Athletics Canada National Cross Country Championships took place Saturday, November 26, 2016, at Fort Henry in Kingston, ON.
A classic cross-country favourite, conditions on the course were mild making for good race conditions, even the sun made an appearance. It was the start line snow that left athletes fighting for the best position. The conditions wouldn’t stop Team Ontario, who went on to sweep in the Team Championships category.
Youth
In the Youth Boys category, it would be Joshua Desouza of the Newmarket Huskies leading Team O, finishing second with a time of 18:59.60 followed by teammates Max Turek of Durham Dragon Athletics, Nik Mota of the Newmarket Huskies and Cameron Dean of Durham Dragon Athletics, who finished third, fourth and fifth, respectfully.
Eric Morris from Speed River Track and Field Club and Nicolas Tralli of Central Toronto Athletic Club rounded off the Youth Boys team, finishing a commanding 17 and 33.
The Youth Girls, led by Aleksa Gold of Central Toronto Athletic Club finished second, 42.1 seconds behind Team Alberta’s Savanna Jordan. Cameron Ormond from the Newmarket Huskies finished off an incredible season with a fourth place finish. Ormond who is the defending OFSAA Cross Country Championships finished second at AO’s Cross Country Championships a few weeks prior behind Alexandra Weir of Central Toronto. Weir and Lily Tuck followed closely behind Ormond, helping secure the Team title. Remy Cattell and Solstice Saliba completed the Youth Girls team, finishing eighth and ninth.
Junior
Ontario would top the Junior Men’s category led by Toronto West Athletics Ehab El-Sandali taking first place with a time of 24:49.2. Windsor Legion Track & Field Club would go two, three with the likes of Mitchell Ubene and Miles Matthews with only three-tenths of a second to spare. Andrew Alexander of the University of Toronto Track Club and Laurel Creek’s Andrew Shepherd would help capture the Team title finishing fifth and sixth.
It would be the Junior Women who held seven top 10 finishing positions. Brogan MacDougall of Physi-Kult Kingston would lead Team O to victory, with a second place finish coming in at 20:47.9. MacDougall would be followed by Hannah Woodhouse of Speed River, Martha MacDonald from University of Toronto Track Club, Hannah Johnston of Lakehead Running, Shona McCulloch from the Ottawa Lions and sisters Madeleine and Sevanna Ghazarian of Speed River.
Senior
A repeat for Ross Proudfoot, who successfully defended his National Cross Country Championship title. Proudfoot held onto his lead over B.C’s Lucas Bruchet by just three-tenths of a second. Olympian, Matt Hughes finished just off the podium in fourth place with a time of 30:02.6. Newmarket Huskies Sami Jibril AO Provincial Cross Country Champion finished sixth behind Team Alberta’s Rory Linkletter. Coming off the OUA Championships, University of Windsor’s Corey Bellemore faced fierce competition, holding his own Bellemore went on to finish ninth clocking in at 30:37.2.
Sasha Gollish can add another achievement under her belt, winning the Senior Women’s Cross Country Championships. This was the first Women’s 10km Championship race after Athletics Canada made the adjustment earlier this year to equalize distances with the IAAF. Ontario’s Rachel Hannah and Victoria Cotes put together a strong performance, pushing to capture the Team title finishing fifth and sixth respectfully.