It was a great day to run on Thursday and when all was said and done, two local schools would claim zone banners in cross country running, on home turf at Westcove.
In the 1A division, Mallaig School took the zone banner. Overall, the day went as expected, said coach Ian MacGillivray. It was a close race between the area’s other top 1A school, Glendon.
Almost all of MacGillivray’s athletes improved on their times from the week prior, which was SPAA championships, also held at Westcove. Seeing the students continually improving is the goal, says the coach.
The next goal is to of course bring back the 1A provincial banner for cross country running, a feat the school’s cross country running team has accomplished in the past. MacGillivray predicts that again the student’s biggest competition at provincials will be the neighbouring Glendon athletes.
On the 3A side of things, St. Paul Regional High School won the zone banner for the 10th year in a row.
The school can now boast that it officially has a “dynasty,” says coach Hank Smid.
He says the school has a good group of kids advancing to provincials in the Medicine Hat area, with the majority being female athletes.
The provincial competition will be a tough one, since the local high school will be competing against much larger schools in its division.
“We’ve got some really strong kids,” and anything is possible, he says.
The team has come close to winning a provincial championship in the past, with a few second and third place finishes.
As the host school, Smid says the event last Thursday was very successful. It was the first time zones had been hosted at Westcove. The weather was good and there were “some good competitions, some really fast runners,” says Smid.
In total, 240 athletes competed in the cross country running event and the top 18 finishers in each category have the opportunity to advance to provincials. Gold, silver and bronze medals were also awarded in each category.
Banner winners of the 2A category were Kitscoty school, while Westwood school, out of Fort McMurray, took the 4A banner.
Top three finishers in each category include:
Junior girls:
1st – Chanelle Gagne (St. Paul Regional High School)
2nd – Hayley Smid (St. Paul Regional High School)
3rd – Nicole Kitt (St. Paul Regional High School)
Intermediate girls:
1st – Dana Lychak (New Myrnam)
2nd – Ashley Wozniak (FG Miller)
3rd – Leigha Bishop (St. Paul Regional)
Senior girls:
1st – Morgan Lawley (Westwood, Fort McMurray)
2nd – Dedra Janvier (Cold Lake High School)
3rd – Alanna Gagne (Glendon)
Junior boys:
1st – Abram Meagher (Fort McMurray Centralized H.S.)
2nd – Idris Ahmed (Westwood, Fort McMurray)
3rd – Jared Dechaine (Mallaig)
Intermediate boys:
1st – Ryan Corbiere (Mallaig)
2nd – Will Clarke (Westwood, Fort McMurray)
3rd – Michael Guilbault (Mallaig)
Senior boys:
1st – Jason Barrett (Holy Trinity, Fort McMurray)
2nd – Brett Gagne (St. Paul Regional High School)
3rd – Mark Lawley (Westwood, Fort McMurray)
