Young long distance runners from across the region were blessed with a crisp autumn day for the Quesnel Invitational Cross Country Race at West Fraser Timber Park on Saturday (Oct. 13).
Home stars Ruby Nicholas from Quesnel Junior School (QJS) and Megan Strand from Correlieu Secondary School (CSS) continued their hot start to the cool season with first place finishes in Juvenile and Junior Girls respectively.
“The Quesnel people have an advantage over other kids as they know the route,” said a somewhat modest Nicholas soon after her win.
Nicholas missed the last race in Vanderhoof but she participated in the Quesnel Woman’s Fall Challenge, so did not feel any rust.
She is hoping to do well in the upcoming zone championships and has set a goal for herself to finish in the top 10 for her age group at provincials.
READ MORE: Strand looking strong
Also performing impressively were the Juvenile Boys competitors from QJS. The foursome all finished in the top seven with Caleb Woollends eking out a third-place finish.
“It’s a lot nicer than travelling somewhere, because I can sleep-in,” he said of the benefits of racing at home. “And I know the track, so it’s a lot easier.”
Woollends’ teammate Lucas Arnold was keeping a good pace in the early going of the race, but ran into some bad luck.
“I had my cleats on and stepped on a rock,” he said. “I rolled my ankle and it cracked.”
Despite the mishap, Arnold powered through and still managed to salvage a sixth-place finish among Juvenile Boys.
Quesnel coach Scott Trueman was impressed with the turnout and how the race was managed.
“We had runners from all over the region,” he said. “Bella Coola, Prince George, Quesnel, Vanderhoof and even Williams Lake. It was the first time in many, many years that they made the trip north to compete.”
Trueman estimates there were close to 100 racers total, which included elementary runners, who he was pleased to have on the course.
Thankfully the conditions were excellent as well.
“In comparison to last year, it was much better, in large part because we didn’t have snow this year,” he said. “Altogether everything has run very smoothly, so I’m very happy.”
READ MORE: Quesnel runners fare well in first cross country run of the season
RESULTS:
Bantam Girls (Grade 8)
6th place -Summit Plischke - QJS - 27:36
Bantam Boys
2nd place - Tyson Roberts - QJS - 18:45
4th place - Judah Klassen - QJS - 19:12
Juvenile Girls (Grade 9)
1st place - Ruby Nicholas - QJS - 17:11
Juvenile Boys
3rd place - Caleb Woolends - QJS - 18:12
4th place - Linden Spencer - QJS - 18:28
6th place - Lucas Arnold - QJS - 19:16
7th place - Joshua Tilsner - QJS - 20:38
Junior Girls (Grade 10)
1st place - Megan Strand - CSS - 19:18
Junior Boys
7th place - Tanner Bolton - CSS - 29:31
Senior Girls (Grade 11-12)
4th place - Amber Proudfoot - CSS - 35:37
Senior Boys
4th place - Josh Andres - CSS - 27:55
8th place - Adam Nicholas - CSS - 30:58
9th place - Matthew Caine - CSS 32:18
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