
When points for all finishers were tallied, Quarterway Elementary won the title as top school overall. Departure Bay was second, with Hammond Bay third and McGirr fourth.
Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair, and show good sportsmanship.
