Several young local cross country runners used home-course advantage to post strong results at the North Shore League (NSL) finals at Don Ross Secondary School (DRSS) on Oct. 23.
The DRSS boys team placed second overall in the NSL, placing higher than several much bigger high schools in North and West Vancouver. The team placed third at the first meet earlier this year and then second at all three other meets. They finished 20 points behind first-place Sutherland High School in North Vancouver.
The team was made up of Grade 8s and 9s and team members included Kasper Woolley, Luke Parry, Jack Cormack, Wayne Yang, Andres Velasco, Parker Mell, Aaron McCreanor, Nick Kleban, Graeme Bowers, Connor Lum, Kai Labrenz, Hunter Verner and Isaac Dawson.
Standouts individually on Oct. 23 among the boys were Parry, who placed second overall out of all Grade 8 boys and Cormack, who placed fifth. Parry and Cormack placed third and fourth, respectively, in the four-race series.
Four DRSS males will head to provincials in Abbotsford on Saturday (Nov. 2). Representing the school will be Mell, Parry, Cormack and Bowers.
But it won't be just the boys going, as DRSS Girls cross country runners Kyley Rosser and Mikayla Lorimer will also head to provincials. Rosser placed 10th among Grade 9 girls, with Lorimer placing 23rd for the Grade 8s.
Several runners from Howe Sound Secondary School (HSSS) also competed at the event, with Wade Damola finishing sixth in the Junior Boys division. The top local Senior Boys finisher was Malcolm Thomson. The boys team ended up finishing ninth overall out of 17 teams in their division.
Heading to the provincials from HSSS for cross country will be Dominic Wade and Sarah Bowers. Make sure to check The Chief next week for results on how the local cross-country athletes fared in Abbotsford.
