Western Region Cross Country Championships 2023 Recap

With 28 schools and 122 runners, there is no doubt that the junior boys division was the most competitive. Placing fifth overall, Fletcher Wellard ‘28 led our Highlanders to their first western Regional banner in a long time (maybe ever?). Nathan Woo ‘28 came across the line in 11th followed by Spencer Armstrong ‘30 and Eli Strum ‘28 just tenths of a second apart for 22nd and 23rd. Altyn Hood ‘29 crossed in 56th, and just a few seconds back in his first cross country race was Preston Saignac ‘28 in 60th. Though the conditions were about as bad as they could have been for posting fast times, Fletcher improved by a whopping 19 seconds and Spencer knocked off four seconds from their home race efforts on September 26. Our final team score was 61, just four points ahead of 2nd place West Hants Middle School with 65.

 

With 24 teams and 101 runners, the junior girls division was as competitive as ever, especially at the top end. Our top scoring runners were Chelsea James ‘29 in fifth, Maggie Wellard ‘28 14th, Zoe Wellard ‘30 in 16th, and Emery Endres ‘28 in 27th. The strongest of teams always have depth, and that was shown this afternoon with Bethany MacDougall ‘29 in 36th, Farrah Webber ‘30 56th, Emerson Klein ‘30 61st, Harper MacInnis ‘30 76th and Lidya Mercan ‘29 competing on this most difficult course for the first time.

 

Much like the boys, none of the girls had any business running fast times today, but the conditions better suited for a duck didn’t slow them down. Chelsea chopped six seconds from her September 26 effort, Maggie munched on nine seconds, Zoe zipped around six seconds better, Emery emulsified 23 seconds of effort, Bethany bested herself by 13 lucky seconds, and the champ today: Farrah furiously fought away 82 seconds!.

 

The intermediate boys team was led and anchored by two big improvements over their efforts the last time on this course. Harvey Hadley ‘27 hacked away 44 seconds on his way to just missing a provincial bus berth by less than half a second. The team of Ezra Choo ’26 and Ezra Sasaki ‘26 brought home the middle part of this quartet, while Max Proctor ‘27 mashed away 36 seconds for a new personal best.

 

It takes four to make a team and those four need to place in the top five teams to advance to provincials. Emma Lawton ‘26 led the way with her 10th place finish, followed by Lillian Blois ‘27 in 18th, Natalia Shaw ‘27 in 28th, and making four for fifth team overall and thereby booking their tickets to Cheticamp next week, was Paty Arceo Marantes ‘26. You don’t get to provincials without a lot of improvement: Emma edged her way around the four-kilometre course eight seconds speedier and Lillian let go of not-a-little 33 seconds. No doubt the most improved overall today was Paty. Pugnacious. Paty pulverized her pace from just three weeks ago on the same course, racing today an impressive three minutes and six seconds faster. 

 

Renee Olsen ‘25 switched her skates for running shoes, and ice for mud as she ran away from most of the competition in the senior girls five-kilometre course, finishing in seventh. Also trading a hockey jersey for the cross-country singlet was Lena Falkenberger ‘24. Scarlett Matus Dominguez ‘25 like Renee and Lena was also running this course for the first time. This was the second race for Ana Pau Jimenez Flores ‘25 who floored her metaphorical gas pedal to move around the muddy trails 17 seconds faster. Though the girls team did not qualify for provincials, because of her placing among the top 15 individuals, Renee Olsen ‘25 has earned a qualification spot to provincials.

 

Alex Graham ‘25 and the rest of the senior boys had the muddiest of muddy footsteps this afternoon as they raced over terrain that nearly 500 harriers had already trodden. That didn’t stop Alex axing 13 seconds from his last trip around this five-kilometre heaven. Andre Karabu ‘25 may have seemed like keeping his hair dry was his number one priority, but Karabu killed off 38 seconds for his best effort. As he has done so often this season, Max Stulberger ‘24 continues to improve each time he laces his shoes. Indeed, Stulberger stunned with a not-so-stingy 61 second slice off his previous best. Cedrick Xiao ‘24 raced our home course for the first time this afternoon. As our fourth runner, he was integral to the whole team including Alex, Andre, and Max earning bronze medals today for placing third. They will be off to Cheticamp next week for the provincial championships.

 

An event of this size doesn’t happen without a team of people working together with me and Coach Robinson. Thank you to all those who helped: Ms. Paula James, Ms. Pam James, Ms. Sandie Armstrong, Mr. Donnie Armstrong, Mr. Ian Shaw, Ms. Azhar Hood, Ms. Kim Strum, Mr. Tim Webber, Ms. Shari Hadley, Ms. Aynsley Sasaki, Mr. Kim Walsh, and Mr. Kevin Simonar for providing and setting up our audio equipment. Thank you to Mr. Brandon Jodrey and his crew, especially Mr. John MacKay, for his mowing care of our course. A very special thank you to Ms. Shelley Skedden for all her many duties and effort. A very special thank you to Mr. Ed James for his hours of work on Sunday helping to set up the course.