Changes are afoot in high school cross-country. Junior athletes will have their own B.C. title event, and Vancouver’s public school coaches may be forced to join a larger regional zone that includes the city’s private schools.
Vancouver public school cross-country coaches are predimonantly opposed to forming a larger regional zone with public and private schools from Burnaby, New Westminster and Richmond. Private schools are also known as independents.
B.C. School Sports, the governing body for all high school sports in the province, is promoting geographical representation and the B.C. cross-country commissioner is urging Vancouver public and private schools to “work together.”
In an email to cross-country coaches, Nancy Champagne, a teacher at Fleetwood Park in Surrey, wrote, “… an Independent zone of only a few schools that shares a geographic area with another zone needs to be absorbed somehow. Coaches from the current Vancouver and Independent zones are encouraged to provide a solution. […] If Vancouver and Independent representatives want to work together to determine a solution — anyone can put forward a proposal / motion.”
In Vancouver, the 18 public schools compete at all sports in contained leagues that do not include private schools such as St. George’s, Notre Dame or York House. Depending on the sport, schools mingle at invitational tournaments and meet in zone playoffs to qualify for provincials. The number of teams that advance to zones or provincials is determined by the number of teams participating in each school district or zone. In Vancouver, the public and private school districts form their own zones.
At a November AGM, each school in B.C. will have one vote to cast on the issue.
Under the current system, Vancouver sends 20 runners and three teams to the cross-country provincials. The private schools send 15 athletes and two teams while Richmond, Burnaby and New Westminster, which together form a single zone, send 20 individuals and three teams.
If these zones amalgamated as the Greater Vancouver zone, together they would qualify 30 athletes and six teams.
Paul Skarsgard, a teacher at Point Grey secondary and the sport’s representative in Vancouver, said he and the majority of other public school coaches in the city are opposed to the amalgamation because it dilutes opportunity for their athletes.
“We have worked extremely hard to build up our numbers,” he said. “For instance, last year we had 10 girls teams but in the early ’90s, Point Grey had the only girls team in Vancouver.”
Teams from more than a dozen public high schools counted 127 male and 110 female registered racers last year. Independent schools counted 75 male and 71 female racers in 2012.
The Vancouver zone final is Oct. 23 at Fraserview. The Independent zone final is Oct. 22 at Jericho Beach Park.
Oct. 16 Vancoucouver race results:
A new face was the first to cross the finish line at the fourth and final Vancouver cross-country meet Wednesday at Langara Park.
Kitsilano’s Thomson Harris won the 5.6 kilometre race in 19 minutes and 17.48 seconds. He beat Aran Rafie-Pour (19:32.66) and Alger Liang (20:20.81), both of Killarney. Lord Byng’s Max Trummer and Matt Taylor did not compete.
In the girls flight, Enid Au of Killarney won the 2.8 km race in 10:57.86, out-pacing Kitsilano’s Annika Austin (11:06.82) and Annelise Lapointe of Van Tech (11:10.49). Calli Charlton did not race.
mstewart@vancourier.com
