Four city champs were crowned at the Vancouver Secondary School Athletic Association cross-country championships last week on a rainy afternoon at Fraserview Golf Course.
On a 3.8-kilometre track circling the park, the VSSAA hosted races for junior and senior boys and girls on Oct. 19.
Read more: 2015 B.C. Championship at Jericho Beach becomes unforgettable 'mud run'
Senior girls: Killarney’s team top-10
Kitsilano went one-two in the senior girls race as Grade 11 runner Annika Austin won in 14 minutes, 53.86 seconds and was followed 15 seconds later by team-mate Katia Lumb. Van Tech Talisman Annelise La Pointe was third.
Austin won the 2015 junior girls city title and went on to claim the B.C. champion, too.
Killarney and Kitsilano tied with 34 points in the team event and will send four racers to the B.C. Championships in Peachland on Nov. 5.
Killarney placed four runners in the top 10: Kyra Danielson, Joanna Yu eighth, Clara Wong ninth, and Joean Lu was 10th.
Senior boys: Nobbs gets his chance
Thomas Nobbs won the senior boys race in 28:19.12, coming first for Point Grey secondary after he was one of the top contenders in 2015 as a Grade 11 racer in one of the fastest fields in a generation.
Charles Tupper Tiger Michael Harris trailed by 50 seconds on the 7.6km course, which was two laps of around Fraserview Golf Course. Philip Ngo had a break-out season for Killarney and finished third, 25 seconds behind Harris.
Killarney won the team event with 30 points, followed by Charles Tupper with 36.
Junior girls: Lewis lays down another winner
Van Tech Talisman Kendra Lewis is only in Grade 9, but after starting her high school cross-country career last year racing against seniors, she eventually opted to run with her junior peers. She finished fifth in the province in 2015 and won this year’s city championship in 15:09.94.
She was 31 seconds faster than Lord Byng rival, Bridgett Baziw, who fought through muscle cramps and pain to come second. Ella Symone, also of Lord Byng, was almost half a second off the pace of her team-mate.
The Lord Byng Grey Ghosts won the junior girls team event with the fewest overall points (16) and four racers qualify for the B.C. championships along with the team from Jules-Verne secondary who finished with 81 points. Point Grey was third with 85 points.
Junior boys: Tigers double up
Tupper Tigers Dylan Uhrich and Marcus Britnell topped the podium with a one-two performance in the junior boys race to also win the team honours with an impressively low score of 24.
Uhrich won in 13:55.49, beating his team-mate by nine seconds. Quinton Braziller was ninth and Dane Manrell was 12th. All four will travel to the B.C. Championships along with Kitsilano who finished second in the team event with 54 points.
Judah Moar of Point Grey was third overall.
Twitter: @MHStewart
