Tara Jeffrey
If you want to find the best girls’ cross country team in Ontario — look no further than Northern Collegiate.
For the first time in its history, the Sarnia high school won the overall Girls’ title at this weekend’s OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) Championships, along with a first-ever individual gold medal.
Several other impressive finishes helped make the team one of most decorated schools in Ontario, at the event held at the Dagmar Ski Resort Saturday.
Northern’s Gabby Jones won gold in the Senior Girls’ 6K run, ahead of some 240 runners from across Ontario, finishing with a time of 22:12:37.
Jones led her teammates — Rebecca Haney (37th), Alaina Burns (96th) Sophie Victor (102) and Sydney Edwards (110) – to a third-place team finish.
Northern’s Junior Girls’ squad also took top honours in the 5K race, finishing first among more than 30 school teams, led by Mikayla Portiss (51st), Alyson Laird (52nd), Mya Glaister (57th), Shannon James (66th) and Zoe Alexander (195).
Ryan Davies — who finished fifth out of 244 runners — led the Northern Senior Boys’ team to a tenth place finish, with Jack Girardi (120th), Jackson Policicchio (135th), Alex Desrochers (157th) and Tim Ebert (182).
Northern’s Junior Boys’ team (5K) finished 17th out of 35 schools, led by Alex Pretty (35th), Connor Freer (153), Aidan Arndt (155), Michael Ray (166) and Caleb Houghton (185).
Novice girls’ runners Lily Bressette and Lily Odolphy of Northern also finished 40th and 77th respectively, while Sully Toenders finished 77th in the Novice Boys 4K run.
Meanwhile, LCCVI’s Charlie Shaw finished 18th in the Sr. Boys’ race, and James Grant was 24th in the Novice Boys’ race.
The Novice Boys’ team from St. Pat’s finished 30th, led by Mason Brown (122), Ashton Fraser (195), Seamus Kane (249) and Esben Morrison (251).
