A couple of Grade 8 cross-country runners will be making tracks to the BC Provincial High School Championships after clocking qualifying results at zones.
Caily Mellott of 100 Mile House Junior Secondary School won a silver medal in her age division in a 4.3-kilometer race and finished 12th overall in a field of 60 female
competitors in Grades 8 through 12.
Brandon Balbirnie, also of 100 Mile Junior, finished with a bronze medal in his 6.4-kilometre event and was 11th overall among boys in Grades 8 to 12.
Zones took place Oct. 20 at Moores Meadow in Prince George and was the springboard to provincials which take place Nov. 3 at the same venue.
Junior High teacher Tracy Moore, who coaches the pair along with teacher David Henderson, says it’s been a very long time since the school has sent runners to zones and qualified for provincials.
Races were run on forest trails, which suited Mellott just fine as that’s where she does her training at home. She plans to step up her practice regime leading up to provincials.
“I’ll try to run longer distances every day.”
Balbirnie says his bronze medal at zones didn’t come easily and he’ll be training harder too.
“It was nerve-wracking. There were a lot of great runners there. At provincials I’m going to try and take a minute off my time.”
The pair have been training since early September.
